Any towns and cities near you have a low emissions zones planned?

[ElliesBoss]

What's the problem with LEZs? Pollution has to be dealt with somehow and, short of an outright ban on vehicles, what other way is there than a charge which is sufficiently high to deter all but those who have to enter a LEZ?
It may mean doing a bit more route planning and opting to stay further out and use public transport but the effect of pollution on everyone is surely the more impportant consideration isn't it? If not, why not?

Agree but government needs to get involved. Large distribution centres must be built around cities with LEZ's where goods can be dropped off and then taken into cities with electric vehicles or whatever. No private investor is going to gamble hundreds of millions building such infrastructure. Suitable park and rides, again with all the relevant infrastructure upgrades, need to be built. If the government can finance/underwrite or whatever HS2 for use by a relatively few people I think they should be getting involved more with the national transport system. As far as routing is concerned, that generally means another town will cop the freight traffic. They then introduce bans and so it goes on. I appreciate the councils are trying to do the best for their residents but it does need national planning.

 

[Sapper520]

Bristol City Council is going for a ludicrously complicated charging scheme involving multiple Clean Air Zones (CAZ not LEZ) sometime in the near future.

If the Council wanted to catch unwitting drivers out and impose steep penalties this crazy multiplicity of different CAZ permutations cannot be bettered.

At the moment it‘s cheaper to drive into the centre of Bristol and pay for 5 hours parking, than it is to use the P&R……..how does that make any sense?

 

[glenn2926]

What's the problem with LEZs? Pollution has to be dealt with somehow and, short of an outright ban on vehicles, what other way is there than a charge which is sufficiently high to deter all but those who have to enter a LEZ?
It may mean doing a bit more route planning and opting to stay further out and use public transport but the effect of pollution on everyone is surely the more impportant consideration isn't it? If not, why not?

Public transport never goes where I want when I want, so that’s a non starter.
To be honest, the places bringing these rules in are not places I would choose to go to anyway. I’m not a fan of crowds or traffic or built up areas. I guess I visit my nearest city Leeds, about every 18 months or so, and then under sufferance.

 

[GJH]

Agree but government needs to get involved. Large distribution centres must be built around cities with LEZ's where goods can be dropped off and then taken into cities with electric vehicles or whatever. No private investor is going to gamble hundreds of millions building such infrastructure. Suitable park and rides, again with all the relevant infrastructure upgrades, need to be built. If the government can finance/underwrite or whatever HS2 for use by a relatively few people I think they should be getting involved more with the national transport system. As far as routing is concerned, that generally means another town will cop the freight traffic. They then introduce bans and so it goes on. I appreciate the councils are trying to do the best for their residents but it does need national planning.

Government is involved. The places introducing LEZs are following government policy.
That government isn't effectively involved is hardly a surprise given the government record

 

[GJH]

Public transport never goes where I want when I want, so that’s a non starter.
To be honest, the places bringing these rules in are not places I would choose to go to anyway. I’m not a fan of crowds or traffic or built up areas. I guess I visit my nearest city Leeds, about every 18 months or so, and then under sufferance.

We don't visit the places involved often either. When we have in the past we have rarely used the van.

I'm puzzling over your first sentence. Given that you choose not to go to the places bringing in LEZs then the places you want to go to when you want to aren't affected so you can use your own transport

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[glenn2926]

We don't visit the places involved often either. When we have in the past we have rarely used the van.

I'm puzzling over your first sentence. Given that you choose not to go to the places bringing in LEZs then the places you want to go to when you want to aren't affected so you can use your own transport

Exactly, we don’t use public transport as it doesn’t meet our needs. Mainly I suppose because we don’t go where there is much in the way of public transport.

 

[GJH]

Exactly, we don’t use public transport as it doesn’t meet our needs. Mainly I suppose because we don’t go where there is much in the way of public transport.

So you are relative;y unaffected by LEZ plans anyway
For those who do need to access places where there is a LEZ, though, public transport is an option. A good example is York, far easier to use P&R than to drive and park in the city (even in a car).

 

[SpeedyDux]

At the moment it‘s cheaper to drive into the centre of Bristol and pay for 5 hours parking, than it is to use the P&R……..how does that make any sense?

Another thing that makes no sense is the government's impending cut in bus subsidies. According to the latest Week In it will be reduced from £27 to £9 million a week in our area. The Number 18 bus route (one the Duxette actually uses to get to Downend) is going to be cancelled.

