Scores of low emission and hybrid vehicles will no longer be exempt from London's spectacularly successful congestion pricing scheme because their growing popularity has increased pollution and traffic in the capital, reports the Daily Mail.
If approved by Mayor Boris Johnson, Transport for London's proposal to end the £10 congestion charge exemption for "[m]ore than 50 ‘green’ models, which includes the petrol/electric Toyota Prius," will go into effect this July.
"The U-Turn has provoked an outcry from motoring organisations, who accused authorities of moving the ‘green goalposts’. And the move is also expected to cause anger among motorists who bought their cars to take advantage of the exemption."
Of the 70,000 vehicles that enter the congestion zone each day, 2,500 qualify for the Greener Vehicle Discount. "It is understood the changes to the pricing will generate up to an extra £2 million a year," which the Daily Mail says "will go some way to plugging the £60 million lost since the abandoning the Congestion Charge’s western extension."
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