London Slaps Polluting Vehicles With a High New Charge

London is going to make life a lot harder for drivers of heavily polluting vehicles—by digging into their pockets. Starting in 2017, choosing to drive an old fume-belcher into the city core will cost a lot more, more than an entrée in a good London restaurant. Drivers of vehicles that don’t meet Euro 4 emission standards (in practice, most vehicles manufactured before 2005) will have to pay an extra £10 ($13) to enter London’s Congestion Charge Zone. That’s slapped on top of the existing £11.50 ($15) charge for all vehicles, to bring the combined charge to £21.50 ($28). For buses and other larger vehicles, the charge will reach up to £1,000 ($1,300).

Bear in mind that with the pound currently in a free fall, these charges will hit Brits’ purses a little more heavily than their dollar equivalents suggest. Any driver paying that kind of money more than very occasionally is surely going to end up leaving their old boneshaker at home or invest in a cleaner vehicle.