To wonder what all the fuss is about ULEZ

[Winterday1991]

Hardly anyone is affected, only if you have a very old car. No, you should not be free to pollute the air by driving around in a polluting vehicle and so should have to pay a penalty to do so.

It annoys me as everyone agrees we need to tackle climate change, but no one wants the hit on their life/ change their lifestyles.

ULEZ is about MONEY. Why are people so deluded that they think it's somehow going to benefit the environment?

I don't know why ULEZ opponents always mention tradesmen. They usually just bill their clients the ULEZ charge anyway so they aren't out of pocket, they do the same with the congestion charge and parking charges!

This is the situation I am in right now. We've had to make a lot of changes. I v rarely drive mine to school.. Now it's a mix of walking and bus (school is 1.7miles away). Only ever use telephone or econsultant appointments for GP. Suck up the £12.50 charge for the rest. We average £25 a week, luckily less at the moment while hobbies are reduced over summer. My son does a sport that is inside the zone and we can't get public transport for.

Well the right wing media certainly would love you to think so!

have you not read the thread? Or much about the topic? ULEZ is aimed at improving the health of Londoners. Revenue tails off sharply after implementation and is used to fund the scrappage scheme.

Oh dear this is just conspiracy theory nonsense. Have got any idea how insulting this is to people in London who struggle to breathe because of asthma? Who can feel their breathing worsen on high pollution days? Who are more likely to end up in hospital when pollution is high (yes, there is data showing this)?

It’s SO easy to just shout about it all being about money when you’re not the one in danger of dying because of it, isn’t it?

Whilst I appreciate the need for cleaner air in central London there is a world of difference between a diesel vehicle driving around London all day and the occasional user on the outskirts.
We do not live in the ULEZ zone but my frail 94 year old mother in law is three miles within the border. My husband's car is not compliant so every time he visits, which is at least once a week (and sometimes if there is a problem can be several times a week) he will incur a charge. We are pensioners ourselves and planned to run his elderly, but well maintained car for as long as it lasts. We cannot afford to replace it and as others have pointed out the emissions generated by producing a new car will be greater then those generated by these journeys. A charge which will be a minimum of £50 a month to drive 3 miles in and out of the zone four times is daylight robbery!

Like many others we had to sell a perfectly good 2014 Qashqai because it was diesel. I think when we bought it there was some kind of a tax incentive because it was considered quite eco! As far as these things go anyway.

I don't think the comparisons between the small central zone and the greatly enlarged new zone really work. When we lived much closer to the centre we rarely drove because everything was close and public transport was fine. We are a bit further out but still well connected so don't need to drive too much. However, we have another property in Zone 5 which we rent out and that isn't as well served by public transport and that would be much trickier with a car.

without a car

That's all fine cleaning up our country, what about others? It's ok to pollute theirs. it was in the paper few years ago about a really poor African country being used as a dumping ground of the world's used batteries. Country being used as a scrapheap for other countries old crap that's no longer needed. So those old cars you want rid of will pollute elsewhere as long as its not near you though.

It’s not like we are all linked in one big ecosystem is it?

if I’m forced to sell my car because of ULEZ it just moves the problem on elsewhere. Doesn’t matter which way you look at this scheme it’s a cash grab.

One thing worth considering is the road fund licence on your new car vs your old one.

I’ve just done a comparison for someone who was going to get rid of a diesel clio £30 a year tax. They were getting a same age fiesta at £200 a year to tax.
that’s quite a few goes into the zone before it’s better to be in the fiesta.

Because not all can pass it on, not all can afford to make it work. There’s been examples already of dog walkers giving up, window cleaners giving up.

Interested to know what hybrid car you have?

And that's great. But for huge parts of the country public transport isn't good - in fact is often completely woeful.

Where I am, public transport is awful. I cannot get to work on public transport. When I first moved here, public transport was decent and could easily commute to work on the bus. Sadly no longer the case.

Um if they do bill their clients then clearly the clients i.e. you and I, are going to have to pay extra for their services.
if we can’t or won’t, tradesperson goes out of business

@Iolani i have a Merc E300 Bluetec Hybrid Estate from late 2014 so just coming up to 9yr old. It’s a Diesel/Electric but it’s a very early hybrid so self charging through regeneration rather than plug in. It crawls in queueing traffic solely on the electric motor without an issue. Ironically when I bought it I could have spent the same on a full diesel version from late 2015 and that would have been ULEZ compliant but I thought the hybrid was the more eco option. Sadly the ULEZ didn’t exist at the time!

When people say zero emissions, they forget the emission etc from the car being built.
Years ago my DH could fix his car himself, buy parts from scrapyards. No longer, it has to go on a computer to be informed what is wrong.

Really been looking 8 months can pay more than I paid 10 years ago for a car 1 year newer.

Try moving to the outskirts anyone can live in central London (disabilities, large families excluded) and travel that's why the 1 in 10 cars figure exists because statistically you can't afford a banger in London as it's too expensive to park and your home doesn't have parking or your so rich you don't care.

It's just one reason why I shall probably never drive into London ever again. I won't change my well-maintained, economical, comfortable diesel car on a 2008 plate, with 156,000 miles on the clock, that works for my life and does 45-50 mpg just to dodge a small charge. I just won't bother going to London. If it's really exciting, I'll travel by train, which is surely the intention.

God you're naive. Saddie owes 700 million for the Crossrail shambles and needs to pay it back ASAP.

You think ULEZ is about the environment?

Oh dear!

I am really not sure about the rights and wrongs in this discussion. Having spent years living in London and NY, I didn't like London and loved NY, so I am not bothered about going back to London. There are exhibitions I would like to see but I'm not one for sports or music Events. DH enjoys some sports but a ticket, travel costs and accommodation rarely come in at less than £600, even staying with friends.

I’m not the naive one. I look at evidence, data, past experience. Like I said upthread, the last two times with ULEZ, non-compliant vehicles and revenue fell off quite quickly not long after implementation. They won’t be making that much. What is collected will be offset against the scrappage scheme.

Have you actually looked at the numbers? Or are you just listening to the various organised attempts in the media to put us proles off a measure that would be good for our health? And then parrotting it?

It’s really easy to have a knee-jerk ‘it’s all about the money and you’re just naive if you don’t see that’ approach to every big initiative that’s a bit inconvenient. And yes, some things ARE just money making schemes. But not this one. The numbers don’t stack up to support that, for one thing. Unless yoh’ve done the calculation and modelling that proves otherwise? If so, feel free to post them on this thread to back up your claim.

Frankly, I don’t care or think it matters if it does make money, as long as it also delivers the cleaner air and health benefits we so desperately need. But it won’t make that much when stacked against the costs.