News: Boris Johnson proposes "workplace parking levies" for Londoners

A SCRAPPAGE scheme for older diesel cars and the introduction of a workplace parking levy that could see employees paying up to £400 a year to park their car are among a package of measures being proposed by Boris Johnson, Mayor of London to cut the capital’s pollution.

Under Johnson’s “workplace parking levies” scheme, companies would be billed for each employee who parks their car in a space provided by them. However, similar schemes have seen such charges, which have approached £400 a year, passed on to workers.

The mayor has also proposed a scrappage scheme offering drivers of diesel cars up to £2,000 to exchange their vehicles for cleaner models. A similar nationwide scheme launched in 2009 that targeted older cars in general, was so successful it was credited with helping to kickstart new car sales in the wake of the 2008 recession.

Other ideas proposed by the mayor include “geo-fencing” areas of central London by using GPS to create a virtual zone that automatically switches any hybrid vehicle that enters it to electric power.

The idea follows Johnson’s announcement that an Ultra Low Emission Zone will be created in central London in 2020 into which only vehicles with low or zero emissions will be able to drive.

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