Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has today launched the new Toxicity Charge for drivers using higher-emitting vehicles in central London.
The £10 daily charge is added on top of the capital’s congestion charge, meaning drivers of older diesel and petrol vehicles will be paying £21.50 per day to use the roads in London.
Better known as the ‘T Charge’, it is enforced every weekday from 7am till 6pm and could total a net cost of £65,000 to drivers every day, meaning a yearly £17million profit for London City Council.
Sadiq Khan is looking to bring down the overall pollution in London, as according to research excessive exposure to pollution is causing thousands of early deaths every year.
The Mayor has doubled spending for reducing air pollution in the next five years up to £875million, with his plans including implementing an ultra-low emission zone to the limit of the North and South Circulars by 2019. Khan also plans to spend £300million on a fleet of ‘clean buses’ to reduce pollution even more.
Khan said: “It’s staggering that we live in a city where the air is so toxic that many of our children are growing up with lung problems. Londoners overwhelmingly supported my plans to introduce this £10 charge and I will continue to do everything in my power to help protect the health of Londoners and clean our filthy air.”
Gareth Powell, Transport for London’s director of strategy, told the Telegraph: “We are moving quickly on multiple fronts to improve air quality in the Capital. The T-Charge shows that London is leading the way with the toughest pollution standard of any world city, which will be further strengthened with the introduction of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone.
"We are encouraged that people appear to be heeding these initiatives and finding more environmentally friendly ways to travel. This is the bedrock on which the Mayor’s ambitious plan for a zero-emission city by 2050 is built.”
