Can I Drive There?

£5 a day for cars passing any of six charging points around the city centre, at all hours. You pay once a day however many points you pass, and electric cars are not exempt. The penalty for not paying is £70, halved to £35 if paid within 14 days.

It is a stopgap, not a fixture: it stands in for the traffic filter trial while Botley Road is closed, and its surplus funds the discounted park-and-ride deal listed below.

Camera-enforced points on six roads — St Cross Road, Thames Street, Hythe Bridge Street, St Clement's Street, Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way — where private cars can't drive through without a permit; buses, bikes, taxis and exempt vehicles carry on. Marston Ferry Road and Hollow Way operate at peak times only (7–9am and 3–6pm, Monday to Saturday); the others run 7am to 7pm.

Unlike the congestion charge you can't pay to pass — driving through without a permit means a penalty, not a toll. Residents can apply for day passes; the numbers, exemptions and maps are on the county's page.

The closure everything else hangs on. Network Rail's station works shut the road in April 2023 for what was meant to be six months; the rail bridge was finally replaced in February 2026 and the published reopening is August 2026. When it reopens, the congestion charge ends and the traffic filter trial begins.

Petrol and diesel vehicles pay £2–£10 a day, by emissions band, to drive on the pilot streets — Cornmarket, Queen Street, Bonn Square, New Inn Hall Street, St Michael's Street, Ship Street, Shoe Lane, part of New Road and the west end of Market Street. Zero-emission vehicles pay nothing.

A much larger zone covering most of the city centre has been proposed for years; a decision is expected during 2026 after further consultation. Nothing wider is in force yet.

Three LTNs — Divinity Road, St Clement's and St Mary's — block through-traffic with bollards or camera-enforced points (taxis and some exempt vehicles can pass the cameras; everyone else gets a penalty). Every address is still reachable by car; the route in may just be longer than it used to be.