Today (08/04/2019) London's Ultra Low Emission Zone came into force, introducing a £12.50 charge for cars and a £100 charge for lorries, buses and coaches which don't meet the latest emissions standards. Introduced as part of the Mayor's commitment to lower air pollution in London it will initially apply to a Central London zone before being expanded to the North and South circulars in 2021.

The report to the Mayor's office outlined three main goals for the zone:

• Reduce air pollutant emissions from road transport, particularly those with the greatest health impacts
• Reduce CO2 emissions from road transport
• Promote sustainable travel and stimulate the low emission vehicle economy

The legal powers to do so were granted to the city under the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (Chapter XV New Charges and Levies, Section 295 - Road User Charging) and equivalent powers were given to other authorities under the Transport Act 2000 (Part III, Chapter 1 - Charging Schemes).

These powers were not widely used until a series of court cases forced the government to take action to bring emissions under legal limits, leading to the production of the Clean Air Zone Framework: Principles for setting up Clean Air Zones in England in 2017. Since then five local authorities were mandated with bringing down emissions in the quickest possible way leading to possible confusion over the regimes in different authorities, You can read CIHT's earlier article on the topic here (page 24).

Additionally Private Hire Vehicles will also now have to pay the congestion charge, with Uber now charging a £1 per trip that goes through the zone.