T-charge cuts number of dirty diesels driven into central London by 1,000

Pollution: The T-charge is cutting the number of dirty diesels in central London
AFP/Getty Images

Dirty diesel vehicles are being forced out of central London by the “T-charge”, official figures reveal today.

City Hall estimates that 1,000 fewer of the most-polluting vehicles are chugging around the centre of the capital each day, compared with previous weeks.

The £10-a-day “toxicity” charge was introduced in late October to tackle the city’s air pollution crisis. It was paid about 49,000 times from October 23 to November 24, or 2,000 times a day.

The charge was levied on 19,200 vehicles, diesel and petrol, in central London between 7am and 6pm during the working week. Some 6,800 fixed penalty notices were issued on about 4,500 motorists for not paying it.

If all these fines were paid swiftly, at £65, it would total £442,000. One vehicle received 25 fixed penalty notices in the five-week period.

London Pollution - In pictures

1/15

Measures to combat toxic air, including the T-charge and the planned Ultra Low Emission Zone, will anger some drivers. Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “London’s killer air has health effects over the course of our lives. I make no apology for taking decisive and tough action to address this public health crisis.”

The T-charge has faced controversy, partly due to the lack of signs to highlight its zone, although City Hall carried out a media blitz to inform motorists.

It affects vehicles that do not meet the Euro 4 standards for nitrogen oxides and particulate pollution. Pre-Euro 4 models are typically those registered before 2006, or about 12 years old.

Before the charge was introduced, City Hall estimated that 6,500 non-compliant vehicles — cars, vans, lorries or buses — entered the T-charge area, which is the same as the Congestion Charge zone, a day.

It said about half of these are eligible for an exemption, such as Blue Badge holders. City Hall therefore believes the levy could dissuade about 3,250 motorists from driving non-compliant vehicles in central London. About a third are believed to have stopped doing so, compared with September’s daily average.

Drivers of the most polluting vehicles are charged £21.50 for going into central London — the T-charge and £11.50 C-charge — and issued with a single fine if they fail to pay the combined sum. The penalty is £130 which is cut to £65 if paid within 14 days. It is due to rise to £160 and £80 respectively next year.i

Drivers of about 3,700 T-charge vehicles were issued with one fine, with a further 800 accounting for 3,100 of the penalties. This is an average of almost four for each of these 800 vehicles and suggests that some have racked up large numbers of penalties. City Hall suspects that a significant number of them will be persistent C-charge evaders now doing the same for the T-charge.

Scientists estimate that London’s toxic air kills about 9,000 people a year. Jonathan Grigg, professor of paediatric respiratory and environmental medicine at Queen Mary University, backed the T-charge, saying: “This is a wake-up call and indicates there is a large number of toxic vehicles on our roads. Air pollution is currently stunting children’s lung growth and causing more cases of asthma and pneumonia.”

Frank Kelly, professor of environmental health at King’s College London, said: “The T-charge is a gentle nudge to help reduce the number of the most polluting vehicles entering central London. Alone, it will not solve the air pollution challenge faced by the city. For that to happen we need an expanded Ultra Low Emission Zone, which is scheduled to start in April 2019.”

Nitrogen dioxide levels are above the European Union’s legal limits in many parts of the capital, including close to hundreds of schools.

City Hall said T-charge revenues go towards establishing and operating the scheme and any surplus would be used to fund transport improvement measures, including tackling air pollution.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT