'C' is for calm: commuters stay away as London brings in congestion charge

London's congestion charging scheme began quietly yesterday, defying predictions of a chaotic start to the most ambitious attempt at traffic management in the world.

The streets were unusually calm both inside and outside the central zone, marked by red "C" signs, where motorists are now charged £5 a day to enter between 7am and 6.30pm on weekdays. Although the move was timed to coincide with the half-term school holidays, traffic levels were as light as a Sunday morning. Predictions of jams on the zone's boundary as motorists sought alternative routes failed to materialise.

But, in the absence of a mass switch to public transport, there was a suggestion that many commuters had simply decided to stay at home.

London's Mayor, Ken Livingstone, who admits his future may hang on the scheme's success or failure, said: "I'm just waiting for something to go wrong." But, by the evening rush hour, there had been no real problems. The test is likely to come when schools return and drivers resume normal habits.

Transport for London said the main payment channels – shops, internet, text messaging and a call centre – were working well and that about 80,000 payments were expected to have been made by the end of the day. The scheme aims to cut congestion by 10 to 15 per cent and raise £130m a year, which the Mayor is legally obliged to spend on public transport.

Saying it was "crucial" that the scheme worked, Mr Livingstone added: "I would expect for us to see the benefits by Easter and to know whether or not it will work. I will be disappointed if it takes six months ... We shall have to wait and see."

The scheme is being closely watched in other cities in Britain and around the world. If it works, several other British cities are likely to copy it.

Although the move was welcomed by environmental campaigners and some residents in the zone, there were protests by those living on its fringes, and by workers who rely on cars to get into the charging area.

At Smithfield meat market in central London, the Conservative leader, Iain Duncan Smith, and the Tory London mayoral candidate, Steve Norris, met workers protesting against the charge before 200 demonstrators set off on a march.