london bridge

London congestion charge will hit some hard

09/08/07 09:35 Filed in: Politics

Transport for London (TfL) is proposing radical changes to the road tolls to link them to carbon dioxide emissions. If the proposals go ahead there will be a lot of hefty losers and a few winners.

Drivers whose cars comply with the latest late st Euro 4 specification and emit less than 120 g/km of CO2 will be exempt from the toll. But those whose cars emit 225 g/km or more will pa y £25 per day to enter the enlarged central London zone. Most other cars and commercial vehicles will pay £8 per day.

Take the wrong type of car into London in future and you may have to pay through the nose



Motor industry body SMMT has attacked the proposals saying that they raise fundamental questions about the scheme's aims. The ask if the proposed regulations are:

• to reduce congestion
• raise revenue
• penalise drivers of larger cars
• or to cut emissions?

The SMMT goes on to say that the proposals will:

• bring massive bills for larger families

• and penalise early adopters of congestion charge-busting hybrid cars.

The reason that early hybrid drivers may now have to pay a toll is because of the requirement that, to be exempt the engines need to comply with the Euro 4 specification.

TfL's consultation is due to start on Friday. The main proposals are:

• Low-CO2 emitting cars - 100 per cent discount (£0). Includes cars in Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) Bands A and B (less than 120g CO2 per km) which also meet Euro 4 air quality standard
  • The majority of cars - VED Bands C, D, E and those in F with emissions up to 225g CO2 per km – will continue to pay exactly the same daily charge as at present - £8
  • The highest CO2 emitting cars - VED Band G and equivalent vehicles (above 225g CO2 per km), as well as those registered pre March 2001 with engines larger than 3,000 cc, will pay £25 a day

The SMMT claims that families with some seven-seater MPVs and estate cars could be "hammered" by up to £5,300 a year from February next year, compared to £1,696 now.

They say the worst news comes for families living within the zone.

Currently, residents are eligible for a 90% residents' discount on the £8 daily charge, meaning they pay around £170 a year. Under the new proposals there will be no residents' discount for owners of cars emitting more than 225 g/km CO2. That means a bill of up to £5,130 a year more than they are paying now.

'Londoners will be sceptical about the motives for this significant change to congestion charging and many will fear this is already a done deal,' said SMMT chief executive Christopher Macgowan. 'However, we will push for a re-think on these totally disproportionate proposals. A family whose car emits one g/km more than their neighbour's could end up paying thousands of pounds more a year. That can't be right.'

The SMMT say that on the positive side, exemption criteria will become technology neutral. In other words, they say, regardless of powertrain type, cars emitting less than 120g/km, including petrol and diesel models, will pay nothing to enter the zone.

They also welcome the incentives for commercial vehicles, with trucks meeting highest air-quality standards (Euro 5) set to qualify for a £2 daily discount. However, SMMT is concerned that the new scheme will add further layers of bureaucracy and confusion for road haulage companies struggling to come to terms with the forthcoming introduction of the Low Emission Zone (LEZ).

Finally the SMMT says manufacturers investing in high blend bio-ethanol (E85) cars will be disappointed that TfL is not considering them for congestion charge exemptions. Tailpipe CO2 emissions are similar to petrol equivalents. However, recent studies at Imperial College demonstrate significant well-to-wheel CO2 benefits of E85 compliant cars - 41 per cent in the case of a Ford Focus FFV2. This should have been factored into TfL's exemption criteria.

• The Association of British Drivers has reacted angrily to the proposals: "As the Mayor has pointed out, only 8% of cars registered in London will be affected, but only 10% of the CO2 emissions in London according to Transport for London are created by private cars. So even if all those car owners instantly stopped using them, the benefit might be only 1%. In practice, a third might stop driving into London, a third might pay the charge, and a third might switch to a lower emissions vehicle - in the last case they are very unlikely to save more than 50% of emissions as most vehicles in Band G only slightly exceed 225 gm/km and they are likely to switch to vehicles that are just under the limit. So adding all this up, the likely benefit is about 0.5%. Who will notice the difference? Nobody! "