My car is one of those which has very low emissions so no Vehicle Excise Duty is required. However, this morning I received by post a letter from Transport for London (TFL) advising that the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is expanding from 25 October 2021 and my vehicle could be one that may not be exempt, due to it no longer meeting emission regulations.
I live well outside London and haven’t been to London in the last 35 years but I guess as my car is of the type registered I have to be informed of the change. With the economy as it is – possibly bankrupt – why this cannot be done in a cheaper way, via the internet or TV or press advertising for example I just cannot understand.
That aside I thought other members on OFF might be interested to know about this change as some may at times visit London. Plus how the government is wasting even more of our taxes, which they soon will, or already have, run out of.
Perhaps this is why it will, from the date above, cost £12.50 per day (£87.50 per week) to drive into the ULEZ:
When I worked in London it was permanent night shifts so missed the parking regulations, which helped as it was difficult getting home by train. Now though with this ULEZ it’s operational 24/7 weekends too, just on Christmas Day it doesn’t apply.
Who is going to pay for the delivery vans and lorries using this area to deliver goods like food etc. or those trades who use vans in the course of their work to repair or supply services such as electricians and plumbers?
I know London quite well, the new area is enormous and includes many areas where people live too. Not just the wealthy in Bayswater etc. but ordinary people in the outer areas.
I guess it will be the ordinary citizen who, at the end of the day, will pay the bill for all this. Not all citizens and traders will be able to afford electric vehicles and that is what this will finish up as, electric vehicles only.
They should inform every car owner in the country of the area where the restrictions cover then by post and pay back that amount from the road tax for the time spent in the restricted area
Sydney now has many toll roads but no congestion charge
For example to drive the length of the M7 (40km) is about $8.50 (£4.25) so they get you anyway. I used to avoid the toll roads but now I take them because they are so much quicker (not that I have used one since Covid).
The ownership of Roads is a conceptual problem, to me, since everyone who pays Tax, in the UK, pays for those Roads.
The Government uses our tax money, to pay for those roads, and maintain them.
OK so far!
Then someone, like London, puts a price on our usage of our own roads, and rips off the entire population by making them pay even more for the privilege of going in there to spend our money at their stores, theatres, etc.
Think only twice :shock:
Wild horses and the offer of a million pounds would not persuade me to drive to London. I hate the place full of dirt and people…
My car has CO2 of 84gms/km (80mpg), but even so I have no intention of driving into any part of London.
It had been mooted that London like charges were to be introduced to Chichester, but as the city relies on the car for shopping trade etc and car park charges, second thoughts were applied.
Personally, I wouldn’t set foot in Londonistan and certainly would never drive there for obvious reasons.
Having said that, Marge is talking about going to Kew Gardens for her 60th birthday, I may be obliged to go (although not drive of course).
It occurs to me that if enough people in Londonistan either object to the new rules or even can’t afford the charges, there would be a lot of Londoners giving up their cars and, consequently, their road tax.
I wonder if Khan’t has considered how to make up the shortfall. He’s probably not bothered as that income, I think, goes straight to the government.
It may also result in people moving out of the area, though I’m not sure how many people would want to pay the ridiculously high prices to buy their houses.
Strangely, I too have received a letter from Transport for London, stating that my car (should I be stupid enough to venture anywhere near that cesspit) does not meet the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) standards.
Then there’s the usual ramblings about air pollution in the capital and to cap it off, TfL gave the DVLA my registration number (don’t know where they got that from), and it was the DVLA who send out the letters.
Living in central London is probably fine without owning a car, plenty of transport to everywhere plus of course nowhere to park anyway or you can but at an extortionate cost. It’s possible even to walk most places, if you know London.
Now that the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) area has expanded so much, right to the outer suburbs, easy transport may not be the case. Have a look at the map of this area on my original post, it’s quite some large area compared to what it once was.
All this is in aid of the drive (excuse pun) towards electric vehicles. Next will come the increases in taxes both on petrol and diesel fuels and on the vehicles themselves that use those fuels. Look at the increases in Vehicle Excise Duty some years’ ago on larger-engined cars (gas-guzzlers) to get them off the roads or pay a small fortune in tax if you wish to drive one of those vehicles.
Soon, and in not so many years either I believe, will come the almost ‘compulsory’ electric vehicles, everything else will have been priced off the roads.
Minimum emission standards
Petrol: Euro 4
Diesel: Euro 6
The ULEZ is enforced based on the declared emissions of the vehicle rather than the age. However:
Petrol cars that meet the ULEZ standards are generally those first registered with the DVLA after 2005, although cars that meet the standards have been available since 2001 Diesel cars that meet the standards are generally those first registered with the DVLA after September 2015
Interestingly, we still see 'VIP’s still being driven around in large ‘gas-guzzlers’.
Why?
Well, I suppose because they can…
and after all, WE are paying for them through our taxes.
