Londoner? ULEZ expansion - wrong time?

[GrubzUp]

I like Sadiq Khan, in general I applaud green initiatives.

However it's been announced today that the original inner London low emission zone is to be expanded into outer London - meaning that if you have an older, more polluting vehicle it will cost you £12.50 every time you drive it anywhere in London (inside the M25 I think).

I live in outer London. There are a LOT of older, non ULEZ compliant vehicles on the road round here. At the moment, people don't need to be compliant for local trips, because unless they're heading inside the North / South Circular Rd, they are fine in their older cars.

I look out in the street and see my neighbours' cars: the people who tend to drive older vehicles are the young, the old, the disabled and the poor.

AIBU to say that hitting them with a big new tax for driving anywhere in the middle of a cost of living crisis is the WRONG time? If they can't afford a newer model they certainly can't afford to pay £12 every time they take it off the drive. I feel bad for these people. How are they going to afford it?

Note that public transport here is not what it is in inner London, you can't just "jump on the tube".

This. Also on the edge, and traffic on our road in Lewisham has increased hugely since the ULEZ as every bugger skirts it by going past the front of my house. right with you! that’s thanks to the sodding ltns- local morons who would vote a flee ridden cow as long as it stood under the Labour Party. Guess that’s why we are lumped with Khan’t

@SquirmOfEels - the ULEZ scrappage scheme only applies to those on benefits.

London has a bloody expensive transport system- ok better than outside of London (which is a shockingly low bar)- but the most expensive in Europe aren’t we for a cosmopolitan city?

Surely this has been known about for years? Needing more notice is a weak excuse.

Drivers are always moaning. Something like 70% of car journeys in london are walkable. God forbid you should get off your backside.

There is not enough time to find alternatives. New vehicles are taking up to 18 months. We ordered in October last year and are still waiting. If you already have a larger family vehicle compliant vehicles have shot up in price to the point some are more second hand than new a few years ago. They are also hard to source due to the issues getting new vehicles. Larger 7 seaters were nearly all diesel so finding a second hand one that is compliant is like finding hens teeth. Disabled people often need the larger vehicles and this is causing issues.

I think this has been known about for a number of years.

The ULEZ came in where we live last year and there were exemptions that meant that disabled people were not forced to change their cars straight away.

We chose to take advantage of the scrappage scheme that meant that we got £2000 for our 20 year old car.

Hate the anti drivers brigade, go on call us “petrol heads” know you’re dying to.

Yes but covid and the cost of living may have caused a couple of financial issues for those intending to trade out their cars

YANBU
DM drives up to visit Me and has to pay ULEZ now. If this comes about she will also have to pay it as I'm Bromley. Twice a month visits might become once a month. It's ridiculous

There was significantly more than a year from announcement to it being actioned.

I do think there should have been better access to grants and things to trade in your car for a ULEZ compliment one. Some people will never be able to afford a newer car even if you give them 10 year.

I don’t agree with the “wrong time” argument though, there will never be a right time to make these changes so they just need to be done.

i wonder how much it’s going to cost to implement with cameras on every road ? i had to sell my perfectly good car whose emissions were so low I only paid £30 a year tax and get a much older car
I noticed in the small print he’s upping the fine for not paying from £160 to £180

I have a reliable, 1 litre car. I use it very infrequently, mainly to drive from my house in the expanded ULEZ to rural Kent for various family and social needs. The idea that scrapping it to buy a new(er) car would be good for the environment is RIDICULOUS.

Reduce re-use recycle. Surely re-using is FAR BETTER than polluting by everyone buying brand new.

Everyone complaining about people driving past their homes, so many of those vehicles are new enough to be exempt. So it won't do what you think it will. Ridiculous.

My Dad's Carer won't me able to get to him if they do this. She's already had to give up other jobs inside the ulez zone.

Really sick of Sadiq's cack handed initiatives. The LTNs are fucking ridiculous!

This is not the way to get people on board! I work for a bloody eco charity & am all for lowering emissions. But this is being done the wrong way! It's setting the cause back!

But someone with a new van will probably add more to the quote to pay for the new van.

It's a good idea. Pollution in outer London is disgusting. Besides, Khan has been made to advance as part of the bailout for the Tube by the Conservatives. You can thank them for this.

But how much was the car you got to replace it

It’s disgusting. Why Londoners keep voting for this lunatic I can’t imagine

All for it. I live in zone 4 and my area is one of the most polluted in London. This past summer was unbearable with the fumes from the main road.

We also (regrettably) have a non compliant car that's a petrol guzzler and I've been trying to persuade DP to get a new one for a few years, but it's the first car he bought and he's got a ridiculous attachment to it. Now he's being forced to get rid of it. Good.

@SheWoreARaspberryBeret123 Really sick of Sadiq's cack handed initiatives. The LTNs are fucking ridiculous!

I live slap bang in the middle of one, on a newly one way road, the next road is closed around schools times etc and I only have positive things to say about it. I don’t find them ridiculous at all, the benefits hugely outweigh the mild inconvenience imo.

Its an awful thing to do. Will fuck over so many people.

I live about 3/4 miles inside the zone. It's all very well saying use public transport but there are not the same levels of public transport here that there are in the central zone. Many people are more reliant on cars. Especially right on the border - going out from me there are some parts that are actually quite rural with limited bus services. The station just over the border has max 2 trains an hour each direction - even in rush hour. It's single track so no way to increase capacity.

Everyone here was against it - I understand the principal but the timing and timeframe
Are just so wrong.

The council have issued a statement saying the mayor should come to the Borough to discuss it.

ULEZ was planned under Boris…

I just assumed it was a bid to appease vehicle manufacturers who are probably shitting bricks. Low interest rates have bolstered car sales via finance for years, take away the cheap money and its likely new vehicle sales will tumble in the next 3 or 4 years.

There should be a longer notice period although it has been in works a while. And it should cover all vehicles

I'm in outer London and cannot understand why anyone would vote for him. Not just for this but violent assault continues to go up. He is a failure.