Standard.co.uk: London Mayor Boris Johnson aims to create the world’s first ‘ultra low emission zone’. Clean air levy will apply 24/7… on top of C-charge
Extra charge: £12.50 will be added to the congestion charge for some drivers
Drivers of the most polluting vehicles will have to pay £12.50 a day in addition to the £11.50 congestion charge to enter London by 2020 as the mayor bids to improve air quality in the capital.
Starting a public consultation today, transport chiefs said the main benefit of the world’s first “ultra low emission zone” (ULEZ) would be to halve toxic fumes - nitrogen oxide and particulate matter - from vehicles.
Cars, motorcycles, vans, minibuses, HGVs and coaches will all have to comply or pay a daily charge, which will for the largest vehicles will rise to £100 a day.
The ULEZ will be imposed on 7 September 2020 and cover the same area as the existing zone for the congestion charge - which currently costs £11.50 a day to drive in.
The move means some car drivers would have to pay at least £24 a day to enter central London.
The zone will apply 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Boris Johnson said: “Introducing the world’s first ultra low emission zone is an essential measure to improve London’s air quality and reduce NO2.
“Safeguarding Londoners’ health and well-being is a top priority for my administration. I understand that people need adequate time to switch to greener vehicles and help is at hand for those who will be hardest hit, but let’s be clear, we need to make these important changes ASAP to continue to improve Londoners’ quality of life and give everyone who lives in or visits the city the cleanest possible air to breathe.”
It is reckoned 4,300 people a year die every year in London because of poor air quality.
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “We welcome this measure to tackle poor air quality.
“What drivers want is certainty and time to react to rule changes. These proposals offer both. But by TfL’s own admission, taxis, freight vehicles and its own buses will pose as big a problem as private diesel cars. The Mayor’s challenge will be to win over businesses to these plans.
“Where Boris leads others are likely to follow. Town and city halls across the country will look to London to see how these proposals work and be asking whether they should be doing the same thing.”
The two pollutants of principal concern in London are particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
London is now compliant with PM limit values owing to the low emission zone, taxi and private hire vehicle age limits, bus retrofit schemes and the natural turnover of vehicles. However, London is not forecast to meet the legal limits for NO2 until after 2030 – alongside Birmingham and Leeds - unless targeted action is taken.
By 2020 cars and small vans will pay the charge unless they have the Euro 6-level engine for diesels, or Euro 4 for petrol engines.
In a further bid to cut emissions, from 2018 all taxis and new private hire vehicles seeking a license in the capital will have to be zero emission capable. The age limit for taxis, which are forecast to be the second largest contributor to nitrogen oxide pollution, will be cut from 15 to ten years to comply with the new standards.
Critics accused the mayor of watering down the plan by ditching a proposal to ban the most polluting vehicles outright.
London Assembly Green party member Jenny Jones called for the zone to be extended from the outset to boroughs including Islington, Camden, Southwark, Hackney and Tower Hamlets.
Baroness Jones said: “It is one of the biggest scandals of our age that 4,300 people a year in London are dying prematurely as a result of poor air quality. As serious air pollution is not confined to the boundaries of the congestion charge area, nor should the Ultra Low Emission Zone. Boroughs outside the zone should be given an opportunity to opt-in at the earliest possible opportunity”
The Campaign for Clean Air has identified 187 air quality focus areas where targeted action is required, including Hackney’s Amhurst Road and Dalston Junction. The Greens insist the mayor and local authorities extend the Ultra-Low Emission Zone when it starts in 2020.
Stephen Knight, Liberal Democrat London Assembly environment spokesman said: “What is being proposed is too little, being introduced too slowly.
“Only last year the Mayor’s 2020 Vision stated that his plan for an ultra low emission zone would restrict central London only to those vehicles which have zero or near-zero tailpipe emissions. Sadly the Mayor has dropped this commitment and seems content to allow highly polluting vehicles to enter central London for many years to come.
“Polluting central London should not be a privilege for the wealthy - yet that is exactly what the Mayor is proposing.”
The ULEZ consultation, which runs from today until Friday 9 January 2015, is available online at www.tfl.gov.uk/ultra-low-emission-zone.
