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London is preparing to apply "Monday" restrictions on automotive pollution among world leaders, while the capital will try to clean the toxic air responsible for thousands of premature deaths.
The ultra-low emission zone, or Ulez, will start at midnight one minute, charging a charge of £ 12.50 a day to get to central London, with the exception of the cleanest cars and vans .
This measure is expected to reduce road transport emissions by approximately 45%. Mayor Sadiq Khan unveiled a study showing that nearly 1,000 people a year in the city were hospitalized for asthma caused by pollution.
The charge will be levied 24 hours a day in the London congestion charge zone, and drivers driving polluting cars during the day will have to pay both, which will cost £ 24 to enter central London between 7am and 6pm.
When and where does it work?
From 8 April 2019, in the Central London toll zone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. From October 2021, Ulez will be extended to London districts, up to Circular roads north and south.
Who pays?
Drivers of older cars, vans and motorcycles will have to pay £ 12.50 per day if they do not meet the more stringent standards for exhaust emissions. Non-compliant trucks and coaches will be charged £ 100 per day.
Is my car compliant?
If it is a diesel engine Euro 6 (normally manufactured after 2015) or Euro 4 (newer than 2005), it is exempt from the tax. Drivers can check if their vehicle is compliant on the TfL website.
Is it instead of the congestion charge?
No, it's as good as the C-charge, which applies to those who enter the area from Monday to Friday between 7am and 6pm. It costs £ 11.50.
How will drivers know and if I do not pay?
License plate recognition cameras will check for cars whose emission certifications are in the DVLA database. Motorists can pay the fees at midnight the next day. Non-payment will result in a fine of £ 160 for cars or £ 1,000 for trucks.
Will older vehicle drivers be exempt?
Holders of badges, until 2025, and residents of the urban toll zone, until 2021, will be exempted. Just like the black taxi drivers.
It will apply to drivers of cars and diesel-powered vans whose engines are not certified to comply with the latest Euro 6 standard, imposed as of 2015, as well as most gasoline-powered cars. over 14 years old. Non-compliant buses, coaches and trucks will have to pay £ 100.
The charge will be enforced using license plate recognition and the DVLA database, which includes the emission standards for each vehicle.
The city council said the project would improve air quality throughout the city by limiting pollutant journeys and encouraging motorists to adopt less polluting modes of transport.
A bigger improvement – but a potential shock for London residents with the most polluting cars – could come in October 2021, when Ulez should extend to all areas between the north and south circular routes . This expansion will bring about 640,000 vehicles to the area, of which about 135,000 will be liable for the tax.
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Other cities, including Birmingham and Leeds, have announced the creation of air purification zones by 2020, and Manchester intends to do the same.
Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor of the London Environment, said air pollution was a social justice issue. "The poorest are the least likely to own a car, but more likely to live in a highly polluted area," she said.
At present, more than 2 million people in London, including more than 400,000 children, live in areas where air quality exceeds the legal limits for nitrogen dioxide.
The City Hall anticipates that the measures will allow almost all of London – with the exception of the main roads and the area around Heathrow – to be within the European legal limits by 2025, and that No elementary or secondary school will be located in London in areas of toxic pollution. At present, the quality of air exceeds the legal limits in 451 schools.
A study from King's College London and Imperial College London found that on average four Londoners, including one child under 14, were hospitalized for breathing difficulties due to pollution from the school. air. The researchers estimated that about one in 10 teenage boys admitted to London by asthma was directly related to the quality of the air.
Khan, said, "As a person who has developed adult asthma in recent years, I know from experience that London's toxic air is bad for people's health."
Dr. Penny Woods, Executive Director of the British Lung Foundation, said the numbers were not surprising and that the toxic air was putting everyone at risk for lung cancer and respiratory diseases. "It's the biggest environmental threat to human health, but because it's invisible, it's often ignored," she said.
The launch of Ulez has been very well received by business groups and environmental groups, although some have urged London and the government to go further and faster by promoting zero emission vehicles or carpooling systems. Independent tests carried out on Euro 6 diesel vehicles have shown that many models still do not meet their emissions targets.
The CBI said it was a positive step, but that smaller companies might find it hard to bear the charge. The Road Haulage Association, however, described the scheme as "simplistic and anti-motorist" and said some operators would stop serving the capital.
A 23 million pound scrappage program designed to help small businesses and charities using older minivans and minibuses to improve their vehicles was only launched in February. Alex Williams, director of urban planning for Transport for London, said charities trying to comply may have room to maneuver.
Fines will be imposed from the day of the launch for drivers who do not pay the fees. According to TfL, 90% of London drivers were aware of this project, after an advertising blitz including direct mailings, and 3.2 million people had used its vehicle tester.
Williams said that Ulez was not intended to generate revenue for TfL, whose budget was undermined by the end of government subsidies, Crossrail delays and stagnant pbadenger numbers.
About 100,000 vehicles enter the area each day and Williams said that with the increase in the number of motorists moving to cleaner engines, four out of five vehicles would comply and not be subject to fees. Holders of badges with disabilities will have an extinction period under which they will be exempted until October 26, 2025, if they belong to the tax clbad for pbadenger vehicles for disabled or disabled persons.
TfL predicts this tax will reduce traffic by 5% in central London. Uber drivers and other private rental cars, whose number in London has grown by several thousand in recent years, will likely pay the amount, but black taxis will remain a notable exception. Most of the current 23,000 licensed vehicles run on diesel, but all new taxis must be zero-emission gasoline-electric hybrids.
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