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Coping with the London LEZ
Page 9
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Owner-driver Dick Flute continues his quest to comply with the LEZ and wonders why TfL is out of step with Europe.
It is not easy to understand exactly what Transport for London (TI L) requires of CVs entering the proposed London lowemission zone (LEZ). At first glance it appears that from February 2008 all LGVs over 12 tonnes GVW must meet Euro-3, but TfL says its only interested in Euro-3 standards for particulate matter (PM) and no generally available test system measures PM levels separately unless you count the Vosa smoke test.
As I have a Euro-2 Renault, my first port of call was Renault. There was no point in considering trying to attain Euro-3, as TfL plans to increase the LEZ requirement to Euro-4 in January 2012. But, here again TfL, unlike every other European body, is only concerned with Euro-4 PM levels.
TfL advertises the LEZ as "bringing London into line with the EU", but this is surely a massive lie. In the past 12 months I have been, among other places, to Barcelona, Dublin, Locarno in Switzerland, Malaga, Oslo, Paris, Prague, Stockholm and Vienna. None has shown the slightest interest in my emissions. In Austria, Germany and Switzerland I do need to pay slightly more road tax for having a Euro-2 truck, and that's fair enough. Throughout the EU the principle has been to self-regulate the most used general haulage vehicles, which wear out more quickly anyway, hence solving most emission problems at source. For two decades or more many European cities have taken steps to require or encourage vehicles operating entirely within city limits to reduce emission levels. As far as I am aware, no city has sought to govern nearly all vehicles, including occasional visitors.
The logical thing to do seemed to be to get a reduced pollution certificate (RPC) and at 228'it seemed a gamble worth taking. After all, the PM levels given on the Euro-2 document provided by Renault showed my truck was just a smidgen outside the limits. In the event the Vosa staff bent over backwards... but my truck was still hopelessly outside the limits.
"Tfl. advertises the low emission zone as 'bringing London into line with the EU' but this is surely a massive lie"