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Comments
Central government is acting too slow on this issue and Sadiq is correctly using the policy levers open to him to influence behaviour to improve air quality.
That would be enough to discourage a huge amount of car use and not make this so painful for those living in the zone.
It would still nudge more recent car owners into replacing them with cleaner vehicles and not wage a battle on classic car owners.
There's lots of them around.
A classic isn't necessarily a 1960s or older car. Special cars from the mid-1990s and back are considered classics.
They are worried about rat running etc around the boundaries. Revenue for TfL looks like it is £2m a day so I guess that might offset the £750m cut that the Government have imposed on TfLs grant
I think it's easy to miss how time passes.
My mum has a 1968 Mercedes, she got it in 1991.
It was 23 years old - and would certainly have already been considered a classic by then.
My car is 1991 - 27 years old now.
Ali, I'll bet the boroughs do - probably haven't asked their residents though.
I actually think this is something big enough that it should have been put to a referendum across the areas affected. Sadiq didn't explicitly stand on extending the ULEZ with no residents discount - it's the latter that's the real shocker for everyone.
As an aside, as I was cycling down Hornsey Road this morning, I saw not one but three Islington CCTV cars pass me in swift succession. Clearly the council doesn't see doing its bit for bringing down air pollution as more important than raking in cash from drivers.
What's always driven me mad about the people in those cars is they regularly can be seen parked on double yellow lines with the engine running.
Can't trust the general public.
Given the anti-social nature of cars - the dangers of driving them and the space they take up even before you get on to air-population and carbon emissions- their use should be penalised much more than at present. These proposals don't come close.
I'd be open to exemptions for those with a genuine case - the disabled for instance.
I also disagree with your views on cars, as will a great many people. (Although most likely not the kind of person represented on a Stroud Green neighbourhood forum.)
I can see why you think that, but I think you're wrong and I side less with prescriptive state-knows-best measures and more with freedom of choice.
I agree London's air needs cleaning up but also think results could have been achieved with a subtler system that warps outcomes less. Brand new Lamborghini or Range Rover free, 2002 Ford Fiesta £12.50, Miss Annie's mint Capri, £12.50.
I suspect, however, that neither of us are likely to change our mind.
Also, my stats the other day were wrong, as I read the wrong chart. Road transport is only 50% of NOx so you can halve those figures - so its 12% contributed by diesel cars and 6% from petrol.
Report here https://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/sites/default/files/Policy themes/Environment/Demystifying air pollution in London FINAL FULL REPORT_IM_0.pdf
Why do you think so many people are driving diesel cars, causing this ULEZ-targeting NOx problem in the first place?
Because the state encouraged them too.
The state should run public services and intervene elsewhere when necessary with a considered and light touch.
Air quality probably counts for necessary now (thanks to the state's previous bodge) but this is not a considered or light touch, it's more a sledgehammer and nut job.
I just checked and you can get a train ticket to go to York tomorrow (randomly picked somewhere that someone might spontaneously go) for under £60 return if you're a bit flexible with timing. Would be £30 in advance or with various railcards, company booking accounts etc.
plus, i'm from (very rural) north Yorkshire, and have spent the last decade managing quite well to get back home using a train or a hire car.
In my view, London stinks of diesel compared to New York (way more than it used to), though no doubt our CO2 emissions are top notch.