ULEZ Expansion Planned in London August 2023

[mab01uk]

See Page 32 of the London plan below....

Next steps for reducing emissions from road transport:-
https://content.tfl.gov.uk/next-steps-f ... nsport.pdf

[beardylonodn]

Well hopefully Sadiq gets voted out and we can stop this madness in London.

[Andrew1967]

I had an email from RAC yesterday where some London boroughs (Islington springs to mind) where they are going to introduce graduated parking charges depending on emissions.

Another example of screwing the motorists and especially hurting those who cannot afford anything newer. *ankers

[72MiniPickUp]

If only this was confined to London but unfortunately too many other cities are jumping on the bandwagon. We live near Bristol and the ULEZ zone there is crazy. Even if you don’t want to get into the centre of the city you can’t get from one side to the other easily without hitting it.
It’s all very well saying go by public transport but what happens if you work outside of those hours? My partner is a train driver, how can he go to work by train when he has to take the things out of the depot in the morning to start the service!

We had to sell our 1989 Ikarus 260 bus as we couldn’t drive it through Bristol anymore. From where we had it stored that was the easiest route for us to take it out. Couldn’t afford to just keep it until it becomes 40 years old and who knows what the rules will be by then. But in all fairness with the smoking 10L RABA engine spewing clouds of diesel fumes over pedestrians (It’s LDH so the exhaust is on the pavement side) it was probably best that we didn’t use it too much through city centres

We did get chance to take it into London before the ULEZ zones really kicked in. It was done up to look like a Moscow city bus for the filming of Litvinenko staring David Tennant

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[mab01uk]

It’s all very well saying go by public transport but what happens if you work outside of those hours? My partner is a train driver, how can he go to work by train when he has to take the things out of the depot in the morning to start the service!

Someone who works at Heathrow airport was telling me they have to drive into the expanded ULEZ zone from outside, by car due to their work shifts which start before midnight and finish some hours later the next morning. As their car will be charged crossing into the zone on the way to work at Heathrow it will cost £12.50, then driving home early the next morning will cost another £12.50 for the return trip....he does not have a highly paid job, he can't afford to live within London near Heathrow and maybe use public transport and he can't afford to buy a replacement for his 2014 non-compliant diesel car...(In 2001, Gordon Brown – then Chancellor – introduced lower vehicle tax for diesel cars on the basis they were less polluting and would bring down overall carbon dioxide levels....).

[Exminiman]

I think this is quite interesting from the "Brown Car Guy" - he takes a pollution detector around London and gets very low and safe figures (even on North circular) except out side tube stations!

It looks as if a train passing a station may cause enough air disturbance to cause the particulates (old dust etc...) to become airborne and dangerous!!

Worth a watch.. https://youtu.be/2QJpRrztcDM

I am not one for conspiracy theories...but...this is starting to feel a bit of a stich up - whether the motivation is just money, seems unclear.

[mab01uk]

I am not one for conspiracy theories...but...this is starting to feel a bit of a stich up - whether the motivation is just money, seems unclear.

It is purely a stitch up to raise money to plug the huge 'Black Hole' in TFL's budget....if it was for air pollution and to save lives you would not let drivers pay £12.50 to continue using a 'dirty' vehicle within the zone....
Once the camera infrastructure is in place on the back of this, there are already plans being put forward by Transport for London for 'smart' road charging for ALL vehicles....including EV's.

[Exminiman]

I am not one for conspiracy theories...but...this is starting to feel a bit of a stich up - whether the motivation is just money, seems unclear.

It is purely a stitch up to raise money to plug the huge 'Black Hole' in TFL's budget....if it was for air pollution and to save lives you would not let drivers pay £12.50 to continue using a 'dirty' vehicle within the zone....
Once the camera infrastructure is in place on the back of this, there are already plans being put forward by Transport for London for 'smart' road charging for ALL vehicles....including EV's.

I suppose the argument for taxing EVs will be >50% of traffic pollution is tyre pollution.....and because they are heavier.....

[Rusty old S]

With all this spy camera bullsh*t going on in cities there is a business opportunity to start up suppling James Bond style revolving number plates, BMT 140A would be a start.

[Peter Laidler]

No need for expensive revolving number plates. Seemingly, so I've been informed by the son of a friend of a friends daughter, is that round the South, some of the miscreants have taken to using one of those black wipe-clean whiteboard markers to, say, make a P look like an R or an L look like an E or a C..... or an F....... You get my drift. Then just wipe it clean with your finger after you've parked for the day - or overnight,,,,,,,,,!

VERY naughty and these miscreants deserve a smack on the bottom. I'm minded to suggest that they just accept the parking fine and pay up

[mab01uk]

Anti-Ulez 'Blade Runner' campaigner chops down enforcement cameras with tree lopper:-
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/ ... 00577.html

[Exminiman]

Anti-Ulez 'Blade Runner' campaigner chops down enforcement cameras with tree lopper:-
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/ ... 00577.html

Why is it that makes me smile so much
Maybe it’s because it has bugger all to do with clean air and a lot to do with indirect taxation …..

[hanlminiman]

I suggest riveting your exempt number plates to your vehicle and take a photo of them on your vehicle locally. Forget double sided sticky back tape.

