London Congestion Charge - Proposed Changes

[wooski]

As some may have seen our Mayor Boris has started a consultion on his proposal to change the LLC exemption from hybrid cars to those emitting below 100g CO2 and Euro V compliant. Prius Gen 2 owners beware! The Gen 3 Prius and new Auris hybrid will still be exempt but the big Lexus hybrids (GS,RX and LS) will suffer.

Article here from the Guardian - Guardian article

And the link to the Public Consultation on the TFL site is here

[wooski]

Looks like the new baby Lexus CT200h will be below 100g as well. The prediction is around 95g.

[seljon]

seems fairly sensible to me although I would exclude diesels - not great in urban areas even with the latest emissions control tech

[Grumpy Cabbie]

London Congestion Charge? Where's London?

[Seamaster73]

Anyone who chooses to drive in London wants their head read.

[Chris Dance]

I pay the £10 a year congestion charge at the moment but I have never driven in the congestion zone with the Prius. I pay just in case I need to drive in London. If it goes up then I shall only go to London on the train. As Seamaster says driving in London is stressful unless you know exactly where you are going and you get constantly cut up by buses taxis etc.

[Doesn'tExist]

I used to live at the former GLC building in central london, driving is just fine..No issue at all...If you think that is bad I guess you haven't been around the much ;-)

The main issue is roadworks, but isn't that everywhere...

[Chris Dance]

OK if you live in London and know the one way systems etc. SAT Nav is no use in the Buckingham Palace Whitheall areas. Another area of driver madness is the Blackwall tunnel. I have driven in London and if I can avoid the place I do so. I have been around quite a lot and driven in many cities in different countries and all over UK. I still do not like driving in London. Paris is another place to avoid if you are driving.

[acetip]

OK if you live in London and know the one way systems etc. SAT Nav is no use in the Buckingham Palace Whitheall areas. Another area of driver madness is the Blackwall tunnel. I have driven in London and if I can avoid the place I do so. I have been around quite a lot and driven in many cities in different countries and all over UK. I still do not like driving in London. Paris is another place to avoid if you are driving.

hi all

if you go to Paris, thers a game you can play, its called SPOT THE CAR WITHOUT A DENT police cars are included.

when you buy a new car there, at no extra charge you can have dents added where you like them to be.

[wooski]

I live in cental London, so driving in Lonson is unavoidable. The secret is knowing your routes and NOT using the Sat Nav which will only take you on the most obvious congested routes. Even knowing which lane to be in can save lots of time. And read the signs for bus lanes - most are only active for certain times of the day yet so many people dont use them when you are allowed.

The other secret is timing. Traffic in the evening rises considerably after the LCC finishes at 6:30pm. So drive to make sure you get home before 6:30 and your journey will be much quicker.

There are some journey's though where the tube just makes more sense and then I leave the car at home. Pay As You Go Oyster is great for me.

I thought this would be a debate about air quality from small diesal cars versus the 2nd Gen Prius....

[Doesn'tExist]

The funny thing is that I've had many a time a roadside emission test in London...I had it with three cars I've had and all were clearly (pointing at the VRN) less than one year old...Yet many old bangers, taxi and buses wallowing out black smoke were not being stopped...I don't know what criteria they use, but it seems rather odd to me...

I agree 100% with wooski, satnav is useless around london it will just direct you in traffic with everyone else....Don't be afraid to take the backroads since if you have any sense of direction you'll end up in the right place :-)

[Grumpy Cabbie]

...Yet many old bangers, taxi and buses wallowing out black smoke were not being stopped...I don't know what criteria they use, but it seems rather odd to me...

I don't know about London, but believe me taxi's are not given free rein to abuse emissions or any other driving laws. We regularly get stopped at check points - usually at airports, stations or schools. These tests often occur during the day/normal working hours when the general public is probably unlikely to see them, and test the emissions, tyres, brakes, red diesel, insurance and often whether you're working when you shouldn't be! (benefit fraud).

My view is if you have nothing to hide, then you've nothing to worry about.

[Doesn'tExist]

...Yet many old bangers, taxi and buses wallowing out black smoke were not being stopped...I don't know what criteria they use, but it seems rather odd to me...

I don't know about London, but believe me taxi's are not given free rein to abuse emissions or any other driving laws. We regularly get stopped at check points - usually at airports, stations or schools. These tests often occur during the day/normal working hours when the general public is probably unlikely to see them, and test the emissions, tyres, brakes, red diesel, insurance and often whether you're working when you shouldn't be! (benefit fraud).

My view is if you have nothing to hide, then you've nothing to worry about.

Well I agree, and I guess with a 1 year old car I wouldn't have feared anything...Point is, why pull over such a young car? Wouldn't that be a waste of time?

[Grumpy Cabbie]

...Yet many old bangers, taxi and buses wallowing out black smoke were not being stopped...I don't know what criteria they use, but it seems rather odd to me...

I don't know about London, but believe me taxi's are not given free rein to abuse emissions or any other driving laws. We regularly get stopped at check points - usually at airports, stations or schools. These tests often occur during the day/normal working hours when the general public is probably unlikely to see them, and test the emissions, tyres, brakes, red diesel, insurance and often whether you're working when you shouldn't be! (benefit fraud).

My view is if you have nothing to hide, then you've nothing to worry about.

Well I agree, and I guess with a 1 year old car I wouldn't have feared anything...Point is, why pull over such a young car? Wouldn't that be a waste of time?

With me yes, but by the very nature of the job taxis cover a high mileage in hard driving conditions. My car is 6 months and going in for its 20k mile service. Luckily my area run a very tight ship regarding their rules and regs but there are many drivers out there who do like to sail close to the wind. There are all sorts of tricks some of these unscupulous drivers get up to which these random spot checks keep on top of.

You get unregistered taxis, or unregistered drivers or the idiots who have no insurance or have cancelled it after showing the council the certificate. We get a trade magazine once a month at work and some of the horror stories you read of dodgy cabbies would drain the blood from your head!

[Doesn'tExist]

Oh I believe it :-) Shame really, but that is why I always use official taxis....And I do like the green cars...lots of prius taxis in London...