ULEZ and CAZ in London and beyond - take charge, avoid the charges

If you are travelling into London in a car or van, you need to do some research, fill in some forms and get out your credit card - even if you have a fully electric car. Don't imagine you will escape if you never drive in to the capital either - Clean Air Zones, Ultra Low Emission Zones and Congestion Charges will be coming to other major cities soon as local governments look to clean up the air in urban areas.

Here's what you need to know.

The London Congestion Charge has been around for nearly two decades, and taking exhaust gases out of the Capital’s air was one reason for its introduction. An increasing number of other British cities have similar plans for what are generally known as CAZ Clean Air Zones, focusing on areas of serious emissions-sourced air pollution. 

Let's start with the London Congestion Charge. This now costs £15 per day if you pay in advance (or £17.50 if you pay up to three days after). This now applies to all non-electric cars, including PHEVs. If you own a battery electric or hydrogen fuel cell vehicle you can apply for a 100% discount, but it involves sending off copies (or scans) of your documents to TfL every year and paying a £10 fee - you can't just drive in on a whim or you'll get a fine. This will need to be renewed every year, and then from 25 December 2025, the cleaner vehicle discount will be discontinued completely and electric cars will have to pay too. For more detail, read our full guide on electric cars and the congestion charge. 

The capital has also introduced an Ultra Low Emission Zone which expanded charging zones to the areas within the North and South Circular Roads (see here). This charge is aimed purely at more polluting vehicles which don't meet the latest emission regulations. Controversially, the rules aren't based on CO2 output but instead use particulate measurements. This means that an eight year old Audi diesel might have to pay the charge while a V8 Range Rover petrol won't.

The TfL website will tell you if your car is exempt or if you need to pay and the charge is currently £12.50 per day. Unlike the congestion charge, you don't need to register for an exemption. 

What if I can't afford to buy a new car?

The Mayor of London implemented a range of schemes to help low-income drivers in London scrap older, more polluting vehicles. These ‘scrappage’ schemes are a grant which gives car owners money to take their vehicles off the road permanently. Grants for minibuses and commercial vehicles are available for small businesses and charities.

For private motorists, the grant gives £1,000 to scrap a motorcycle or moped and £2,000 to scrap a car. There are rules though – you have to live within the 32 London boroughs or the City of London and be claiming benefits. To prevent people just buying up old cars to get the grant, they need to have been owned and registered for more than 12 months before 23 October 2019. The car must also be insured, MOT’d and taxed. It must also not be ULEZ compliant. 

CAZ in other cities

To start with, most zones will be exempting private cars from their pay-to-drive plans, however polluting they might be, but there will be some exceptions. 

Many buses, commercial vehicles, taxis and often older petrol cars that don’t meet Euro 4 exhaust gas regulations (Euro 6 for diesels) are in the charging firing line.

There will be signage to tell drivers when they’re crossing a CAZ border, number plate recognition cameras to record vehicles, and official payment portals -just like the long-standing London Congestion Charge.

There are four CAZ charging categories, which will operate constantly all year round:

• A. For buses, coaches, taxis and private hire vehicles.
• B. Buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles, heavy goods vehicles and mini buses.
• C. Buses, coaches, taxis, private hire and heavy goods vehicles, vans and minibuses.
• D. Buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, vans, minibuses, cars. Motorcycles can be included if a local authority wants this.
  

Some urban areas that proposed CAZ charging zones then rejected them, choosing other pollution-reducing measures (such as introducing electric buses) or citing air quality improvements thanks to a Covid-related drop in vehicle use. 

These include Basildon, Broxbourne, Coventry, Leicester, Leeds, Sheffield and Cardiff, although congestion charging is still under consideration there as part of the local authority’s ten year transport plan. Likely future CAZ candidates include Liverpool (in 2023), and Stoke-on-Trent.

In Scotland Glasgow’s authorities are working towards a city-wide LEZ Low Emission Zone by 2023, something similar is under discussion in Edinburgh, which plans to have an LEZ running by next Spring. Likewise, Aberdeen and Dundee, although in both cases the Scottish Government would like to see charging systems running by May 2022.

CAZs favour zero emission electric models, which are currently charge exempt, and drivers of other vehicles can see if they have to pay at this Government web page.

Here’s a list of where CAZs have arrived, or are coming soon:

Bath

The picturesque spa town has operated a Class C CAZ since mid-March. Right now, private cars and motorcycles are exempt, as it majors on commercial vehicles and buses, but some Bath-based motorhome owners are being charged.

The CAZ zone wriggles around the city centre. You can find a map here. Bath’s CAZ website is here.

Birmingham

Britain’s second city is another CAZ early adopter, launching its Class D scheme in mid-June (it would have arrived last year but for the pandemic). Birmingham is being less generous than Bath when it comes to charging private cars.

The CAZ is within the A4540 Middleway ring road - but not the Middleway itself. There’s a daily £8 charge for older petrol and diesel cars, but Euro 4 petrol and Euro 6 diesel and hybrid cars are currently exempt, as of course are electric vehicles.

Click here for details.

Bradford 

Bradford is hoping to have a CAZ up and running by next January, and is awaiting Government approval for its scheme. Bus and truck drivers would pay £50 a day, taxis £12.50, and for vans and light commercials it’s £9. As you read this private car owners won’t be charged to enter the city. Click here for more information.

Bristol

Bristol hopes to have its Class D CAZ in place by October. You can find a map of where it will be here. Non-compliant cars, taxis and light commercials pay £9 a day, buses, coaches and HGVs £100. Locals earning less than £24,000 a year can apply for an exemption for the first year. Hospital visits are also excluded. Bristol has set out its CAZ plans here.

Cambridge

Cambridge councillors are actively considering a Class C CAZ, and an Ultra Low Emissions Zone is also being discussed. That, according to the local press, could see a £5 charge for cars entering the university city. If proposals are agreed charges could start in 2022.

Manchester

Greater Manchester is moving towards a Class C Class CAZ, which should be in operation next Spring. Final plans expected to be agreed this summer.

Non-exempt coaches, buses and HGVs will pay £60 day. Light commercials, vans and minibuses £10, taxis and private hire cars £7.50.

Newcastle

Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside. Public consultation showed support for a Class C scheme. According to the Patrol website, this should be introduced in January next year.

Oxford

Oxford is working towards a clean air scheme with a different acronym. This is ZEZ (for Zero Emission Zone). From August there will be a pilot city centre charging zone covering Bonn Square, Queen Street, Cornmarket, part of Market Street, Ship Street, St Michael’s Street, New Inn Hall Street, and Shoe Lane.

Zero emission vehicles are exempt, but everyone else would pay between £2 to £10 a day, from 7am to 7pm (rising to between £4 and £20 from August 2025). Other vehicles would be permitted in the zone but would be charged from £2 to £10 per day (rising to between £4 and £20 per day from August 2025). There would be discounts and exemptions for some drivers, including locals and those with disabilities.

If deemed successful, the ZEZ could be expanded city-wide next spring. For details click here.

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is set to launch its Class B CAZ in the autumn, as plans have been agreed to charge non-compliant coaches, buses and HGVs £50 a day and taxis £10 a day. Cameras are being installed as you read this (click here for more information). For a map of Portsmouth’s CAZ visit here.