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.

It is based solely on emissions, not age. The age is just a guide. https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/cars

No, zero emissions cars are exempt, regardless of age. The age is just a guide - the charge is based solely on emissions https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/cars

So why are classic cars exempt

Surely they are polluting

But they are classic, and probably mostly owned by old rich men …..

Exactly 😅

But talk about double standards

It was The King's Head when I lived there but essentially I concur.

The classic car exemption was originally set up only to August 2023

Has it definitely been extended?

Not sure

BTW - interesting article here on classic cars

What’s the environmental impact of classic cars in the UK? (lancasterinsurance.co.uk)

Not as polluting as you might think, plus typically vv low mileage

Unfortunately he's also trying to remove travel cards making cheaper travel (still a tremendous cost) impossible for families or anyone trying to access the capital.

I don't see how this fits with making the air cleaning?
Surely you get amazing public transport first?

You are mistaken @Drenchend and I am distressed that you are misleading others in your confusion.

You can use a debit card to touch in or out on tubes and buses - with buses it is just one touch on entry.

Most people have a debit card and I always use that now because it is incredibly convenient. If you don't have one you can have an Oyster card but that has a £5 refundable premium.

That is cheaper than using paper tickets. Did you know that? Well, it is.

No need to thank me.

Are more people dying, than in 60/70 with coal fires etc.
Why is asthma getting worse, I’ve never known so many younger people with it. Is money going into research etc.

Yes lots of money, undertaking studies such as looking at particulates in the air from car pollution and making recommendations such as finding ways to discourage car usage and therefore reduce emissions in built up areas

The Guardian today on traffic pollution and deaths and illnesses

Ulez key to tackling ‘unacceptably high’ child illness and death, doctors say | Air pollution | The Guardian

@limitedperiodonly....

Im confused. I live outside London and can't tap on or out and they don't have oyster cards.

If we drive into London and then use the tube... We do use our banking cards to tap in or out?

But to get the train into London from where we live we do need a travel card which enables us to access any station and tube or bus.

@Noyesnoyesbutno

I'm was told by docs and hospital my dd has asthma.

After labouring under that delusion for so many years by chance we found out she actually has allergies!

@limitedperiodonly

Our local activists are hot on this as well because it doesn't make sense.

Soon London will be only accessible to rich people surrounding it. Ten years ago we wouldn't have been able to access it and my children would have been denied our wondeful capital.

Why don't you look it up on the TfL website?

@limitedperiodonly
. What am I looking up? When I go to my station I get options non of which include tapping or oyster?. My cheapest way in is travel card and local people are up in arms about it's removal?. It's in local news?

Not that many of them. And would you want to destroy them? It's a bit like burning books. Overkill IMO and I don't have a classic car or any car.

No not at all but why can't they pay the £12,50

You just buy a single or return mail one train fare to a London terminus eg Crewe to Euston. You don’t need to add anything else on to the ticket. You could previously buy a ticket that was mainline plus travel card for London, but the travel card is no longer required as you tap in and out with your card on the tube etc. you just buy the train ticket. Using your debit card is capped at a daily max that is less than the travel card element used to cost.

I think there is an unintended consequence of the ULEZ expansion for people who travel to London from further afield. I know a number of people who attend regularly for events etc and most of them drive to the ends of the tube lines and then tube in to central London, so as not to have to drive in the charging zones, however a number have said if they have got to pay £12.50 (of actually £25 because a late concert they possibly won’t make it out before midnight if they have to get the tube all the way out to the end of the line afterwards) they might as well not pay for the tube and will just drive to be walking distance from the various venues, which also gives them more time to get out again and hopefully limit the fee to £12.50. If i know 3 people who have said this as one individual they can’t be the only ones thinking it and that is more congestion in the centre.

@TeresaCrowd
"most of them drive to the ends of the tube lines and then tube in to central London, so as not to have to drive in the charging zones,"
There is NO tube in Bexley and Bromley.
Its just buses

There are however also plenty of trains at a frequency that would astound and delight non-Londoners, and you can use Oyster on them, so it's really no different to changing Tube lines when you fer to Victoria or Blackfriars.

If Oyster not available on your train, then chances are (as Oyster has expanded across almost the entirety of the Zones) then it's not a service run by TfL.

Removing the TravelCard element of railway tickets isn't really an inconvenience for the passenger (you'll still have to show something at ticket barriers, it'll just have to be a contactless bank card, Oyster card or suitable phone/smart watch with "pay", and no longer a paper ticket)

Fares should come down to reflect that the London travel is no longer part of the ticket. That's for the rail operator to do.

It's disingenuous to say there are no tubes without clarifying that there are very good train services which people drive to to use in the same way as they drive to tube stations in the north of the city. I'm in Bromley borough and don't support the expansion of ulez to the whole borough as parts of it are very rural, but places like Bromley, Beckenham and Orpington have very good train services. When they're not on strike of course!