On the one hand they want to stop us driving into Bristol, and on the other hand they force bus operators to cut services. How does that work?

 

[Simon Meadwell]

Manchester got some £10 a day thing in the air at the monent.

 

[Sapper520]

Another thing that makes no sense is the government's impending cut in bus subsidies. According to the latest Week In it will be reduced from £27 to £9 million a week in our area. The Number 18 bus route (one the Duxette actually uses to get to Downend) is going to be cancelled.

On the one hand they want to stop us driving into Bristol, and on the other hand they force bus operators to cut services. How does that work?

We literally drive past the Long Ashton P&R to get into Bristol. We used to use it all the time, until it became ’Metrobus’. The price for a couple doubled to £9.…think it’s higher now. I emailed the Mayors Office and got a generic reply.

The ticket covers a days travel throughout the bus network…….fine if you want to travel throughout Bristol, but all we want to do is go into the City Centre.

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[robnchris]

Don't be kidded into thinking that all these no go zones with your air polluting vehicle has anything to do with the council or governments deep concern for clean air and the residents.
If they really wanted to make an impact on the environment they could ban the use of plastic as packaging tomorrow, why are we still allowed to buy plastic shopping bags from the supermarkets.
It's not about clean air at all it's just another tax that the powers that be will enforce on the paying public.

 

[GJH]

Another thing that makes no sense is the government's impending cut in bus subsidies. According to the latest Week In it will be reduced from £27 to £9 million a week in our area. The Number 18 bus route (one the Duxette actually uses to get to Downend) is going to be cancelled.

On the one hand they want to stop us driving into Bristol, and on the other hand they force bus operators to cut services. How does that work?

It's part of Johnson's levelling down agenda.

 

[Simon Meadwell]

And when we are forced out of diesel into electric all the diesel vehicles will be shipped off to third world countries so that will save the planet.

 

[Ivory55]

And when we are forced out of diesel into electric all the diesel vehicles will be shipped off to third world countries so that will save the planet.

And the first thing that they do is disconnect the ad blue

 

[Funnymunny]

All these local authorities are quick enough to milk the motorist but none of them ever seem to complain about the biggest polluter in their midst and that is the planes flying in and out of airports or overhead.
London must have more filth poured on it from the air than it ever does from deisel vehicles but I have never seen any mention of sticking surcharges on the planes

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[AnnieB]

Manchester got some £10 a day thing in the air at the monent.

Not just Manchester. The proposals cover Greater Manchester, so a much wider area including non-urban areas.
if there is no change to the plan before next year I could be charged £10 every time I take the motorhome of the drive, yet I live in a small town 13 miles from Manchester and surrounded by countryside.

 

[gus-lopez]

which is sufficiently high to deter all but those who have to enter a LEZ?

What about the poor saps that not only live there ,pay extortionate rates ,pay for vehicles with high emmissions, have to pay to enter in London. All wrong. In London you only get the resident congestion charge discount if you give them your phone number ? What's that all about?
Personally I have no problem with reducing emissions or congestion but the way you do it is too remove completely the source of congestion or polltion by stating
" as from X date any vehicle can no longer enter". Everyone is equal then.
Same as when they wished to reduce smoking but retain the tax take.It shold just be "as from monday tobacco is illegal" & invent another way of raising tax.
Trouble is the UK public will be walked over forever. They will never make a stand against the constant encroachment by those in authority who in actual fact should always be at the very bottom of the pile,as servants of the public.

 

[Odd-no-more]

Southampton tried to bring a charge in but were defeated, so they are trying to increase pollution to high enough levels so they can get one approved. If you think I'm wrong try driving more than 200 yards without catching a red light, often with nothing on the other road. The only time traffic moves without problems is if the lights fail. Standing traffic causes the most pollution. If cities wanted to stop pollution then the non-compliant vehicles would be banned not taxed..

 

[Guigsy]

I live in the Birmingham LEZ. The zone is pretty small. I've got an air quality monitor. There do seem to be less days with high particulates. However, with the pandemic, data over the last year isn't exactly representative.

Anecdotally I can't say I've noticed a decrease in traffic inside the zone. The congestion on the ring road that goes around the outside of the zone seems roughly the same. The city centre is certainly still busy. The only businesses that seem to have suffered are some takeaways that are literally just inside the zone that have said they've had less pickup traffic. But it seems most people having takeaways get them Deliveroo'd anyway...

 

[Ivory55]

More people more cars etc , it’s not hard to work out

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