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Ken Livingstone’s new carbon emissions-based London congestion charge will go under public scrutiny tomorrow (10 August) when the plan is opened to public consultation. Anyone living in or around the capital’s congestion zone, and driving an old or big carbon-emitting car, will want to have a say, as the new scheme stands to cost them a whacking £6500 a year.
Under the new plan, any car that emits less than 120g/km of CO2 and is clean enough to meet Euro IV emissions criteria will be able to enter London’s city centre charging zone for free. Those that emit between 120g/km and 225g/km will pay £8 a day – the same fee that cars currently pay.
Any car that emits more than 225g/km will have to pay a charge of £25 a day to enter the congestion charging zone, however, and not just those, but also any car registered before March 2001 and with an engine larger than 3000cc. The Mayor is also proposing to drop the 90 per cent resident’s discount on the charge for anyone with a car that fits into the top emissions bracket.
Having your say
A ten-week consultation period on the proposals begins tomorrow and ends on 19 October. “Those wishing to get involved will be able to register their views both online and more formally, in writing,” a spokeman from the Mayor’s Press Office told us.
Information on exactly how to do that will emerge, as Autocar understands it, later today, and we’re sure it’ll be information many residents of the city will be keen to get possession of. Livingstone's plan is to get the new scheme in place by May 2008, before the next London mayoral election.
Your Say