How to get cleaner air without just penalising motorists
THE Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, wants to reduce pollution, but there does not appear to be a joined-up plan behind the flurry of activity to reduce the toxicity of our air. His first target has been older vehicles, but he intends to extend this to those registered before 2015, which will affect a huge number of car owners. It is too simplistic to say we should all turn to public transport — commuters using trains and the Underground can tell you all about the overcrowding, delays and cancellations. Vehicle sales have dipped because the public are waiting to see what the Government is planning next. The infrastructure needed for the drive to electric vehicles will come out of the taxpayer’s pocket. I wrote to the Mayor and the Department of Transport making a series of suggestions, including subsidising conversion kits to transform vehicles into hybrids and restricting zones in our cities to cars running on battery power only. We also need to improve MoT testing to ensure that emission technology fitted to vehicles works efficiently. For example, tanks of urea, which ‘scrub’ nitrogen oxide from diesel exhausts, are fitted to commercial vehicles, but are rarely refilled because it is believed this reduces fuel economy. An inside lane full of slow-moving lorries on motorways causes congestion and adds to emissions. More freight should be moved by train.
JAMES MUIR, Rayleigh, Essex.