Cleaning up London’s toxic air

I think this proposal is fine.

But we should go further.

Why not say also that from year X all vehicles that emit pollution will be banned from central London, and then from year Y from outer London. X and Y would be chosen to give time for people to get reasonable use out of their existing vehicles and to build up an infrastructure of charging points. Exceptions for special purpose vehicles like fire engines where alternatives might not yet be viable.

Could a total ban with several years warning be put through a cost-benefit analysis please?

I cycle in London daily. I dont find pollution to be a particular problem. In terms of global emissions footprint, most of the environmental impact of a car is in its manufacture, and the longer you can make it last the greener it becomes - regardless of the improvements in exhaust emissions for more modern cars. Taking a global view, we should be encouraging motorists to keep their old cars running. The only vehicles I find to produce noticeable exhaust pollution are actually some of the older busses - never cars and rarely vans or trucks.

The LEZ and ULEZ are a direct result of targets set by the EU. Following the Brexit result we have at last an opportunity to make a change for the batter and do away with the introduction of the introduction of the ULEZ, let me explain.

Do Euro 6 engines produce less harmful emissions? No

Lets take cars for a moment, Euro 6 does not exist, think VW and co for example where the car are something like 40% more polluting than the requirements. Lets look at buses and trucks, It is true they may not pump out of their exhausts whilst in the street harmful particulates but they store those particulates in a special filter which is then subject to a regeneration process where the vehicle engines run at a super hot temperature and all those particulates stored are burnt off and pumped in the environment. No benefit at all with Euro 6.

Are Euro 6 engines are more efficient? No

Euro 6 engines use more fuel and achieve less mpg compared to say Euro 3/4/5. Considering more fuel is burnt this means more emissions all burnt out the exhaust into the environment. Euro 6 bus and coach have an adjustment to the maximum permitted weight, this means the same size vehicles around 5-10% heavier which causes more wear and tear to the infrastructure, in short worse roads and more road works.

Are TfL are committed to Euro 6? No

TfL have used an exemption to ensure the bus fleet in London remains out of scope for the current LEZ requirements. The new Borismaster does not meet the proposed Euro6 requirements so presumably TfL will not simply dispose of £250k vehicles to meet this target. It is most probable that the TfL bus fleet will remain out of scope of Euro 6 and by a cruel twist of fate will end up with a environmentally efficient fleet operating at below Euro 6 requirements/

I will scrap my car/van/bus etc and just get a new one, right? No

The Euro 6 proposal will have a major impact on the current make up the vehicle fleet in London. The cost in both financial terms and environmental impact is gigantic to say the least. Perfectly usable safe vehicles will not be permitted (unless a fee is paid) inside the ULEZ zone. Those older vehicles will be sold (if you can as residual values will plummet) off to other parts of the UK or worse scrapped. In the case of scrapping the environmental impact will be huge as vehicle are broken. The cost of bringing new stock to the Uk will also produce substantial particulates into the environment as we ship huge volumes of cars from around the world. You might have to wait a long time for a new car as well. From a bus and truck perspective there simply is not enough new stock to go around so might mean shortage of deliveries or increased out of hours deliveries. The only people to benefit from this are the vehicle manufacturers as they will have a bonanza of sales in the run up to Euro 6 implementation.

So why is the Major determined to push forward with this plan?

I asked myself the same question and the answer i arrive at time and again is simply this, if he can push the problem to someone else door step then it no longer becomes a London problem. London needs to be clean, it needs to be free of smog and it needs to be the best the world has to offer so tourism and business comes here. Bu mostly this was a failed EU plan and it all comes down to money, if London cannot meet the target then it gets a fine from the EU. Next time you ask if the Mayor has your interests at hear the answer is, well it depends on your view i suppose.

There are many old black taxis on our London streets, these are now very polluting. I don't understand why these are still allowed to be used for hire in London. Other cities in the UK do not allow vehicles over 3 years old to be used as Taxis. Why does London?

Listen, slapping a fine on everyone isn't the answer. It really isn't. Businesses get charged it and then people are charged it to get the goods they need to either their homes/businesses. What we need is a better way of organising the below :

1. Road works. There doesn't appear to be any logic or organisation about when/where roadworks are allowed to happen. They also happen too many times in the same place. Utility companies come along one week dig up the road, whatever needs doing gets completed and the hole is filled in again (not always back to the standard of the road they originally found it in). Then a couple of weeks later another hole gets dug up. It's crazy. All the flow of traffic suffers and that affects everyone, the pollution starts to build because there are cars sitting there motionless with all their Engines running. We need to be smarter about this. I can assure you if everyone gave up their cars/vans tomorrow it would put too much pressure on an already busting at the seems public transport systems.

The Mayor should be giving businesses more incentive to try and encourage people working from home who they can sensibly. What else can be done to reduce unnecessary travel into London? Slapping another tax on people (who maybe struggling as it is) is not the answer.

He is Mayor for a reason and now it's time for the Mayor of London to come up with some answers. The Congestion Charge hasn't worked (clearly) otherwise we wouldn't be having this discussion now.

Give people good options that don't cost people the earth to do and are practical sensible solutions.

Putting push bikes on already congested roads, then add tourist to that who don't know the rules of the roads in London (putting lives at risk) was a stupid idea. We don't have the room to segregate the roads so come up with another solution Mayor of London.

I changed my car (reluctantly) from a petrol to a diesel because the dealerships were all telling me this was more environmentally friendly to the planet. Now it's not !!! I mean make up your minds....... Now I'm being told I will have to pay double to get into London when my car reaches a certain age. I mean does he think people have pots of money they just refill when they get empty?

Stop people sitting in cars with their Engines running unnecessarily. It happens everywhere. We even have Addison Lee drivers and others urinating in empty water bottles and leaving them in the side of the road for others to clean up.

Look at how may Taxi Licences local authorities are issuing out there. There are too many cabs on the roads now days.

The reality is vehicle manufacturers cannot satisfy Euro 6 requirements,think VW and co. We also see heavy vehicles branded as being friendly to the environment but this is simply untrue. Euro 6 buses,coaches and trucks might not push out those harmful particulates when in the street but the regeneration process burns off all the particulates captured into the very air we are being asked to keep clean.

A almost strait line between A and B (where somebody is coming from and where he or she is going to) is causing less pollution then having a Ultra-Low Emission Zone which people will try to avoid. Expanding the ULEZ will increase the traffic in the surrounding area.

what's the matter with this man?
cycle lanes everrywhere - and now plans to extend the area covered by the congestion charge and penalise elder vehicles.
threby driving trade away from london.
is he intent on increasing the cost of food and goods in the london area? as sure as eggs are eggs, the companies who deliver here will increase their prices.to cover the increase in delivery charges.