London T Charge Implemented Today

Today, London has taken another step in trying to reduce pollution and harmful emissions, by introducing the new T Charge.

The T Charge, officially known as the emissions surcharge, has come into effect today (23rd October 2017). The charge applies to most vehicles registered before 2006 that want to drive within the Congestion Zone area. Drivers are facing an additional £10 per day charge – on top of the regular £11.50 Congestion Charge if their vehicles don’t meet certain euro emission standards.

It is believed that the T Charge will affect 34,000 drivers per month. You can find out if you need to pay the charge through the vehicle checker on the TfL website. In addition to this, your V5C document will help identify if you are required to pay the T Charge. Overall the idea behind the T Charge is to try and clean up London’s heavily polluted air and discourage people from driving highly polluted vehicles rather than just banning them.

It is estimated that 9,000 people in London die prematurely every year due to the poor air conditions and around 438 schools in the capital are in areas which exceed legal air quality levels. 

This is just one step that the Mayor of London is taking in trying to improve the air quality in London and further changes are expected over the next couple of year, such as the Ultra-Low Emission Zone.

If you don’t drive in London then you don’t have to do anything, well at least not for the time being. There are talks of rolling similar schemes out over 35 other cities within the UK, including; Birmingham, Leeds and Nottingham. Additionally, Oxford also plans to be the first city to ban all petrol and diesel cars travelling into the city centre from 2020.

Do you drive in London and is the T Charge going to affect you? Would you like to see something similar in the cities around you? Let us know, we would love to hear your views.

Full details of the T Charge including how to pay can be found on the TfL website.