The mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has announced moves to ban virtually all vehicles from central London unless they are zero or low emission vehicles.
Boris Johnson believes that the move will deliver dramatic benefits in air quality and provide a major spur for the further development and mass take-up of zero and low emission vehicles.
He has asked Transport for London to prepare plans to look at introducing a scheme that would aim to ensure all vehicles driving in the centre of the capital during working hours would be zero or low emission, and the feasibility of introducing such a scheme from 2020.
This would mean only ZEVs and ULEVs (electric cars and commercial vehicles, as well as hybrids and plug-in hybrids running on their batteries) would be allowed to enter an inner section of the Congestion Zone during working hours.
<blockquote><p>“Creating the world’s first big city ultra low emission zone has the potential to be a game changing moment in the quality of life of our great capital. My vision is a central zone where almost all the vehicles running during working hours are either zero or low emission. This would deliver incredible benefits in air quality and stimulate the delivery and mass use of low emission technology.”</p></blockquote>
A key reason for proposing changes to phase five of the Low Emission Zone is that it has emerged that Euro vehicle standards have not actually reduced NOx emissions for vehicles operating in urban environments to the level that was forecast. NO2 levels would therefore not have been reduced as planned under the original proposals for phase five.
The Mayor’s new package of measures includes:
– Extra hybrid buses – earlier this year the Mayor committed to deliver 600 new Bus for London vehicles, which alongside a new commitment to deliver another 600 conventional hybrid buses over the next three years would increase the number of hybrid buses in the capital to over 1,600 by 2016.
– New Euro Standard 6 buses – the Mayor now proposes an £18m programme to retire the last 900 Euro 3 standard buses in London so that all of TfL’s bus fleet will be of Euro 4 Standard or better for NOx emissions by the end of 2015.
– Measures to clean up construction sites – these sites are responsible for around 12 per cent of London’s NOx emissions and to tackle that the Mayor will introduce a new Low Emission Zone for construction machinery. The standards will be agreed with the construction industry and will be consulted on as part of new Supplementary Planning Guidance. The Mayor will also work with the Environment Agency to rollout the use of dust suppressants at industrial sites. At Horn Lane these reduced concentrations of PM10 emissions by up to 59 per cent.
– A new zero emission taxi – the Mayor has asked his team to explore the potential of taxi designs that offer no emissions at the point of use. Ecotive Limited have already designed a unique and purpose-built new Metrocab taxi for London with zero emission capabilities, which is exactly the type of vehicle the Mayor would be delighted to see manufactured in the capital and entering the market.
– More energy efficiency measures – will be encouraged in homes, schools and public buildings.
