Clean air in London - industry delivers - LEZ not needed

As the Mayor prepares to dazzle voters with his plans to clean up London's air by controls on lorry emissions, it is a good time to lift the lid on his box of tricks. The Freight Transport Association says that far from the proposed Low Emission Zone being the answer to London's air quality problems, it is an opportunity for the Mayor to take credit for the enormous progress made by others, particularly vehicle manufacturers and lorry operators, over recent years.

Innovation by freight operators and vehicle manufacturers has reduced noxious emissions dramatically. Initiatives such as cleaner diesel coming in 2009; new incentives for improved Euro 5 trucks and a phenomenal uptake of new electric and hybrid vehicles by London operators mean that emissions from road transport will plunge further still.

The Mayor's preferred scheme will add little benefit to the progress that is already under way. The architects of the scheme were so poorly informed about the industry, and the scheme is so poorly thought through, that many of the older Euro 1 category buses and trucks that the scheme was supposed to deter will be able to come into London without further modifications.
Similarly, for all the rhetoric about fairness, no effective mechanism exists, or will exist by 2008, to control foreign registered buses and coaches that do not comply.

The Mayor is well aware that over the next couple of years there will be changes in the quality of petrol and diesel, with the introduction of sulphur free fuel and a mandatory biofuel component. He also knows that the Treasury has brought in incentives to purchase state-of-the-art Euro 5 vehicles that far exceed the derisory targets which he proposes. Most importantly, perhaps, he knows that London operators are socially responsible and are actively looking at investments to reduce their carbon footprints.

Gordon Telling, FTA's Head of Policy for London, the South East & East of England said, 'All of these initiatives by operators, manufacturers and government mean that the Mayor can make his announcement, safe in the knowledge that he cannot fail to achieve his goal because it is already being delivered by others. If he insists on spending large sums to improve air quality then let it be on some of the many infrastructure schemes, such as the missing link between the London Gateway services and the A1 that would remove thousands of inappropriate journeys from the A41 through Hendon and Mill Hill every day. Such projects would be a real investment in the capital's infrastructure and would provide genuinely new benefits for north Londoners. As for the LEZ, there is no need for it as industry has already made sure that the job's done.'