C-charge rises to £25 for 'gas guzzlers'

Gas-guzzling vehicles such as 4x4 "Chelsea tractors" will have to pay a daily charge of £25 to enter London's congestion charge zone from October this year, Ken Livingstone announced today.

Owners of the 4x4 vehicles, as well as some high-powered sports cars and luxury vehicles, will see the charge rising from the current £8 a day as part of the London Mayor's plan to reduce the capital's greenhouse gas emissions.

Part of the new congestion charging regime will also see, from 27 October, cars with the lowest carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions receiving a 100 per cent discount from the daily charge.

Mr Livingstone said today: "Nobody needs to damage the environment by driving a gas-guzzling Chelsea tractor in central London. The CO2 emissions from the most high-powered 4x4s and sports cars can be up to four times as great as the least polluting cars."

Mr Livingstone went on: "The CO2 charge will encourage people to switch to cleaner vehicles or public transport and ensure that those who choose to carry on driving the most polluting vehicles help pay for the environmental damage they cause.

"This is the 'polluter pays' principle. At the same time, the 100 per cent discount for the lowest CO2 emitting vehicles will give drivers an incentive to use the least polluting cars available."

Mr Livingstone said he hoped his initiative would have an impact throughout the world, with other cities following suit.

He said Transport for London would closely monitor the scheme, adding that the new scheme was flexible and that the charges and exemptions could be varied in the future.

The new charging regime will mean that the majority of cars will still pay the current charge of £8 a day.

The £25 charge will apply to vehicles emitting more than 225 grams of CO2 per kilometre (g/k), as well as those registered before March 2001 which have engines larger than 3,000cc.

Those vehicles getting a 100 per cent discount from October will emit less than 120g/k. Of cars currently being driven in the congestion charging zone 17 per cent would be liable for the £25 charge and just 2 per cent for the total discount.

London's Transport Commissioner, Peter Hendy, said: "The congestion charge has been successful at cutting both traffic and congestion and vehicle emissions in central London. But we need to take even more steps to cut CO2 from transport and the CO2 charge will encourage drivers to change their behaviour and change their vehicle choice in the future."

Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper said: "Road traffic is one of the biggest contributors to climate change. Measures that get people to choose greener cars as well as to drive less are urgently needed.

"Charging gas-guzzling vehicles more to drive in central London is extremely welcome and supported by most Londoners. We are delighted that Mr Livingstone is taking a lead on this issue."

The congestion charge was initially introduced in February 2003 and covered just central London, with the daily charge set at £5.

Since then the charge has gone up to £8 a day and a western extension, incorporating such areas as Kensington and Chelsea, has been added to the congestion area.

Mr Livingstone said today that there would be no change to the size of the congestion zone.

A spokesman for business group London First said: "This is just daft - we know this is election year, but encouraging gridlock in the centre of London is no vote winner.

"Band A and B cars do not reduce CO2, they add to it, and they add to congestion which drives up CO2 emissions from the vehicles stuck in the queue behind them. The Mayor's policy on congestion is in tatters."

Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist at environmental group Greenpeace, said: "Gas guzzlers have no place in a modern city like London so it's great news that the congestion charge will give people a big incentive to pollute less.

"Buying one of these vehicles is becoming a bad idea for the planet and the wallet.

"If we really want to tackle climate change properly we need to encourage people on to public transport and out of their cars where possible."

It is estimated that around 33,000 vehicles that will now fall into the £25 charge sector drive into London each day.

Estimates are that around two thirds of these will no longer come into the charge zone once the new £25 fee is introduced in October.

Mr Hendy said the new charges were likely to bring in £30 million to £50 million a year, with most of this money going on new cycling and walking initiatives.

Mr Livingstone said the consultation process had revealed that around 71 per cent of Londoners felt the heavily-polluting vehicles should pay more in the way of a congestion charge and that this figure was around the same for people questioned within the charge zone.

He said: "I have every sympathy with a Scottish hill farmer who needs his 4x4 to get around.

"But there is absolutely no justification for cars producing high amounts of pollution being driven in central London.

"This is a small initial change but what is important is the message it sends to the car industry to stop producing high-polluting vehicles."

