London’s expansion of a fiercely debated scheme that charges the most polluting vehicles in the city should be blocked, local authorities bringing a legal challenge over the plan argued in court this week.
The British capital’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) levies a $16 daily charge on drivers of non-compliant vehicles, in order to tackle pollution and improve air quality.
Scheme to cover almost all of Greater London.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan last year decided to extend the scheme to cover almost all of the Greater London area, encompassing an extra five million people in leafier and less-connected outer boroughs, from the end of next month, Reuters reports.
The decision has set Khan and health campaigners against those who say they cannot tolerate another economic hit at a time of soaring living costs.
Khan, who is running for a third four-year term in the 2024 London mayoral election, has said he is determined to face down his critics.
Court challenge from the councils.
But his plan, which echoes hundreds of others in place in traffic-choked cities across Europe, came under challenge at London’s High Court on July 4 as five local authorities argued the decision to expand ULEZ into their areas was unlawful.
London’s transport authority – Transport for London (TfL) – had launched a public consultation on the plan, which said 91% of vehicles driven in outer London would not be affected.
The Daily Telegraph reported that hundreds of millions of pounds in ULEZ fines are going unpaid as drivers revolt against the controversial charge. Outstanding charges stood at £255 million at the end of last year, the newspaper said.
