As has been mentioned several times here in the Backroom, the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) of London is due to start in February 2008, initially for large vehicles and by 2012 for Transit sized vans.
The cost of driving within the LEZ for a non-complying vehicle is set at £200 per day (not per week, or per month, but per day).
I am concerned by this scheme and particularly concerned at where it may end if it is judged a ?success?.
Imagine the following scenario: the LEZ is deemed a good thing and is widely copied by other conurbations. These other conurbations set their own parameters as to what is, or is not, a polluting vehicle and their own timescales for implementation. We will soon live in a country where it will be necessary to Google before every trip, so as to find out if our vehicles comply with the legislation of the areas that we pass through.
Foreign visitors will be either scared to come, or enraged at being ?fined? for being ignorant.
If each conurbation can set its own parameters and ?fine? offenders. If there is no universal central control. If there is not effective national publicity (and international publicity as well) to make everyone aware, then I do think we are entering a period of great uncertainty, as it will become very difficult to travel anywhere without the risk of being fined for non-compliance. Why should we have to check our routes before every trip to see if we are safe from fines for non-compliance?
Where will this creeping form of taxation end?
Am I being paranoid, what do other BR?s think?
Edited by PoloGirl on 30/12/2007 at 20:26
|
I really don't get this at all. New vehicles are subject to tighter emissions control and that feeds through to the general improvement. London is creating another giant bureaucratic, parasitic monster to do what is already being done. They could start with their own buses without bothering anybody else. The trouble is, we have been trained to regard this sort of stuff as normal and reasonable.
As for paranoia, if you want to micromanage everybody, start with a minority that you can paint as antisocial (the moronic majority will happily let you persecute those nasty smelly lorries and vans) then gradually increase your grip, lulling the turkeys into voting for Christmas until it's too late.
|
In and around the outskirts of London gantries full of digital cameras have sprung up in anticipation of the introduction of the Mayors emission zone.
Surely one day these cameras will be utilised to spread the congestion zone to the M25, in all directions. London has to pay for the Olympics some how.
merged with existing recent thread
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 01/01/2008 at 20:02
|
|
good old ken , just keep it sarf of the watford gap hey
|
Talking about olympics - considering everyone with fleet of iconic Routemasters is now LEZ enemy number one thus proving the emission limits are set relatively low - I'm quite sure a lot of the heavy equipment and lorries currently in use by construction industry are not green enough to escape LEZ charges.
--------------------
[ Anything I drive can and will be used against me ]
Edited by v0n on 01/01/2008 at 21:01
|
|
|
|
I think the road haulage association should advise its members to boycott London totally when this starts. I'm sure if all the goods and freight destined for London covering all aspects of life were stopped, Ken would have to back down rather quickly. I am sure the government would have to intervene to prevent a local emergency. TFL are a law unto themselves. How does Ken and this mob get away with autocratic decisions. Vote him out as well this year and do us all a favour.
|
IMHO, All politics are about obtaining personal power, you have only to see the look on the faces of politicians when they lose it, to see how much it mattered to them.
Does anyone really not believe that if the Commons and Lords were disbanded and re filled with a few hundred randomly selected citizens, that better laws and living conditions would not prevail in the UK?
For a start you would likely see an end to the rich and famous being able to use every trick in the book to avoid speeding convictions while the honest poor take it on the chin.
Edited by oilrag on 02/01/2008 at 09:34
|
|
|
|
|
so if they expand the LEZ to include black cabs the london taxi business will be finished when you see the carp coming out of them surely? or will they be exempt
|
Well some signs have now appeared in the SW corner of the zone, a few hundred yards into the borough of Kingston.
However they are not like those in
www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/lez/zone/6758.aspx
There are no such bold green dots or any of the other signs but some smallish red signs with wording on. Perhaps it is not classed as a "zone entry point"
IMO it is all very confusing.
I can not see any cameras near the signs.
My mind boggles at how many cameras would be needed on all the access roads .:-(
www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/lez/areaofoperation/
I also note from their web site
"Through a dedicated European debt recovery agency TfL has established links with many of the European Vehicle Licensing Agencies and will always issue and recover penalties in relation to non-GB registered vehicles where it is possible to do so."
|
|
|
|
This is causing a few problems to say the least!!!! Most trucks built after 2001 will be exempt for the next couple of years and when the standards increase most trucks built after 2006 will automatically qualify.
But - due to the fact TFL/LEZ only actually settled on certain standards in Nov/Dec the manufacturers of the kit to retrofit to trucks are unable to supply the demand and so many trucks will not be able to comply - only in the last week or so have TFL actually admitted there may be a problem and are seeking a way to exempt certain vehicles!!!! Another fantastic cockup by Red Ken and his cronies!!!
|
Just watching Dispatches about Ken Livingstone and his empire.
A few things about congestion charge:
TFL report from 2006 showing an increase in congestion.
Its is turning into a 'traffic reduction scheme', not 'congestion reduction'.
Traffic now only 2 secs per km faster than before charge came in.
Buses - more using them, but TFL 2007 survey shows buses are going slower - 11% slower year on year.
Investment in public transport - system is expensive to run. >50% of revenue raised is used to replace equipment, not invested in PT.
Congestion charge not making enough money.
And nothing to do with motoring, but his office spends more on advertising than Microsoft UK - about £23million a year!
|
|
|
|
![2021 Lexus UX 250h 2.0 F-Sport 5dr CVT [Nav]](http://images.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/url/crop/90x60/https/assets.heycar.co.uk/t_default-export/f_auto/application_assets/vehicles/pictures/caf18fa5995bb52b138ba16c1a93384e/eec410118ba42ef8331bc702a2d34b1d.jpg)
