Proposals to introduce an expanded London Ultra-Low Emission Zone earlier than the planned September 2020 date and a diesel vehicle scrappage scheme are among a package of measures designed to improve air quality to be contained in a public consultation document to be published “within a matter of weeks” by the capital’s newly elected Mayor Sadiq Khan.
The proposals in the consultation will include:
•Extending the Ultra-Low Emission Zone to the North Circular Road and the South Circular Road and the possibility of bringing forward the introduction. Under current plans the Zone will operate within the Congestion Charging Zone and is due to come in from September 2020.
•Implementing an extra charge on the most polluting vehicles entering central London using the Congestion Charge payment and enforcement system from 2017. It would not mean an increase in the Congestion Charge but just the method for collecting the extra charge from people driving the most polluting vehicles.
•Introducing Ultra-Low Emission Zone standards for heavy vehicles London-wide from 2020
•Giving the go-ahead for Transport for London (TfL) to start work on the costs and challenges of implementing a diesel scrappage scheme as part of a wider national scheme delivered by the government.