London – ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) – is coming

 

 Layer of dark air over London

ULEZ is designed to improve London's air quality
and to cut pollution  

 

 Current congestion zone – Central London

 

ULEZ will be first introduced on 8th April 2019 and will cover the same area as the Congestion Charge Zone. Cars will be charged £12.50 a day on top of the congestion charge, which is currently £11.50 and levied between 7am and 6pm on Monday to Friday. Unlike the Congestion Charge the ULEZ charge will apply 24 hours a day 365 days a year (366 in leap years). This means that cars judged to be polluting will be paying £24 a day to drive in Central London. 

 

Petrol driven cars registered prior to 2005 and diesel cars registered prior to September 2015 are likely to be affected.  

 

ULEZ Zones 

Red from 8th April 2019

Orange/brown from 25th October 2021

 

 

On 25th October 2021 this ULEZ Zone will be extended out to cover the area enclosed by the North and South Circular Roads. 

ULEZ: Where and when

ULEZ: Where and when By Transport for London | Every Journey Matters Where and when the ULEZ will operate

There are exemptions for cars with low emissions. Here are links to both the criteria and how to check if your vehicle is exempt.

Cars

Cars By Transport for London | Every Journey Matters Check to see if your car complies with the ULEZ standards

Check your vehicle

Check your vehicle By Transport for London | Every Journey Matters Guidance to check your vehicle's compliance with ULEZ (excluding taxi and private hire vehicles).

Cycling in London: Close Pass Volkswagen Passat + Deliveroo Insanity

On Thursday I experienced two contrasting cycling incidents in London: the first involving a very close pass on the South Circular Road just by the Horniman Museum, while the second involved lunatic behaviour by a Deliveroo cyclist.

Passat close pass
Around 7.45 on Thursday morning I was walking down the South Circular to Forest Hill Station I saw two cyclists wearing high-visibility following each up the hill, which has two lanes one of them a bus lane. I was amazed to see a Passat pull across to the left into the bus lane. The driver must have seen the two cyclists but was determined to pass some of traffic to turn left into Sydenham Rise. This meant squeezing between the right hand lane traffic and the first cyclist, passing just inches away. 

An example of utterly thoughtless driving putting the cyclist into danger. I hope that the excellent West Midland Police Close Pass Initiative will be rolled out across the UK. Less to penalise drivers but to educate them that when passing cyclists they should make sure to give them plenty of space. 

Given that air pollution in London has recently shot up the political agenda, it surely makes sense to persuade people to make as many journeys on a bike or on foot as is practically possible. Close passing is a very significant factor in putting people of cycling. 

It doesn't help, of course, that some unsegregated 'cycle lanes' are ridiculously narrow and may encourage drivers to think that it is safe to pass close to cyclists.    

Deliveroo Lunacy – no back light

Later on Thursday early evening – just before 6pm returning to Forest Hill on a bus headed down the Walworth Road I watched a Deliveroo cyclist heading southwards. Dark clothes and no back light. I was unable to see whether he had a front light but it is probably safe to assume he didn't that as he had decided to dispense with a back light. 

Not only no back light but the Deliveroo rider rode straight through the red light at the junction with East Street. Just the sort of stupid behaviour that not only endangers the cyclist but equally important gives cyclists a bad name and builds antagonism that may well then encourage drivers to be thoughtless when sharing the road with cyclists. 

What I wonder are Deliveroo's policies regarding cycle lights and respecting red lights?

Central London's pollution – 24th January 2017

This morning a layer of dirty mist lies over the centre of London with the Telegraph reporting that pollution levels have recently been higher than Beijing.

 Some sunshine on houses in South London

The City through the murk

Map showing pollution levels in the London 

area on 24th January 2017 with lots of 9s and 10s 

in the centre of London 

In the short term advice is palliative – don't exercise too much, especially children at schools in areas of high air pollution, and urging motorised parents to turn off their engines while waiting at schools. Sadiq Khan is introducing air audits for the most polluted schools. There will, however, need to be some tough measures if the current levels of pollution are to be drastically reduced. This may well have to be a ban on diesel cars.  

Update 25th January 2017:
Driving down through Northern France today maximum speeds on the autoroutes was reduced by 20 km/h due to high levels of air pollution. So, for example, 110 km/h compared to the normal restriction of 130 km/h.