LEZ is working – transport bosses

London's Low Emissions Zone has already resulted in significant cuts to the amount of pollution spewed out by the city's lorries, according to transport bosses.


Transport for London has published the findings of its first year of monitoring the impacts of the LEZ and its key finding is that around one third of HGVs over 12 tonnes operating in Greater London are significantly cleaner.

The Low Emissions Zone sets limits for the quantity of harmful sooty fine particles and toxic gases HGVs are allowed to pump out. Unlike the city centre’s Congestion Charge, the LEZ covers the whole of Greater London.

The report shows that 96% of vehicles covered by the scheme are now compliant, rather than 70% during 2007 prior to its launch.

A similar trend in compliance rates was observed in the build up to the introduction of the second phase of the scheme on 7 July 2008 to include lorries over 3.5 tonnes, buses and coaches.

Compliance rates for these vehicles currently stand at 91%.

Nick Fairholme, head of the Low Emission Zone at TfL, said: “TfL’s initial findings show that London is already benefiting from reduced emissions as a result of the introduction of the Low Emission Zone.

“TfL is very pleased with the levels of vehicle compliance seen so far, and anticipates that compliance will increase further as operators take action to ensure that their vehicles meet the emissions standards of the scheme.”

Sam Bond

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