Cleaning up London’s toxic air

Great idea, we need to do as much as we can to reduce the pollution but also the number of cars on the roads. Reading the comments below, I'm disappointed that people assume the solution is to buy new compliant cars. There is lots of evidence to suggest that fewer cars creates a healthier and more pleasant environment for everyone and I'd like to see this in London.

When I retired I sold my 1964 VW camper and bought and had converted to a campervan a 2013 VW Transporter (T5.1) which is Euro 5. (It is not a model on the cheating computer list).It is much cleaner than the old VW and was the best available at the time. No scrappage scheme is going to give me enough money to buy another campervan or take the camper bits off my T5.1 and put them on a T6 (if they'd fit.) I'd be happy to pay say £1 or 2k to upgrade my van to Euro 6 but VW say they cannot do this. We live just outside the South Circular Road and to save diesel drive through London to get to the M4 or M1 or M11. Exemptions at weekends and holidays and 7 pm to 7 am - when vehicles are not stationary for so long - might well reduce pollution substantially. As for our elderly Golf and my 1988 BMW motorcycle ... Just as well I sold the 1969 Morris Minor last year.

First fix thre traffic lights and get them synchronize remove the speed bumps, open up all lanes that have been closed in the last 5 years and than come back and talk about expansion

Can we not fit a better exhaust system to older cars, with Government help to help decrease air pollution? Diesels were all the rage years ago when I bought my 2001 Skoda Octavia, including a green light from the then scientific advice given to Government. Technology has improved in most areas - surely we could fit better car exhausts with catalytic converters?

I would like to see an expansion however, my concern is that it would catch way too many cars with not enough time for people to switch. Maybe the requirements could be less strict in this area ? allow older cars ?
And where is the scrappage scheme for petrol cars that are not compliant ? where is the incentive for switching to EV/hybrid ? where is the investment in EV infrastructure/charging ?
And what about council policies that cause more pollution ? i.e. poorly implemented speed bumps and road closures that cause congestion ?

We need to do something immediately to stop the damage that is being done to the health of Londoners by motor vehicles. The ULEZ should extend to the M25. The Mayor of Paris has shown the way by banning cars over 19 years old.

I drive an 05 Previa which would needlessly be scrapped if this comes in. I need that car as we are 6 in family, including two disabled kids. There are not many vehicles we can upgrade to, if any. We would not be able to afford a change in any event. Its easy for Mayor Khan to sit there and convince himself he's doing the right thing but in his chauffeurs driven comfort he will not notice the struggles he has caused for other people. I invite him to come and talk to me and tell me why his principles are more important than my family's finances and why it is right that poor and elderly people should be driven off the roads so he can prove a point.

I drive an older VW campervan and a 2000 Beetle, both will need to be scrapped due to this coming in place. I will not be able to afford anything newer as unable to get credit, I need a car for working so will then end up out of work. People say I should move away but as I work all over London, have elderly parents I need to care for I can't. This is just another stealth tax on the poor. Those who drive the big 4x4 with 6 litre engines can afford another charge yet if I was to pay it that would be a quarter of what I earn each week. This is just one more reason to hate everything about London and what it has become.

I support measures to tackle air pollution in London but I am completely against the proposed flat daily rate being extended to the Norh and South circular as proposed as it discriminates unfairly against those who have an older car but only use it rarely or drive very few miles in the proposed zone. Any charge on pollution MUST be proportionate to the pollution emitted even for drivers of newer cars that do many more miles in the zone. How fair is it that someone who uses their car to drive half a mile in the zone once a week gets clobbered with a £650 a year charge whereas someone with a slightly newer car that does 10000 miles in the zone pays nothing? Also a flat charge is regressive as it is poorer people and vulnerable people (e.g. Pensioners who don't qualify for a disabled badge but are not capable of carrying bags of shopping on the bus or who feel unsafe on public transport) who will be unable to afford a new car or unwilling to give it up because it would curtail their independence who will suffer disproportionately. If the mayor is the socialist and environmentalist he says he is then he must reject the flat rate scheme and look into something where ALL vehicles irrespective of age pay a toll based on the mileage driven within the zone, not hit hard those who can't afford to buy a newer car but hardly drive it at all in the zone. This is especially true if the zone is to be extended to the North/South circular as millions more people will be affected. Additionally I think the proposals to extend the zone by 2020 are too soon for people to adapt and whilst I support the introduction of the already proposed central zone in 2020 I do not think any extension should be brought in for several years afterwards to give people living in and near the new zone time to adapt e.g. By buying a newer car. Also the scrappage scheme should cover petrol cars as well as diesels - why should drivers of older petrol cars not get compensation for having to change heir car whereas drivers of diesels will?

I do not support this in any way. All it does is hit the many, including many poor, who were encouraged to buy diesel cars a couple of years ago. Mayor Khan to should not make decisions that affect peoples lives and finances without thinking through the consequences and proving a long period of adjustment (at least 10 years). Talk of expanding the zone and bringing the implementation date forward is crazy, all it will do is hammer those who cannot afford to change vehicle and will therefore become another tax on the poor. People need their cars and purchased diesels in good faith on government encouragement. These people should not be left high and dry by one person's crusade. Is having minimally cleaner air worth the hardship and inconvenience that will be wrought on less well off Londoners by this ill-thought out policy? I do not believe so.

In favour of reducing air pollution in London so, yes, for the extension of the ULEZ. But it needs to be combined with a diesel scrappage scheme. Some London buses are now retrofitted to reduce diesel emissions by 75% and new technologies are coming on stream almost every week. So keep all measures to reduce air pollution under review. And we need to keep in mind the costs involved in extending the ULEZ.