This is all very well, and I realise I'm as guilty as anyone else, but it has very little to do with the congestion charges in Birmingham City Centre.
It kind of does. Although it's not really a congestions charge (officially it's a Clean Air Charge) it probably will have the knock on effect of reducing car traffic into the city centre. People will still have to get there to work (or shop), so they will have to come in by train, tram or bus - or cycle if that's an option for them.
I'll start off by saying I don't drive, so mostly travel by bus & very rarely have the kinds of issues people who don't use buses regularly assume happens constantly
All jokes of smelliness aside, overcrowding is a big issue right now, and if more people are going to turn to public transport then something does need to be done about it. One evening last week I waited over an hour to be able to get on a bus as they kept coming round full already (I get on 4 stops into the route). It doesn't often happen to that extent, but once or twice a month, or if there are issues with the trains, it can be a problem. And talking about trains, my colleagues who commute by train talk of delays almost every day, and regularly say trains are too full to get on as they are showing up with only 2 carriages.
Don't get me wrong, I think measures to cut air pollution are a good thing, but they have to provide a viable alternative to the car to make it work & I don't see that happening at the moment.