Extra charge: £12.50 will be added to the congestion charge for some drivers
Drivers of the most polluting vehicles will have to pay £12.50 a day in addition to the £11.50 congestion charge to enter London by 2020 as the mayor bids to improve air quality in the capital.
Starting a public consultation today, transport chiefs said the main benefit of the world’s first “ultra low emission zone” (ULEZ) would be to halve toxic fumes - nitrogen oxide and particulate matter - from vehicles.
Cars, motorcycles, vans, minibuses, HGVs and coaches will all have to comply or pay a daily charge, which will for the largest vehicles will rise to £100 a day.
The ULEZ will be imposed on 7 September 2020 and cover the same area as the existing zone for the congestion charge - which currently costs £11.50 a day to drive in.
The move means some car drivers would have to pay at least £24 a day to enter central London.
The zone will apply 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Boris Johnson said: “Introducing the world’s first ultra low emission zone is an essential measure to improve London’s air quality and reduce NO2.
“Safeguarding Londoners’ health and well-being is a top priority for my administration. I understand that people need adequate time to switch to greener vehicles and help is at hand for those who will be hardest hit, but let’s be clear, we need to make these important changes ASAP to continue to improve Londoners’ quality of life and give everyone who lives in or visits the city the cleanest possible air to breathe.”
It is reckoned 4,300 people a year die every year in London because of poor air quality.
Professor Stephen Glaister, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “We welcome this measure to tackle poor air quality.
“What drivers want is certainty and time to react to rule changes. These proposals offer both. But by TfL’s own admission, taxis, freight vehicles and its own buses will pose as big a problem as private diesel cars. The Mayor’s challenge will be to win over businesses to these plans.
“Where Boris leads others are likely to follow. Town and city halls across the country will look to London to see how these proposals work and be asking whether they should be doing the same thing.”
The two pollutants of principal concern in London are particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).
London is now compliant with PM limit values owing to the low emission zone, taxi and private hire vehicle age limits, bus retrofit schemes and the natural turnover of vehicles. However, London is not forecast to meet the legal limits for NO2 until after 2030 – alongside Birmingham and Leeds - unless targeted action is taken.
By 2020 cars and small vans will pay the charge unless they have the Euro 6-level engine for diesels, or Euro 4 for petrol engines.
In a further bid to cut emissions, from 2018 all taxis and new private hire vehicles seeking a license in the capital will have to be zero emission capable. The age limit for taxis, which are forecast to be the second largest contributor to nitrogen oxide pollution, will be cut from 15 to ten years to comply with the new standards.
Critics accused the mayor of watering down the plan by ditching a proposal to ban the most polluting vehicles outright.
London Assembly Green party member Jenny Jones called for the zone to be extended from the outset to boroughs including Islington, Camden, Southwark, Hackney and Tower Hamlets.
Baroness Jones said: “It is one of the biggest scandals of our age that 4,300 people a year in London are dying prematurely as a result of poor air quality. As serious air pollution is not confined to the boundaries of the congestion charge area, nor should the Ultra Low Emission Zone. Boroughs outside the zone should be given an opportunity to opt-in at the earliest possible opportunity”
The Campaign for Clean Air has identified 187 air quality focus areas where targeted action is required, including Hackney’s Amhurst Road and Dalston Junction. The Greens insist the mayor and local authorities extend the Ultra-Low Emission Zone when it starts in 2020.
Stephen Knight, Liberal Democrat London Assembly environment spokesman said: “What is being proposed is too little, being introduced too slowly.
“Only last year the Mayor’s 2020 Vision stated that his plan for an ultra low emission zone would restrict central London only to those vehicles which have zero or near-zero tailpipe emissions. Sadly the Mayor has dropped this commitment and seems content to allow highly polluting vehicles to enter central London for many years to come.
“Polluting central London should not be a privilege for the wealthy - yet that is exactly what the Mayor is proposing.”
The ULEZ consultation, which runs from today until Friday 9 January 2015, is available online at www.tfl.gov.uk/ultra-low-emission-zone.
