London’s Extremely Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) has been prolonged to Outer London boroughs from at the moment with a whole bunch of hundreds of motorists set to be affected.
The brand new coverage means street customers with non-compliant automobiles will likely be hit with each day charges to journey in locations reminiscent of Harrow and Bromley.
Drivers will likely be hit with £12.50 per day charges however this could rapidly add up over the course of weeks or months.
Those that use their automobiles each single day can pay round £87.50 per week or £375 per 30 days to drive.
The extension has been controversial with many residents holding protests over the weekend in a determined try and halt the launch.
The place has ULEZ been prolonged to?
The brand new ULEZ growth means Outer London areas will now pay the fees. This takes the zone past its present boundaries close to Kensington and Fulham, Southwark and Newham.
As a substitute, southern boroughs reminiscent of Merton, Sutton, Croydon, Kingston, Richmond and Bromley can pay the charges. Within the north, Harrow, Barnet, Enfield, Redbridge and Havering are among the many areas affected.
Bexley, Hillingdon and Ealing may also come beneath the brand new ULEZ charging space. In response to the RAC, it’s anticipated that round 700,000 individuals will likely be affected by the charges.
How a lot will I have to pay in ULEZ?
Drivers should pay £12.50 per day to drive contained in the ULEZ charging zone if their automobile is non-compliant. Charging hours are from midnight to midnight that means motorists may very well be compelled to pay two units of charges in the event that they cross over the zone at evening.
Motorists who fail to pay the cost will likely be slapped with a £180 high quality, falling to £90 if paid inside 90 days.
Easy methods to verify if my automobile is ULEZ-exempt?
Motorists can see if their automobile meets the ULEZ standards via a easy software on the Transport for London web site. Drivers merely have to enter their quantity plate and select a rustic of registration to seek out out whether or not they should pay the charges.
Traditional automobiles greater than 40 years previous are exempt from paying the each day charges if they’ve a historic automobile tax class via the DVLA. Automobiles with a disabled passenger automobile tax class may also not be answerable for costs.
Can I get assist financially?
Sadiq Khan just lately expanded his ULEZ scrappage scheme with all Londoners now eligible for as much as £2,000 in free money.
Nonetheless, the grant will solely be paid out as soon as drivers have proof their automobile has been scrapped. There may be additionally a grace interval on costs for individuals receiving sure incapacity advantages.
What has the response been?
Locals have been principally detrimental concerning the scheme with a collection of protests being held forward of the launch date. A session held by TfL final yr discovered 59 p.c of residents rejected the scheme.
Labour additionally missed out on securing Uxbridge in a current by-election after locals turned it into an efficient referendum over ULEZ. The outcome has raised questions amongst labour frontbenchers with chief Sir Keir Starmer talking out towards the challenge.
However, Khan has refused to again down and has pressed forward with the challenge regardless. A spokesperson for the Mayor of London stated: “The ULEZ shouldn’t be a money-making scheme and inside a couple of years, as compliance will increase, it should really make a web loss.
“Any revenues raised are ringfenced and reinvested into London’s transport community, together with investing in state-of-the artwork electrical buses, enhancing transport hyperlinks in outer London. The ULEZ is a really focused scheme which implies that solely these with probably the most polluting automobiles should pay the cost.
“9 out of ten automobiles seen driving in outer London on a median day are already ULEZ compliant. To assist drivers of non-compliant automobiles keep away from receiving a PCN, they will signal as much as TfL’s Auto Pay which has been free since 30 January 2023.”