As someone who lives within the M25, who used to regularly drive up to London's West End on a night out and park on one of the main streets from early evening until the early hours, and who'd drive through the City when heading east/north east rather than take the North or South Circular, I've seen London's roads change a great deal and I don’t like what I’m seeing. If you've been reading Cleanzine for some time you'll already be aware of my hatred of the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) expansion, inconvenient road closures to form LTNs (Low Traffic Neighbourhoods), ill-conceived cycle lanes alongside bus lanes compounding other road narrowing measures, parking restrictions and 20mph speed limits where they’re simply not needed etc - all of which seem to me to be a deliberate attempt to make driving in London so difficult and so stressful that we won't bother to do it. Well it's worked with me! 

  

But what about those who can't make that choice? Those who have to drive into London for work – whether British or from overseas, perhaps to visit clients, to service or repair equipment, to demonstrate equipment they're trying to sell, to deliver or collect goods etc? Those, too, like our nation’s cleaners, who often work unsociable hours and whose journeys aren't sensibly covered by public transport? 

  

It could all soon be about to get worse... 

  

Transport for London is holding a 10-week public consultation on its latest proposals regarding driving in London and the potential costs of doing so, which will give us the opportunity to suggest improvements of our own. I’ve spent a couple of hours reading through the documentation and while a lot of what it says seems well thought out, the underlying message seems to be that we’re steadily being pushed out of our vehicles and onto public transport, our bikes – and, as we Brits have been known to say, Shanks’s Pony (on foot)! I knew that the congestion and ULEZ charges were likely to increase but hadn’t realised that the current 100% Cleaner Vehicle Discount, which applies to all electric vehicles, is due to end this coming 25th December or that the lower discount being applied instead will eventually be phased out. There’s a lot of talk about electric quadricycles & cargo bikes, which are all very well in some cases but don’t seem viable for those needing to carry heavy equipment and/or cases of samples around! 

  

I’m not suggesting that any notice will be taken by London’s Mayor and his team of your input, but if you don’t make the effort and it does all go belly up, you’ll have to live with the regret. The closing date for responses is 4th August 2025 and the documentation is here: Have your say