[mab01uk]

Outer London today but coming to a town near you soon?

[mab01uk]

Londoners buy up classic cars to dodge Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion.
Londoners are taking to classic cars as a way of dodging Sadiq Khan’s Ulez charge.
"Dealers say they have witnessed a surge in interest as the capital braces for the £12.50 charge to expand to cover all 32 boroughs next week, while older cars selling online are being advertised for their exemption status.
Cars manufactured before 1983 qualify as “historic vehicles” and do not need to pay the Mayor’s clean air levy to drive in London. They can also be registered for an exemption from vehicle tax.
Merlin McCormack, owner of Duke of London, a vintage car dealership in Brentford, said it was “ironic” that some of his customers buying more affordable classic cars were doing so because they are Ulez-exempt, despite the vehicles being more polluting than modern counterparts.
He said: “We sell a lot of entry level classic cars as well as high end stuff. A lot of what we sell is very driveable early 80s [and] late 70s and where they are [Ulez] exempt a lot of customers are looking to buy that as their sole London car.”
He added that Ulez was now a deciding factor for most of his customers who drive in London.
Reselling and auctioneer website Car & Classic currently has several vehicles listed for sale in and around London advertising that they are exempt from the Ulez charge, such as a 1970 Hillman Imp Super for £9,500 and a 1972 Austin Mini for £20,000.
Transport for London allows for a rolling 40-year window that currently permits Ulez exemptions for cars manufactured in the early eighties."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consu ... expansion/

[Exminiman]

Londoners buy up classic cars to dodge Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion.
Londoners are taking to classic cars as a way of dodging Sadiq Khan’s Ulez charge.
"Dealers say they have witnessed a surge in interest as the capital braces for the £12.50 charge to expand to cover all 32 boroughs next week, while older cars selling online are being advertised for their exemption status.
Cars manufactured before 1983 qualify as “historic vehicles” and do not need to pay the Mayor’s clean air levy to drive in London. They can also be registered for an exemption from vehicle tax.
Merlin McCormack, owner of Duke of London, a vintage car dealership in Brentford, said it was “ironic” that some of his customers buying more affordable classic cars were doing so because they are Ulez-exempt, despite the vehicles being more polluting than modern counterparts.
He said: “We sell a lot of entry level classic cars as well as high end stuff. A lot of what we sell is very driveable early 80s [and] late 70s and where they are [Ulez] exempt a lot of customers are looking to buy that as their sole London car.”
He added that Ulez was now a deciding factor for most of his customers who drive in London.
Reselling and auctioneer website Car & Classic currently has several vehicles listed for sale in and around London advertising that they are exempt from the Ulez charge, such as a 1970 Hillman Imp Super for £9,500 and a 1972 Austin Mini for £20,000.
Transport for London allows for a rolling 40-year window that currently permits Ulez exemptions for cars manufactured in the early eighties."
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consu ... expansion/

This is being reported on some of the internet news sites as well.

I assume that the only reason that cars older than 40 years are exempt is because they have calculated there is not many of them and they will be driven occasionally and so the impact on air quality will be small.

If the number of 40 year old cars increases, they may well argue the volume of older cars is bad for air quality and charge for them…..or ban them.

He is determined to get his ULEZ tax one way or another……

Not good thing for genuine classic cars enthusiasts within the Ulez zone.

[mab01uk]

TfL London - Project 2030 next generation road use charging (RUC) platforms.
"London was first with Contactless and the Congestion Charge and is now looking to lead the way in introducing a new, more sophisticated type of road pricing. Join TfL now and make this happen. Help us build the next generation road use charging (RUC) platforms. All being built in the cloud."
https://project2030tfl.co.uk/about-us/

[Exminiman]

Interesting plan

Lets face it, in the end his plan is virtually no cars on the road in London by 2030, the roads will be used for automatic (ed) public transport and cycling and skipping.

All personal vehicle movements to be charged by the mile automatically.

This ties in with the “15 minute City” idea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15-minute_city. which effectively creates a small town or village within a city, so that everything, work, Doctors, shopping etc…is all within 15 minutes of where you live.

They can then “ reclaim” the streets and get rid of cars….. other cities are looking at this as well.

I believe this has been on the agenda for quite a while, especially inner London. The inner London boroughs have had loads on money pumped into them and some are now surprisingly nice, leafy areas to live. The areas have been planned with a focus on local living and not cars….

Personally, I think the “The 15 Minute city” idea has lots of merits, unfortunately, its been highjacked by the anti car lobby, the conspiracy theorists, the pro car lobby see it as toxic etc….so any rational debate is now gone….

[mab01uk]

Useful Map below showing the London ULEZ camera locations.
Active cameras are shown in red.
Missing/damaged cameras are shown in black.

Julie's ULEZ Map:-
http://tinyurl.com/JulieULEZmap

In spite of numerous requests, TfL is refusing to disclose the location of the cameras. (So much for FOI)
The aim of this page is to crowd-source the location of cameras across the zone.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/297878371978179/

[kit of bits]

So chaps
What’s a good ulez compliant car for under £5000, less than 10 years old and preferably something that can cope with high mileage?
D