ULEZ is expanding
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has announced that ULEZ will cover all London boroughs inside the M25 from August 2023
Older motorcycles may have to pay in expanded London ULEZ Zone
London is now ranked as the 18th most polluted city in the world, with serious consequences for vulnerable groups. Older people, those with heart or respiratory conditions and young children, are particularly affected, like poor little Ella Kissi-Debrah who was only nine when she died from complications from asthma, thought to have been exacerbated by high nitrogen dioxide levels near where she lived, on the South Circular Road in the London borough of Lewisham.
In fact 9,400 premature deaths are put down to poor air quality in London, and the cost to the NHS is estimated at between £1.4 and £3.7 billion a year from trying to help people with illnesses and conditions associated with air pollution. Poorer people are said to be the most affected because they often have to live in worse areas, close to busy London roads which pretty much never stop. Road traffic is the top cause of London's air pollution, giving off nitrogen oxides and microscopic metal and rubber particles which can be breathed into the lungs. Obviously this is worse for those who have extensive and prolonged exposure to this dirty air, i.e live with it, day in day out.
So London Mayor Sadiq Khan, in an attempt to combat these alarming figures, has announced that from August the 29th 2023, the ULEZ Ultra Low Emissions Zone will expand outwards from the area of central London which it currently covers, to include all the London boroughs within the M25. This means that any vehicle made before 2007, if it doesn't meet emissions standards, will have to pay a £12.50 daily surcharge when in use anywhere within the now larger London ULEZ Zone.
So how will this affect motorcycles? Well some of the test centres are saying that if older motorcycles are well enough maintained, they can still qualify, on emissions, to be used within the expanded ULEZ Zone. The emissions limit set by transport for London is 0.15 g/km Nitrogen Oxide (NOx). Admittedly this is a high bar for older machines, but with proper maintenance like changing the filters regularly, and using new spark plugs for efficient and cleaner combustion, this target can sometimes be achieved.
ULEZ testing costs £175 - equivalent to a fortnight of ULEZ charges - and if it passes on emissions, the bike will be exempt from charges, with its exemption details stored on a database if it is picked up on camera inside the ULEZ Zone.
If a motorcycle fails the emissions test however, there is a £110 million scrappage scheme starting at the end of this month, with a possible £1000 offered for some old motorcycles which have failed the test.
Follow this link to find a
ULEZ Test Centre and enquire when you contact them and are thinking of booking, about what they can do to get your bike through the test and maybe what their pass rate is - it may be worth investing a bit in cleaning your bike up and sorting it out at the outset, rather than having to scrap it or pay daily emissions charges.
We have covered the inception and growth of London's ULEZ in previous articles if you want to check out the story so far follow these links...
London's ULEZ Is Expanding In October and
ULEZ Is Here
What do you think about the current ULEZ expansion? Will it affect you directly and if so what do you plan to do if you use your motorcycle daily in the capital?
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