Mr Livingstone said should everyone within the congestion zone suddenly switch to vehicles which would not have to pay the charge under the new regime, then Transport for London would have to look at the matter again.

But he added that no one should really want to drive into central London and that anyone switching to a non-polluting car and driving into central London just to annoy him could merely show their opposition by voting against him in the upcoming London Mayoral election.

Sheila Rainger, acting director for the RAC Foundation, said; "The congestion charge was originally developed to reduce congestion. Changing this will confuse the public and reduce support and trust for future initiatives.

"Motorists are not able to change their vehicles overnight and people change their cars less often in London than the rest of the UK. The discount for smaller vehicles may encourage a few families to purchase them as second cars but a small car isn't a realistic choice for everyone."

She went on: "Ken's proposals will increase congestion and do very little to cut CO2 in London - the real polluters are the old bangers kept on the road by motorists who can't afford to change them. This is gesture politics rather than a serious attempt to tackle London's air quality problems.

"If the mayor cannot be dissuaded from introducing an emissions based-charge we would like to see a fairer, graded system, which follows national Vehicle Excise Duty banding. We believe a £0, £6, £8, £12 approach is worth investigating, as it would encourage people to choose the 'best in class' rather than assuming that small is beautiful."

Two of the companies whose vehicles could be affected by the charge changes - Jaguar and Land Rover, said they recognised the importance of reducing emissions and had improved the performance of its vehicles.

Land Rover's managing director Phil Popham added: "We are ploughing enormous resources into developing technology to improve our environmental performance so, given this investment in new technology, we have real concerns about the Mayor's proposals for changes to the charge, which we believe have immediate costs for our business, but doubtful benefits from an environmental perspective."

Land Rover said it had commissioned an independent report that was completed by economic consultants at the Centre for Economics and Business Research who carried out a thorough assessment of the proposals using Transport for London's own evaluation.

Land Rover said the report found that the new charges could increase CO2 emissions in London and could add an extra 4,000-10,000 cars to central London's roads.

Also, the changes could cost between £20 million and £50 million in increased delays.

Brian Paddick, the Liberal Democrat candidate for London Mayor, said: "The congestion charge should do what it says on the tin: tackle congestion in central London.

"What Ken Livingstone is proposing is an emissions charge and it will do nothing to tackle congestion. Those who can afford Chelsea tractors, can afford a £25 ride into London. Allowing small vehicles to enter the zone will only add to congestion and bring London to a halt.

"If we're serious about tackling pollution, we should force manufacturers to meet new emissions targets and increase Vehicle Excise Duty for big polluters."

Co-founder of the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s and Green Party London Mayor candidate Sian Berry said: "I am delighted with the level of public support for the emissions-based charge - this is key policy we have called for since we began our campaign.

"We look forward to seeing these measures finally doing something positive to reduce dirty, wasteful, unnecessarily large 4x4s and other highly polluting cars from our streets."

Boris Johnson, the Conservative candidate for London Mayor, said: "If we want to discourage car use we need fresh thinking from the Mayor and not old-style tax-the-motorist policies. On his own figures, the net effect of his plan is no change in congestion and no change in air quality. Londoners may ask - well, what is the point?

"Londoners use their cars because of the appalling state of the transport system. A big car tax won't change that. We need better alternatives to get out of our cars - especially those who live in the outer boroughs with bigger families, many of whom can't afford to swap cars."

Mr Johnson went on: "This is a man who has grown arrogant and out of touch. In effect, the Mayor has just given the green light for richer people to buy smaller cars and enter the zone for free while families who struggle with one big car are left feeling the pinch. So much for his claimed concern for workers.

"Our Mayor no longer cares about the people in this city and this policy shows that. He has turned his congestion charge into an environmental tax. There are better ways to make this city greener and this is not one of them. I ask him today - make the guarantee that congestion in London will go down because of this policy."

Alec Murray, chairman of the Retail Motor Industry Federation, said: "Most private cars driven in central London fall outside the new emissions-based congestion charge level, so it is questionable if the plan will achieve its aim of further reducing central London traffic levels and overall emissions."