London’s T-charge, which will affect up to 10,000 high pollution vehicles, will be introduced in October
Take a deep breath – or don't… yet. There's going to be a new emissions charge in the City starting 23 October.
London mayor Sadiq Khan today confirmed his plans for a £10 emissions surcharge, or T-charge, on older polluting vehicles in the city centre.
Khan announced the news on the 14th anniversary of London's congestion charge, calling it the the toughest emission standard of any major city.
So, what is the T-charge? London's new toxicity charge means cars, vans, minibuses and heavy vehicles that don't meet the Euro 4/IV emission standard will be subject to a £10 fee to enter the congestion charge zone.
This means driving an affected vehicle from Monday to Friday at 7am-6pm will cost £21.50 – the standard congestion charge plus the T-charge.
It's predominantly for vehicles registered in 2005 or before, but you can find out whether you'll have to pay on Transport for London (TfL)'s website.
Khan said Londoners "overwhelmingly" support his plans to charge up to 10,000 of the oldest, most polluting vehicles because "when it comes to battling pollution the time for action is now".
The T-charge comes ahead of Khan's plans to introduce the world's first Ultra Low Emission Zone, which he hopes to roll out as early as 2019. The mayor has doubled funding for tackling air quality, setting aside £875m over the next five years.
“It’s staggering that we live in a city where the air is so toxic that many of our children are growing up with lung problems. If we don’t make drastic changes now we won’t be protecting the health of our families in the future," said Khan, who issued the first "very high" pollution alert in London last month.
He added: "I will continue to do everything in my power to help protect the health of Londoners and clean our filthy air. But now is the time for government to show real leadership and join me by introducing a diesel scrappage fund and bring in the new Clean Air Act we desperately need."
According to Khan's announcement, more than 9,000 Londoners die prematurely each year as a result of long-term exposure to air pollution and 438 schools in the capital are in areas exceeding legal air quality levels.