Choked! Driving in London to cost more.

For entrepreneurs all over the United Kingdom, jumping into a  car and nipping into London for a quick business meeting could soon be a very expensive option for many from next month, if Mayor Sadiq Khan gets his way. 

Khan plans to expand London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone to take in five million more Londoners, in the leafy outer suburbs, in a bid to stop the capital from being choked by air pollution. The expansion will make it one of the world’s largest zones to tackle vehicle pollution.

Nearly a third of Londoners against it.  

Not everyone likes the idea, A YouGov poll last year showed 43% of Londoners supported the planned expansion, while another 8% supported a delayed one. About 27% were opposed and the rest undecided.  

The plan is akin to hundreds of others in traffic-choked cities across Europe. It  will be tested in the courts,on July 4, when local councils will challenge the London expansion, arguing due process was not followed, Reuters reports.

Ring of cameras to widen.

If Khan carries the day,  the ring of cameras trained on London’s roads, to charge drivers of the most polluting vehicles £12.50 a day, will widen next month.     

The expansion has triggered a fierce debate across the city, pitching the mayor and health campaigners, who point to the environmental success of the initial ULEZ restrictions, against those who say they can’t tolerate another economic hit at a time of soaring living costs.

“I can’t afford to buy a new van.”

Many entrepreneurs say they can’t afford the extra costs that the ULEZ will bring in an already tough economy and have taken to the streets to demonstrate against the plan.

Carl Cristina, a 44-year-old tree surgeon living just outside the boundary, says it will wreck his livelihood.

“I can’t afford to buy a new van. I simply don’t have the budget,” he said, speaking to Reuters at a central London anti-ULEZ demonstration attended by hundreds.

He dismisses the £110 million scrappage scheme, which could lower the cost of a cleaner replacement vehicle by £2,000, and says his only choice would be to pass the charge on to customers – something he believes would make him uncompetitive and cut his income in half. He has applied for a job on the railways. 

It is difficult to please everyone in this economy versus environment debate. Clearly London and the other major cities of Europe have to do something to stop pollution choking its people.

More efficient public transport ?

Maybe more green and efficient public transport may help keep cars off the road. It may take a lot of investment, but our grandchildren may thank us for it. 

But on the other hand, the scheme has to be flexible when it comes to any measure that hurts the economy and the livelihood of entrepreneurs who make a precarious living from it.