New ULEZ comes into force today central London

IronGiant

I do find it surprising/annoying that a Euro 5 Petrol is reckoned to be as good as a Euro 6 Diesel.  Hardly consistent is it

Bl4ckGryph0n

I guess they focus on the particles....

It's a shame that classic cars will be charged an extra £12.50 on top now Yet the GTI will use a heck of a lot less fuel than the AMG we've got. Yet the latter is allowed to go in, purely based on age and type approval opposed to actual emissions. The system is madness.

Epicurus

I had to drive to Finchley today from the south coast.  The M25, the A3 and the North and South Circulars were all absolutely horrendous.  A normally 4 hour round trip outside of the rush hours took me 6 hours.

I can't help but think a lot of extra traffic on peripheral routes is people avoiding the ULEZ.

gangzoom

Just think what will happen when its expanded to the A406. It may be my imagination but the LEZ signs start at the M1 junction 2, so one day it might even get pushed out to the M25 zone.

You cannot deny congestion charging has massivly improved traffic in central, and with all the public transport in London it works fine.

Am actually surprised other bigger cities haven't implemented it. Though no other city in the UK has a public transport system as good as London.

Over by there

I think many probably have looked at it but our council for example is absolutely strapped for cash. They would get keel hauled for the initial outlay. I think a lot of places area also feeling he pinch.

There is one street near us that is one of the highest polluted in the area (yeah OK, not the same as a city). Always nose to tail for an hour or two in the mornings. It is one of the main roads into town (of around 4 roads) and no real other way but a lot of people are driving from within walking distance. But I cannot equate the numbers to the spaces and think that many are just taking a short cut. At least two issues (obviously there are people that need to use their car). Lazy and short cut.

Epicurus

Honestly it's been hard to judge over the last several years because whatever benefits were gained through congestion charging have been wiped out and more by Crossrail chaos.

The ULEZ I'm not against in principle, but the street I cough and splutter most on is Oxford Street and that hasn't had a car on it during the day for 10 years.  It does however have plenty of buses and Euro 4 diesel taxis...

t bone

look on the bright side at least it should get Uber drivers, private hire vehicles from blocking up central London happy days

TerFar

I am all for cleaning up the environment, but simply penalising a polluter entering a zone doesn't seem a fair plan.
Charging a fee to enter the zone isn't going to stop people suffering respiratory problems. Banning dirty vehicles, (including trains and boats/ships), wood burners, bonfires, aerosols (hwir sprays, deodorants, etc), scented candles and other forms of harmful emmissions would clean up the air we breath.
Why just dirty vehicles if we're to be serious.

stblob

Ban mopeds, they absolutely stink.

mjn

If the Government wanted they could have said, “right, dirty old vehicles are bad for air quality, as such, we’re completely banning euro 5 (and below) diesels and euro 3 (and below) petrol vehicles from central London. You will need to buy a new vehicle, a contribution is available to assist you.”

But no, they said, “your euro 3 petrols and euro 5 diesels are dirty, however, pay £12.50 each day and it’s all good.”

It’s a blatant money grab. They don’t care about clean air, just how they can make money.