Driving petrol, diesel cars in London? Get ready to pay 2 pounds as daily charge

London could soon be out of bounds for petrol and diesel cars unless owners decide to pay a daily charge to use the city's roads. Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, wants a new road pricing policy which could see almost all vehicles entering the UK capital pay a daily charge of around two pounds.

London aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions target by 2030. However, it could fall short of target at current pace, according to a report released on Tuesday, which triggered the Mayor's proposal. The report says that car traffic must reduce by at least 27 per cent in London by the end of the decade to achieve the target.

The ‘Element Energy’ report says that London will need a new kind of road user charging system soon. It aims to abolish all existing road user charges and replace them with a “simple and fair scheme" where drivers pay per mile.

“This new report must act as a stark wake-up call for the government on the need to provide much greater support to reduce carbon emissions in London," said Khan.

“Nearly half of Londoners don’t own a car, but they are disproportionately feeling the damaging consequences polluting vehicles are causing. We have too often seen measures to tackle air pollution and the climate emergency delayed around the world because it’s viewed as being too hard or politically inconvenient, but I’m not willing to put off action we have the ability to implement here in London," the Mayor added.

The new measures could include extending the current Ultra Low Emission Zone even further to reduce emissions further, a small clean air daily charge across all of Greater London for all and/or introducing a Greater London boundary charge to non-London registered vehicles entering Greater London.

“The world-leading road user charging schemes we've delivered throughout the last 20 years have been really effective in addressing congestion and tackling air quality across London, but it is clear that as a city we need to go further," said Christina Calderato, Director of Transport Strategy and Policy at Transport for London.

“These new approaches will allow us to take further steps towards a net-zero city and we will ensure that Londoners and those who regularly visit London are involved as we progress this work in more detail," she said.

The Mayor’s City Hall office said its efforts will now also be on further encouraging walking and cycling in London.

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