Low emission zones raise £250m in 20025
Low emission zones raised more than £250m last year, according to a Freedom of Information request by WhatCar?
It found that £147m was raised through fees with a further £103m coming from fines.
London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone generated the most revenue with £123m raised from daily fees and £57m from fines, while Birmingham generated £30.7m in revenue (£20.5m in fines and £10.2m in fees) and Bristol raised £22.4m.
In Scotland, which does not charge fees but does issue fines, Edinburgh generated the most revenue at £1.1m.
Claire Evans, consumer editor at What Car?, said: “The costs involved in running the UK’s low-emission zones are extremely high, and the thinking behind them is short-sighted because they will increasingly need to be met by central government.
“As drivers become more aware of the zones and switch to compliant vehicles, revenues will fall, leading to a potential deficit of up to £123m a year, for which taxpayers will have to foot the bill, regardless of whether they enter the zones or not.”
