London is cleaning up its dirty air but what about other cities?

Cities beset by illegal levels of dirty air will look to London this week, as it introduces the first stage of a major anti-pollution scheme.

The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is designed to clean up the UK capital’s air, which research released last week suggested has caused more than 4000 hospital admissions over the past three years by aggravating Londoners’ asthma. It aims to reduce levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), an invisible but toxic gas produced by some cars.

About 100,000 vehicles enter central London every day. From Monday, drivers doing this will have to pay a daily fee of £12.50 if their car doesn’t meet certain emissions standards. That will typically mean any diesels older than 2015 and petrol models pre-2005.

A much more significant step comes in October 2021, when the zone will be expanded to an area 28 times the size, with 1.4 million people living in it.

London’s scheme is considered genuinely world-leading. “The ULEZ is the most ambitious emission control scheme in any megacity. The spotlight is on it, as hundreds of other cities struggle with the urban pollution,” says Frank Kelly at King’s College London.

Authorities say the zone is about improving public health, not revenue, and admit set-up costs mean they will probably lose money in the first five years.

Clear the air
So what will the impact be? Taken together with steps to clean up buses and taxis, the city is expected to become fully compliant with legal limits on NO2 by 2025.

Research has suggested that without such measures, based on the rate of decline in NO2 levels between 2010 and 2016, that milestone would have taken 193 years to reach.

City hall officials argue that knowing the ULEZ is coming has already had an impact, saying that the number of compliant vehicles entering central London in the past two years has grown from 40,184 to 55,457. Still, that change could have happened naturally as people get rid of older cars, without the stick of the looming charge.

There should be fewer cars in central London too, with an expected 5 per cent reduction in vehicles in the first year, as some drivers opt for alternatives such as walking, cycling and public transport. There are limits to what the zone will do, however, because even electric vehicles still generate particulate pollution as their tyres break down.

Read more: Does air pollution really kill nearly 9 million people each year?
One of the ULEZ’s biggest repercussions could be to spur action by other towns and cities in the UK. While some, such as Nottingham and Derby, have already opted against a clean air zone, others such as Birmingham are pushing ahead with one that would cover private passenger cars.

The technology used to enforce the zone – cameras and number-plate recognition – is likely to be similar for other cities, says David Carslaw of consultancy firm Ricardo Energy and Environment, although London has the advantage of existing infrastructure used to charge for car access.

The scheme’s largest impact may be creating political space to argue for charging drivers on health grounds. The difficulty will be that although Londoners have good access to public transport, many other cities are more car-dependent.

“It will be important that London can show that the pain it bears of such schemes results in a tangible improvement in air quality,” says Kelly.

How many cars per day in the Melbourne CBD?

Sir lastnail wrote on May 24^th, 2019 at 9:31pm:



So you don't know. Fair enough. Sir lastnail wrote on May 24^th, 2019 at 9:31pm:



It also isn't the CBD.

Perhaps you better buy your EV.

The way they drive their fossil fool shitheaps around it's like they have never heard of GHG problems  And the stopping and starting of the clunkers in all of these new cars is just so comical to watch as soon as you see them put the brakes on. What a piece of sh.t kludged technology that is.

ahh so you found better numbers ?

dirty filthy trucks.....

I agree lets get them off our streets..

we can manage without supermarkets...full of goodies...

I am sick to death of seeing all those phone shops  full of people with a perfectly working mobile   buying the latest.......bugger them   if they want one let them go to Korea or Japan...enoughs enough...

I am with you rusty.....wheres the protest march taking place?

Sir lastnail wrote on May 26^th, 2019 at 11:37am:



And yet the solution is in your hands. I guess putting your money where your mouth is is not an option.

DonDeeHippy wrote on May 26^th, 2019 at 12:53pm:



Well let's see the mantra is "they don't do more than an average 50KM/day".

The Nissan Leaf is about $50k. That should be affordable for an "international business man". And that's new.

The Hyundai Ioniq at about $41k. new.

They are just waiting for scumo and his crew to get kicked out and replaced by a progressive left government to encourage the up take of EV's along with a decent charging infrastructure

DonDeeHippy wrote on May 27^th, 2019 at 7:20am:



With the old batteries.

DonDeeHippy wrote on May 28^th, 2019 at 8:45am:



Don't you just love that word "MAY"?

Batteries tend not to "break down"; they fail. And that failure is a certainty. The timing is not.

lee wrote on May 28^th, 2019 at 5:31pm:

Internal combustion motor's tend  to "break down" and then they fail. And that failure is a certainty. The timing is not

Sir lastnail wrote on May 29^th, 2019 at 10:23am:


And how many cents are spent on batteries on EV's?

From the link -

"The industry average for all used cars is 42.2 days.
iSeeCars - Tesla Model S is the Fastest-Selling Used Car in Its Class
Rank      Model                         Avg Days On Market      Avg Price
1      Tesla Model S                 35.5                             $68,159
2      Audi A7                                 39.7                             $47,710
3      Audi A8                                 39.8                             $52,687
4      Mercedes-Benz S-Class         41.6                             $89,434
5      BMW 6 Series                         48.5                             $57,797
6      BMW 7 Series                         48.7                             $66,696
7      Jaguar XJ                         49.8                             $52,644
8      Genesis G90                         56.7                             $56,591
9      Porsche Panamera            60.1                             $88,876
10      Maserati Quattroporte         69.8                             $79,620
Overall Average                         46.9                             $72,030"

https://insideevs.com/news/346424/model-s-quickest-selling-used-luxury-car/

Yep really affordable EV's.

So 5-10 are moving slower than average.

Amazing how they use average prices.


You can get a Renault for about £7,000 but the average price is £21,560. Which means, seeing as the average drops by two thirds from a Tesla, that there are far cheaper EV's on the market, yet they didn't include them.

DonDeeHippy wrote on May 30^th, 2019 at 2:08pm:



That is the link provided by "insideevs" in highlighted text. "Prices of second-hand electric and hybrid vehicles" Not my fault they can't lie with a straight face.

DonDeeHippy wrote on May 30^th, 2019 at 2:08pm:



Because the main story was in pounds so I kept it at that.

DonDeeHippy wrote on May 30^th, 2019 at 6:33pm:



That's right. And links generally go to somewhere that confirms what they are saying. 

Like links to a scientific paper that newspapers comment on.
.
DonDeeHippy wrote on May 30^th, 2019 at 6:33pm:



And they did.

DonDeeHippy wrote on May 30^th, 2019 at 6:45pm:



No petal. I pointed out their entire linked phrase. Or are you saying the others are all hybrids?

DonDeeHippy wrote on May 30^th, 2019 at 7:09pm:



You were the one raised it petal.

DonDeeHippy wrote on May 30^th, 2019 at 7:09pm:



Oh I did. But you didn't follow the link initially and now you are arse covering.

But perhaps you think they meant follow our link to our one EV profile that proves the rest.