More than 90% of people travel to the centre of Oxford by means other than the private car, and they can continue to enjoy less congested, less polluted streets, thanks to a ruling in the Administrative Court published yesterday. [1]
Mr Justice Fordham ruled against Open Roads for Oxford Limited (ORFOL), dismissing their renewed claim for judicial review of the Temporary Congestion Charge for cars in Oxford. This ruling confirmed the initial ruling in January after an oral hearing.
Justice Fordham concluded that “there is not a viable claim for judicial review, on any of the grounds put forward. None of them has a realistic prospect of success.” He confirmed that all of Oxfordshire County Council’s legal costs, £8400, should be paid by ORFOL.
Robin Tucker of CoHSAT said: “We are pleased that Justice Fordham has rejected ORFOL’s request for a judicial review and the people of Oxford can continue to benefit from quicker travel and less polluted streets. ORFOL has wasted over £40,000 pounds of its supporters’ money on a case that the judge described as having no realistic prospect of success. But more than that, they were promoting a return to congestion and chaos, and ignoring the benefits of congestion and pollution reductions for the 90% of people who visit Oxford’s centre without using a private car.”
The ruling examined three grounds made by ORFOL. On the ground of whether the consultation was adequate, Justice Fordham stated that “Consultees, in my judgment, had a full, fair and informed opportunity to have their voices heard and they took it.” On the ground of whether equalities were considered, Justice Fordham concluded there is “no realistic prospect of this Court concluding that any weaknesses in the 2025 EqIA report places the County Council in breach of the statutory duty”. The third ground depended on the other two, and so also did not stand.
ORFOL is a limited company founded by two Oxford shopkeepers and the Chair of the Independent Oxford Alliance, who lives in a north Oxfordshire village and is known to have spread misinformation about using Invermectin to treat Covid, denial of climate science, and global conspiracies[2].
The original case papers show that the failed request for permission for judicial review had cost ORFOL at least £32,000+VAT by 5th December 2025. Adding costs awarded against them brings their total costs to at least £46,800. This excludes costs incurred after 5th December, including those for the renewal hearing. According to ORFOL, on 2nd December, they had raised £55,667.44 from a few local businesses, a campaign website and a GoFundMe page[3].
The legal papers reveal how few people travel to the city centre by private car. A survey conducted in 2022 shows only 9% of people in the city centre arrived by private car, compared to 32% by bus and 10% by active travel[4].
Previous analysis of traffic has shown that 40% of traffic on Oxford arterial roads travels through the city centre, rather than stopping there. The Traffic Filters and Temporary Congestion Charge are designed to reduce this high proportion of through traffic.
The survey also showed that bus passengers spend 7 times as much as people who arrived by car, and active travellers (arriving by walking or cycling) spend three times as much as the car-borne – even before the Congestion Charge[4].
(City Centre ‘Car’ point is 6%)
Recent data from the congestion charge has shown that is continues to reduce traffic, resulting is quicker bus services on major routes in Oxford, and more people taking the bus, both Park & Ride and conventional services[5]. Oxford Bus Company quote an 8% increase in bus use, with most of this on non-P&R services[6]. They have been able to reinvest these gains in additional bus routes and frequency.
In addition, footfall in Oxford centre is up compared with a year ago, compared with Cambridge and UK High Streets as a whole, where it has been down[7].
Hannah Kirby, Co-Chair of CoHSAT said: “The Temporary Congestion Charge continues to deliver positive results, allowing buses to move quicker and making the roads safer for people who walk and cycle. Because so many more people walk, cycle or bus to the centre than drive, it is no wonder that Oxford’s footfall is up, compared to other places in the UK which are suffering. Many of us take the active option because we enjoy the freedom, but the sheer economy of walking, cycling, or Oxford’s discount bus fares[8] make them very good options against rising fuel prices as well.”
Siobhann Mansel-Playdell from Oxfordshire Liveable Streets said: “This ruling is affirmation of the strong groundwork that Oxfordshire County Council have put into the Congestion Charge scheme. The scheme is already providing congestion and health benefits, and a fairer transport system that relies less on expensive private cars. We’d like to see that extended with some of the funding targeted to address inequalities, for example extending free child travel to all bus services, and improving access low-cost active travel by improving pavements, cycle parking and micromobility availability across the city and beyond. These initiatives will help the most financially disadvantaged in difficult economic times.
[1] Congestion charge judicial review | Oxfordshire County Council ;
Open Roads for Oxford Ltd, R (on the application of) v Oxfordshire County Council – Find Case Law – The National Archives
[2] “Pandemics cannot happen”: the views of the Independent Oxford Alliance’s chair
[3] permission_hearing_core_bundle.pdf p50-51
[4] permission_hearing_core_bundle.pdf p179 (visitors), p189 (spend) City Centre sample 1021; weekdays and weekends, 8am-7pm
[5] Temporary congestion charge monitoring data | Oxfordshire County Council
[6] More people taking the bus since Oxford temporary congestion charge
[7] Monitoring congestion charge data – February 2026 | Oxfordshire County Council
[8] e.g. An all-day Smartzone ticket is £5, or £10 for a group of up to 5 people.
