London vehicle charges
As of today London is wanting even more money to drive in the cIty using certain vehicles. They are calling it a T Charge. It won't make any difference to pollution ( their spin ) but will make a lot of money for London.
The only way to curb pollution in that highly polluted city is to ban fossil fuel vehicles entering the city centre. People in London are being poisoned by emissions from petrol and diesel vehicles. It's time that real action be taken by London.
K
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"but will make a lot of money for London"
Not according to Mr Khan on the Beeb this morning. It' actually being run at an additional cost to London.
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It's all a big game. Here's a true story from my working days.
About 10 - 15 years back. the then Mayor was facing a massive fine from the EU for not achieving the air quality target set at the time.
The answer was, and this is true, spray the the roads around the monitoring stations late at night with a sticky coating to trap and hold particulates as they settled late at night. the the same trucks would then sweep the roads very early next morning. Result = manipulated data to avoid the EU fine
Happy days,
Oh and then there's the political back hander's involing the new Hybrid Routemaster to keep NI sweet, then there's the one about the Dome in 2000 and the Bendy buses.................
So much goes on that is not public knowledge,
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For those who will have to pay it will feel like something is being done.
Not many left to remember all the railings being cut down in the 1940s to help the War Effort. That they were in the main poor quality cast iron and got dumped in landfill as they were limited use in making steel didn't matter. The public could see something happening.
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,do you drive a fossil fuel vehicle K ????
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Yes I do H/D. but out of respect for the poor Londoners I would never visit London with it. ----
As I said earlier, a complete ban on such vehicles in the centre London is the only way to clean that city up.
Run the trial for about 10 years, continually monitoring the London pollution levels and if successful, the experiment could then be rolled out to other large city centres.
London is the ideal place to start.
K
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K, just reading a piece online about polluted city's , you seemed very concerned about London and what they should do when Glasgow has a higher reading than London, so what are Glasgow doing about their issue ???????
London, parts per million=22
Glasgow, parts per million=23
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I see no reason why the centre of any city which is badly polluted should not have restrictions put on Fossil fuel vehicles.
London was on the news this morning as demanding £21.50 per day just to take certain vehicles into the city ( the C/charge and the T/charge) hence the reason for the o/p. No other cities in the UK are so mercenary.
I therefore believe that London, the largest city, would be the best place to trial a "No Fossil fuel ban in the city centre". But if other smaller city centres throughout the UK adopted a similar trial, I don't have a problem with that.
K
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There's been an article on teletext news about the number of people who die due to pollution, with air quality being responsible for two thirds. That's about 6 million every year. Most of these are in poorer countries, Somalia and Bangladesh being amongst the worst. I don't know how accurate the report is.
The UK has better record than many countries around the world when it comes to pollution. While I'm not against efforts to improve that even if we banned private internal combustion engine cars entirely from London it would make little difference to world pollution.
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Whilst I tend to agree that whatever they do in London or elsewhere in the UK won't make a difference globally it could help a lot of Londoners if it improves the quality of air locally. At least in London it's pretty easy to get around on public transport although some of that is not that efficient pollution wise!
David
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"At least in London it's pretty easy to get around on public transport although some of that is not that efficient pollution wise!"
Not true, for many years now all buses operated in London have to be fitted with some form of exhaust after treatment system or CRT system to reduce particulates and other emissions. The bus service in London is unique in the UK as it's the only regulated one in the country and run by private companies who have to tender for the 5 year contracts to run the routes for TFL. A part of that contract will specify a vehicle profile ( Age, Euro Emission standard etc) this is why London has the largest number of new and nearly vehicles in the country.
Revenue goes to TFL, the companies are paid per mile run in service and for adhering to the timetable. Any services that do not reach the targets are fined by TFL and continued poor performance can result in the contract be taken away from the company.
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London and its pollution is not just about older, so called less efficient vehicles on its roads. It has over six million more people living there than the next largest U.K. city, (Birmingham), London sits in a bowl of land surrounded by hills, which gives it it's own micro climate. All the vast tall towers and structures further affect wind flow, and create small pockets of dense areas of pollution. Then there is the wood burning stove issue, stoves are very efficient if all that is burnt on them is well seasoned and clean wood. But let's face it, folks are going to burn whatever is cheap if they can.
On the plus side, spending on local public transport is probably more in London than anywhere else in the country by area, but it has to be funded somehow.
I view London as a lifestyle choice, there are some fantastic things about living in London, there are some downsides to living in London. It is such a special case that those who choose to benefit from living and working there, with its better salaries, its vibrant culture, having close access to major events, theatres etc.... will have a price to pay, be it paying to try and keep the pollution at as low a level as possible, or paying with possibly a shorter life. Individuals have to make that choice.
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If they were really serious & committed(London's authorities) they'd ban all polluting vehicles outright. They want money for coming into London whilst not stopping the spenders so it's the Politicians favourite that wins the day-'green tax', hypocrisy at its best
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My daughter lives in Putney and she comments on how different the air quality is when she is down here on the south coast.
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I bet she does CY. I did a trip to the Isles of Scilly some years ago. One of my memories was landing back at Penzance, hardly an air pollution hotspot, but the different "land" smells hit you like a wall.
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