London borough offers £50 voucher to help residents battle cost of Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ expansion
- ‘Good Move’ scheme is available to select residents, businesses and charities
- Officials say programme eligibility will be based on income and other factors
A London borough is offering residents £50 vouchers to help ease costs associated with mayor Sadiq Khan’s ‘unacceptable’ clean air zone expansion.
The Richmond upon Thames ‘Good Move’ scheme aims to assist with the impact of the controversial changes to the Ultra Low Emission Zone, which can add up to £4,500 to a resident’s commute each year.
Under the mayor’s new ULEZ rules, all vehicles that do not pass European emissions standards – typically pre-2015 diesel and pre-2006 petrol vehicles – will have to pay £12.50 a day to drive in the zone.
Richmond council, after Mr Khan reportedly failed to address their call to alleviate the financial burden on residents, is now offering aid to residents ‘willing to consider a step-change in their future vehicle choices’.
Borough residents who commit to changing to a compliant vehicle within 12 months of the ULEZ expansion going into effect will receive £50 via eligible voucher programmes, The Telegraph reported.
Residents in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames can receive £50 vouchers to help ease costs associated with mayor Sadiq Khan’s ‘unacceptable’ clean air zone expansion. Mayor Khan is pictured on April 29
The Richmond upon Thames ‘Good Move’ scheme aims to assist with the impact of the controversial changes to the Ultra Low Emission Zone, which can add up to £4,500 to a resident’s commute each year. Anti-ULEZ protesters are pictured on April 15
The Richmond council ‘Good Move’ scheme’s £50 figure covers four days of the £12.50 ULEZ charge.
The scheme will provide qualifying Richmond residents with either a £50 pay-as-you-go Oyster card or a free one-year ZipCar membership with a £50 driving credit.
There will also be an option for a free three-month trial with the Peddle My Wheels Try Before You Bike scheme.
ULEZ obsession that will cost region £500M: READ MORE HERE
The expansion of the ULEZ will blow an estimated £500million hole in the regional economy every year, say experts
The scheme is only available to select residents, businesses and charities. Officials say programme eligibility will be based on income and other factors.
Alexander Ehmann, chairman of Richmond’s transport and air quality committee, told the newspaper the scheme aims to offer ‘real support’ to residents most in need.
‘Addressing air quality is a top priority for Richmond upon Thames and this borough wants to build on the local cross-party consensus that the Ulez should cover the entirety of Greater London,’ he said.
‘However, the speed at which the mayor of London has sought to introduce the extension and the lack of financial support afforded to residents remains unacceptable.
Mr Ehmann said the council called on Mr Khan to ‘improve his offer’ but alleged the mayor ‘has not heeded this call’.
He added that while Richmond council does not have the ‘vast covers of TfL’ and cannot address ‘all the defects’ in Mr Khan’s scheme, it can help those looking to make lasting emissions choices.
A spokesperson for Mr Khan says the mayor ‘welcomes’ Richmond council’s efforts to make transportation ‘more accessible and affordable’ to residents, adding that the decision to expand the ULEZ ‘was not an easy one, but necessary to tackle toxic air pollution, cut congestion and combat the climate crisis.’
He said the mayor has ‘repeatedly called on the Government’ to support Londoners who switch to cleaner vehicles, as has been previously done in Bristol, Bath, Sheffield, Portsmouth, Birmingham and other places across the UK.
MailOnline has approached the council and mayor for comment.
The scheme will provide qualifying Richmond residents with either a £50 pay-as-you-go Oyster card or a free one-year ZipCar membership with a £50 driving credit. There will also be an option for a free three-month trial with the Peddle My Wheels Try Before You Bike scheme. People protesting the ULEZ changes are pictured on April 15
News of the scheme comes just one week after experts revealed the controversial expansion of the ULEZ will blow an estimated £500million hole in the regional economy every year.
The warning came as separate research by the Conservatives also revealed that more than 1.2million commuters will be clobbered by the London Labour mayor’s changes, adding up to £4,500 to their commute each year.
A report published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that the ULEZ expansion will cost the regional economy at least £538million every year.
The Tories’ separate research, based on Freedom of Information requests to the DVLA, found that more than 1.2million non-ULEZ compliant cars in London’s commuter belt will be hit.
In any event, motoring groups believe ULEZ expansion is just a ‘cash cow’ to plug a hole in City Hall’s finances.
Meanwhile, researchers at Imperial College London found the existing scheme had ’caused only small improvements in air quality in the context of a longer-term downward trend in London’s air pollution levels.’
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