Drivers entering London will have to be more careful, as the area covered by cameras designed to detect older, polluting vehicles is set to expand. That's because London's air pollution programme will become Europe's biggest next month, expanding into the outer suburbs.
However, not everyone is happy to wait for this event, even today, the London mayor's plan will be reviewed in court after being sued by a group of local authorities.
Older, polluting cars will be charged a daily fee of £12.50 to enter London’s “ultra-low emission zone,” which the mayor plans to expand to include more suburbs, adding 5 million people to the area.
However, the debate is fierce, between the London mayor and public health activists on one side and those who refuse to accept economic losses in the context of the price crisis on the other side.
Carl Cristina, from London, UK, said: "People don't want to pay an extra £12.50 a day. How can they pay that when they're struggling to put food on the table?"
But the Mayor of London has indicated that there will be a £110 million fund to subsidise the purchase of new cars, while disabled people will be exempted from complying with the new regulations.
“Bold policies in London have reduced toxicity, our ultra-low emission zone has helped reduce toxicity in central London by almost 50%,” said Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.
Some experts point out that "ultra-low emission zones" in city centres are useful, where air pollution is higher and there is more public transport.
Businesses are worried about staff shortages and a loss of customers, as many people living outside London with older cars are reluctant to travel into the city to shop or use services. Only one in 10 cars in London’s outer suburbs are currently not in the “ultra-low emission zone”.
In a similar measure first introduced in 2003, all cars and lorries entering central London during the day also have to pay a £15 "congestion charge".
Similar schemes have previously been implemented in a number of other towns and cities in the UK to reduce polluting emissions and improve air quality.
According to a 2019 report, air pollution led to around 1,000 additional hospital admissions for asthma and severe lung disease in London each year between 2014 and 2016.
Minh Hoa (reported by VTV, VNA)
Source
Comment (0)