Although efforts to reduce air pollution levels have been in place for some time, Central London is still one of the most polluted places in the UK.
Mainly down to high volumes of traffic and layout of the city itself, harmful emissions remain in the air and can cause serious harm to the vulnerable population, such as children, older people and those with breathing problems.
The Congestion Charge and the more recent Toxicity Charge have been in place for a long time to try and reduce the amount of traffic driving into the centre of the capital – but London Mayor Sadiq Khan has overseen the planning and implementation of the new Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) that looks to further clamp down on high emission levels from vehicles.
But what is the ULEZ, and how will it affect you as a driver? We take a look…
What is the ULEZ?
The Ultra-Low Emission Zone is being employed to try and reduce the, according to the European Union, illegally high levels of harmful emissions from vehicles being emitted into the air of central London. With this new zone in place, charges for petrol and diesel-powered vehicles will be increased to try and stop people driving their cars into and around the city and instead encourage them to use cleaner ways of transport, such as public transport, cycling or even walking.
Where is the zone?
Initially, the ULEZ will only cover the zone currently under Congestion Charge control, which can be seen on the map below:
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But from October 2021, the ULEZ will expand to take in all roads ranging from the Northern Circular to the Southern Circular. The map here also shows the Low Emission Zone, which will have looser restrictions, but will be implemented from October 2020:
When will the zone be in operation?
The current Congestion and T-Charges only run from Monday to Friday, 07:00 to 18:00 – but the ULEZ will be much tighter on reducing emissions. Rather than being on set times during the working week, the ULEZ will be in operation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Charges will also have to be refreshed at the start of every day, so if you drive in London across two days but spend less than 24 hours inside the boundary, you will have to pay two days-worth of ULEZ charge.
Who will be affected most?
As with the recently introduced T-Charge, the ULEZ will be clamping down on vehicles that down comply with the latest emission standards set by the European Union. The standards for each type of vehicle are:
- Euro 3 for motorcycles, mopeds, motorised tricycles and quadricycles – units built from 2007 onwards
- Euro 4 for petrol cars, vans, minibuses and other specialist vehicles – cars from 2005 and vans from 2006
- Euro 6 for diesel cars, vans and minibuses and other specialist vehicles – goods vehicles from 2014, cars and vans from September 2015, and larger vans from September 2016
- Euro VI for lorries, buses and coaches and other specialist heavy vehicles – built since September 2016
Any vehicles that don’t comply will be charged the ULEZ rate.
How much will it cost?
Replacing the £10 T-Charge, the ULEZ will cost £12.50 for cars, motorcycles and vans up to 3.5 tonnes, while vehicles over 3.5 tonnes will need to pay £100 to enter the zone. This is on top of the Congestion Charge if people enter the zone, which costs £11.50 per day (£10 if you use Auto Pay) but will remain on its current time schedule. If drivers fail to pay the ULEZ, fines from upwards of £160 will be issued, as cameras detecting registered and unregistered vehicles will be placed throughout the zone.
There are exemptions for London residents, vehicles with disabled badges, historic vehicles and taxis, with full details on charge reductions found here via the Transport for London website.
When will the new charge begin?
The ULEZ will be implemented from April 9, 2019, from which point petrol cars built before 2006 and diesel cars from before 2015 will be the vehicles most affected – due to their higher levels of harmful emissions.
Signs will be in place from that time onwards, which will provide drivers with plenty of warning before entering the area – with further notices put up to tell you if you’re in the zone.