A new ‘T-Charge’ for London aimed at the most polluting cars could be introduced as soon as 2017 under the new London Mayor Sadiq Kahn.
The recently revealed plan proposes that in addition to the existing, emissions-based congestion charge, London will also impose a toxicity levy on cars.
NOx and particulates targeted
While the emission limits haven’t been announced yet, this so-called T-charge will affect cars, motorcycles and vans that drive in London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which is set to be extended in 2020.
Any vehicle that emits over a certain amount of NOx or particulates from their exhaust will be subject to a £12.50 charge for driving in the extended ULEZ. This charge can be applied in addition to the one given for driving in London’s smaller Congestion Charge Zone.
Reducing air pollution in London was one of the key pledges that the new London Mayor Sadiq Kahn built his successful election campaign upon.
Kahn said: “I have been elected with a clear mandate to clean up London’s air – our biggest environmental challenge.
“In the past, London has only responded after an emergency, like with the Clean Air Act, which followed the Great London Smogs of the 1950s. But I want to act before an emergency, which is why we need big, bold and sometimes difficult policies if London is to match the scale of the challenge.”
Other motoring-related proposals made by the new London Mayor includes buying only hybrid or zero emission double-decker buses from 2018 and a possible scrappage scheme for dirty diesel vehicles.
Kahn has instructed Transport for London to look at the costs and implications of such a scrappage scheme but stresses such a measure would need to be applied nationwide by the Government in Westminster.