What do you think of the Low emission zone to be introduced in London?

Question

Are you generally a for or against the ideas of London's mayor Ken Livingstone who wants to turn London green again?
How far has he achieved that?
Are you affected by the extra fees and if yes, does it threaten your financial situation?
Will you go on driving your car inside of London or will/have you already bought a bicycle or long-term tickets for the tube and the buses?

Annotation: Im in favour of it, too...
Even though I'm from Germany ;)
It's a good example for every bigger city!

Answer 1

The low emmission zone seems to me more like a pr thing rather than a geniune attempt at reduceing pollution in london,
im a bus driver in london and everyday i sit in traffic on one of the busiest routes into and out of london with hundreds of cars big and small all with either a single occupant or with mums on the school run, the way i see it the bus i drive may pump out a lot of pollution but londons buses use special low emision fuels already (i know because a fellow driver tried to put it in his car and eerr it cost him a lot to get it cleaned out) i know my bus pollutes more than a car but no where near as much as 85 cars, thats how many cars would be of the road if the occupants got the bus instead (a standard double decker bus carries 85-90 people and the standard car i see on the road has 1 person init) if ken really wants to cut emision levels then its the number of cars on the road that needs to be addressed, cutting the emisions of trucks and buses will help but the trucks and buses will still have to go into london because the shops need there stock and those people without cars need to get to work. i belive its the number of unessecary cars in london that needs to be addressed, in london we have one of if not the best public transport system in the world there is not a place in london that you cant get to on a bus the train or the tube and if you find such a place the extremely knowledgable black cab drivers will get you their for a fraction of the cost a personal car would.

i know the public transport system is in a bit of a state but this is being redressed by ken and ive seen the improvements myself working for the buses and more and more people are using the system which means more investment and a better service. the buses took a big hit in 1994 when they were privitised but we are know getting back to the standards of the old london transport days, the underground is over 150 years old and most of it looks that way but it to is getting better and it is still the model for underground systems worldwide, more and more cycle lanes are being laid making it easier to use cycles (which would also help keep people fit and lose weight)

as for the finacial situation anyway you look at it a car is going to cost you more if you live and work in london if you live outside of the m25 then its a bit more of a balance thing, i on a car myself but thats only because i drive the buses that i would use to get to work, my car is 15 year old pile of crap but it is very cheap to run (£25 petrol a month do the basic servicing myself) but the taxes and insurance cost to run the car still eats a large part of my wages and if i could id get rid of it but i cant use the bus to get to work if im driving it, as for the aveage office worker who drives into london less than ten mile (the aveage length of a bus route used by commuters) im sure you could save hundreds a year by getting rid of the car

Answer 2

if he wanted to make it green he would ban cars full stop he just wants peoples money on the pretence of green zone other city's have been watching to see if it is profitable to them & what public responce is to another tax and weather the business can survive the extra cost on deliverys

Answer 3

I'm all for it, i dint drive anyway and normally use the public transport, i Say go for it, hey its all in aid of saving the planet. what harm would it be to make london green?

Answer 4

More TAX More TAX and more TAX, nothing, but nothing else.