delusionofgrandeur

One of the most expensive cities to live in is about to become even more expensive.

Transport for London (aka “Don’t Come Here”) is about to impose a £200 charge on vehicles over 12 tonnes entering the ‘Low Emission Zone‘ (LEZ) if they do not meet the strictest EU exhaust emission limits.

This means that the price of goods entering the LEZ will increase faster than normal inflation as the cost will have to be covered by hauliers either by paying the extra £200 or by purchasing expensive new vehicles, probably consigning the old vehicle to the scrap yard in the process. It all leads to an increased bottom line for the London citizen.

The outline map of the LEZ is suitably confusing being most of, but not all of, the area within the M25 (also including the current Congestion Charge zone). Unlike the congestion charging zone, the LEZ will be in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Some member of the press are already suggesting that other towns and cities may be interested in the concept. It seems likely as I’ve never seen a local authority turn down the opportunity to collect a new tax.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 3:00 am and is filed under Automotive, Economy, News.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.