London gears up for low-emission zone

09 May 2007

Strict new rules are to be imposed on dirty, heavy vehicles travelling throughout London, in a bid to improve air quality and save lives.
Mayor Ken Livingstone has announced plans to set up the London-wide Low Emission Zone (LEZ), which will monitor the most polluting lorries, coaches and buses from February next year.
The LEZ will be ‘largest low-emission zone in the world’, and encompass 90% of the Greater London area. It will use 80 CCTV cameras, plus 10 mobile units across the network, to track offending vehicles. Initially, the LEZ will apply to lorries over 12t but from July 2008 it will also apply to vehicles heavier than 3.5t. Vehicle details will be registered using the Drivers and Vehicle Licensing Authority database to identify a vehicle’s emission standards for particulate matter. Licence plates will be checked as vehicles drive though London, seven days a week, all year.
Operators of affected vehicles which do not meet the LEZ standards will be fined £200 for each charging day they have driven into the zone. Failure to pay the daily charge will result in a penalty charge of £1,000, reduced to £500 if paid within 14 days. The level of charge has been set in order to encourage operators to clean up their fleets rather than to incur a charge. ‘The scheme will cost £50M to set up, with annual running costs expected to be £10M, and around £5M of income generated,’ said Mr Livingstone, who added: ‘Two-thirds of all lorries and half of all buses and coaches… are already compliant.’
Sarah Bazin, chair of council at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said. ‘It’s not a revenue-generating scheme… this is a good deal for Londoners. ‘We believe this decision represents a major step forward for the respiratory health of people living and working in London and we would urge other local authorities to follow the example.’ London currently has the worst air pollution in the UK. Thousands of Londoners suffer ill health from pollution released by traffic fumes, and poor air quality also causes the premature death of more than 1,000 people each year.

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