Low Emissions Glasgow.

[LittleDitto]

I’m trying to find information out if there’s a daily charge (like in London) or if it’s just a flat out £60 fine. I’ve got about 8 events booked in Glasgow between June and October and it’s going to prove tricky and risky to not take my car. I’ll have to just ditch my plans if it’s going to cost a fortune on too
of what I’ve already paid.

I really wish public transport was a better option to and from rural parts of Scotland late at night.

Glasgow Royal Infirmary is definitely close to some of the signs coming off the M8, but Gartvavel and QEUH should be fine. Have to say it seems crazy that anyone needing to attend any hospital would have to pay for the lez.

Lots of stations/commuter villages tonthe north or east of the city have free parking e.g. from the M80 you could park at Stepps or Robroyston. From the M8 Croy has a huge car park.

It's ridiculous if the Royal is in the zone. In the event of an emergency LEZ is the last thing you'd think off

I hadn't thought of that, I had to visit DS2 in the Royal then take him in for weekly treatment for months a few years ago. None of my families cars are ULEZ compliant as we are all thrifty and drive our cars until they die of old age!

Putting hospitals or hospital car parks in the LEZ is an inexcusably unfair thing to do!

I think the whole thing is incredibly unfair. So many people will need to replace cars just so they have a car that is compliant.
The city centre is dying as it is without encouraging more people to stay away.

But the hospitals is unforgivable. So many people end up having to go to hospital either as an emergency or because they require specialist treatment not available locally.

If they'd made it really old cars aren't allowed in then it would almost make sense but cars at 6/7 years old aren't old.

It is going to be difficult no doubt, but reducing pollution in the city centre is really important.
The RI is outside the zone and should be accessible via the M8

That's at least something that they've kept the RI out of the zone.

Cars are cleaner than they have ever been and are getting clearer. The low emissions will happen anyway over time.
It would make far more sense for the city's to introduce LEZ at the same time and have a national campaign to inform people

From a health perspective it's long overdue

https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/topics/in-depth/air-pollution/eow-it-affects-our-health

@thedevilinablackdress not sure how that will help the Aberdeen one though.
Most of it runs along side the harbour where the massive ships sit metres from the road pumping out diesel fumes

It'll reduce the pollution from cars, so a reduction overall. Not sure what can be done about the boats - are there any discussions in Aberdeen about how to tackle that?

The LEZ is needed to save lives. I checked and my eight year old car is compliant so I can drive into Glasgow. I doubt that I.will as I prefer to use a bus, far easier for me than driving and parking. I have been to GRI the new QEUH and both are well served by public transport.

I don’t think for one minute GCC give a toss about saving lives or reducing pollution. Just a way of making money.

It'll still reduce pollution, whatever the intention.

I disagree here, I think GCC (and the other cities that are introducing LEZs) are doing so to avoid costly fines for exceeding legal levels of air pollution and to avoid future compensation claims by those harmed by air pollution. So yes, it is about money but also about reducing pollution.

Poor guy on the radio this morning,runs a motor mechanic business within the Zone,potential massive loss of business
If any of the people bringing all this in had ever ran a business (or even had a proper job) things might be very different

It's a difficult one because air pollution in Glasgow is shockingly bad and something does need to be done, but proper planning and preparation needs to be done before a change this big and I'm not sure that it was. It was interesting to hear the guy from Oxford on the radio describing their scheme which actually goes further than Glasgow, but the big difference seems to be that any money made is transparently put into improving public transport (which also sounds better) so they bring the public along with them. In Glasgow they've put this through before the public transport infrastructure was there to provide an adequate replacement (and I'm not at all sure than any fines won't just be sucked into whatever fashionable 'initiative' they're running), so it's not clear that people will get on board with it. It requires a level of joined up thinking that our leaders just don't seem capable of, so I'll be surprised if it's a success.

I'm I the only person who thinks it hilarious the Lord Provost's car doesn't comply and can nolonger drive in the city centre.

The manager of the Skoda garage has also said it means there are people who can't drive to the garage to trade in their car.
He reckons in the car industry alone they have put 200 jobs at risk.

Example of another half though out we want to be different idea.

All those car garages near Cale Uni are in the LEZ, and there's some independent ones too just off the motorway. Its been so badly managed. And unless you shut the M8 how much difference will the LEZ really make to air quality?

Yip the Skoda garage manager reckoned it could put 200 jobs at risk.

There are big signs on the M8 stating that the LEZ applies to the M8 between certain junctions.

No, the LEZ doesn't cover the motorway.

https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/LEZ

It could be that if you leave the M8 at certain junctions, like at Charing Cross, you are straight into the LEZ.

It's a difficult one because air pollution in Glasgow is shockingly bad and something does need to be done,

Is one of the reasons air pollution so bad because it has a whacking great motorway running through the middle?
Other Scottish cities don't have this. How much is this a contributory factor?

We have a 2014 plate diesel, 85000 on the clock, goes well and no rationale reason for changing it road tax £20 annually but not LEZ compliant. We also have an antique petrol car, which is unreliable and rarely used but LEZ compliant with a road tax of £180 annually.
Yesterday I took my antique car to work just outside the LEZ, travel by public transport would take 1hr 40 each way onto an already 12hr plus day. 1st day of the LEZ left work late and drove to the M8, to find the on ramp closed. Happily drove off through the city centre in the antique car, through the LEZ and back home. If I'd taken my newer, safer reliable car I'm not sure what route I'd have taken to get home, probably gone east to the M73/M74 and round south of the city and back that way. Increasing mileage/ fuel/ wear on the car etc etc.
It's really unclear around the M8 where the LEZ starts finishes and what you can and can't do. To me there should have a been a couple of weeks where you got ticketed but the fine was much lower and it didn't accrue the multiple penalty. The fines feel a bit more like treating the poorer motorist a bit like a cash cow.

Does anyone know if you can exit at Charing Cross and head down GW road without going into the LEZ? I know the signs on the M8 in Glasgow say junction x to y, but I know you can exit cathedral street without crossing into so does the same apply to Charing Cross. Its really not clear! We as a family do what we can to reduce our car use, utilising cycling/ walking around our local area. It feels wrong to replace newish reliable car( remembering that due to covid our car probably lost the equivalent of a year of use) for the few episodes a year that we do drive into the LEZ, it will definitely impact our visits to what I consider my home city with eating out taking place in restaurants outwith the LEZ and shopping being done online or in the out of town shopping centres.

The air has improved greatly in Glasgow due to the improvement of buses ( which has come with a huge increase in bus fares) and the switch from diesel to electric trains.

Does anyone know if you can exit at Charing Cross and head down GW road without going into the LEZ?

Yes you can. I drove that way last night. The cameras are the other side of the M8, I passed them at the start of sauchiehall st opposite the Mitchell Library. If you come off the M8 and go along Woodlands Road or Great Western Road you are not in the LEZ at any time.

@thedevilinablackdress as someone with an asthmatic family member I look forward to it - lived in Lanarkshire for several years and always get train in as Glasgow has the best suburban train network outside London.