London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) arrives on 8 April 2019. It is undoubtedly well-intended: If you want to send your vehicles into the ULEZ, they will need to meet Euro 6 standards, either by means of original equipment or through retrofit.
So far, the latter is proving a conundrum for coaches. The technology to take an older coach’s emissions to Euro 6 exists, but it is not widespread. It looks very unlikely that eight months will be sufficient time for it to become established.
That means that some operators who wish to upgrade to Euro 6 via retrofit will be unable to do so in time for the ULEZ. They will have to wait until later. Where does that leave them? In not as bad a place as you may first think.
The ULEZ is a means to improve the capital’s air quality. It will no doubt do that. But operators who choose instead to pay the alterative – a £200 daily charge that will be levied on full-size coaches and buses that enter the zone and yet do not meet Euro 6 – need not worry about that.
Instead, in exchange for the equivalent of a surcharge of around £4 per passenger, you will be welcome to bring your B10M, Javelin or Tiger into the heart of the ULEZ.
Is that fair on those operators who have invested in new vehicles in preparation? Probably not. Is it reality for a cash-strapped organisation that struggles to satisfy the whims of its ultimate head? Definitely so.
