£10 Toxicity Charge for polluting vehicles commences in London

The £10 Toxicity Charge (T-Charge) has today (23 October) been introduced in London to help tackle air pollution by getting older, more polluting cars off the roads.

From 7am drivers of older, more polluting petrol and the diesel vehicles will pay the new T-Charge plus the Congestion Charge (C-Charge) - a total of £21.50 (£10 T-Charge and £11.50 C-Charge) every weekday they drive in the zone from 7am-6pm.

Up to 34,000 polluting vehicles every month could be liable for the T-Charge, which affects those that do not meet the Euro 4 standards for both PM and NOx emissions.

Pre-Euro 4 vehicles are typically those registered before 2006 that are approximately over 12 years old, but TfL advise anyone who has a car registered before 2008 to check if their vehicle is eligible for the charge. To help motorists TfL have a free online vehicle checker available on their website www.tfl.gov.uk/t-charge. Over the last six months more than 153,000 people have already checked to find out if their vehicle will be affected.

It is estimated that air pollution contributes to thousands of premature deaths each year in London, as well as having effects over the course of our lives, from smaller lungs in our children to greater risk of dementia and strokes when we get older.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan launched the T-Charge as he visited the UCL Day Nursery in Bloomsbury, which is situated off a busy road in Gower Street. The nursery have installed a ‘pollution room’ where children can play indoors on days with high or very high pollution. The room is used to help young children struggling with asthma or breathing difficulties made worse by toxic air. Recent research by Aether showed 438 London schools and 27 nurseries were situated in areas exceeding legal air quality.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “As Mayor I am determined to take urgent action to help clean up London’s lethal air. The shameful scale of the public health crisis London faces, with thousands of premature deaths caused by air pollution, must be addressed.

“Today marks a major milestone in this journey with the introduction of the T-Charge to encourage motorists to ditch polluting, harmful vehicles.

“London now has the world’s toughest emission standard with older more polluting vehicles paying up to £21.50 a day to drive in the centre of the city. The T-charge is a stepping stone to the Ultra-Low Emission Zone, which could be introduced as early as 2019.

“This is the time to stand up and join the battle to clear the toxic air we are forced to breathe. I am transforming our bus fleet, getting rid of the oldest polluting taxis and creating healthier streets that will leave a lasting legacy for our children. But I can’t do this alone. I urgently need government to step up and face their responsibilities by delivering a diesel scrappage fund and a Cleaner Air Act that is fit for purpose.  I also need Londoners to work with me so we can phase out the use of the dirtiest polluting vehicles from our roads."