Opinion : Should High Wycombe introduce a T(oxicity)-Charge on vehicles entering the town?

Are you fed up with all the pollution from the endless traffic jams in Wycombe?

A short while ago a T-Charge was introduced in London. The ‘T’ stands for ‘Toxicity’ and the T-Charge is an emissions based surcharge aimed at improving air quality in central London and mainly applies to diesel and petrol vehicles registered before 2006.

The new charge will add an extra £10 to the rate for entering the existing Congestion Charge zone increasing the the cost to £21.50 for those whose vehicles are required to pay the charge.

Do you think it would be a good idea for Wycombe to introduce its own T-Charge for all vehicles entering the town centre from the Amersham area in the North, the M40 area in the South, West Wycombe in the West and Loudwater in the East?

Think of all the revenue it would bring in for the powers that be and the improvement it would make to air quality by making drivers avoid the town centre.

Naturally the Council Tax paying residents of Wycombe would be exempt and the charge would only apply to visitors.

Of course Wycombe does have an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) however there’s nothing to deter motorists from entering the AQMA.

Surely our town needs a London style T-Charge?

Transport for London have even published a handy ‘T-Charge emissions surcharge checker‘ so you can see if your vehicle will fall foul of the new charge.

Incidentally my good self happened to check my own trusty vehicle using the aforementioned ‘T-Charge emissions surcharge checker‘.

Despite my own vehicle putting out nearly 400g per km of CO2 (anything above 250g/km is considered a high polluter), to my amazement, when given the details of my cherished vehicle the T-Charge emissions surcharge checker said: ‘Thank you for using the T-Charge checker. Your vehicle is not subject to the T-Charge.’

Then my good self tried the registration of my trusty historic motor which has an engine designed in the 1950’s. Of course it is still running on the old (and very dangerous) four star leaded petrol which was banned for giving people (especially children) brain damage. Again the T-Charge emissions surcharge checker said: ‘Thank you for using the T-Charge checker. Your vehicle is not subject to the T-Charge.’

A good friend of mine then tried the details of their modern electronic fuel-injected vehicle and to their amazement the T-Charge checker said: ‘Your vehicle is subject to the T-Charge.‘

Surely this calls into question the methodology behind London’s T-Charge? Especially if my hideously polluting vehicles are exempt while a modern car is not!

If Wycombe does introduce a T-Charge it needs to be done properly. The least fuel efficient vehicles and those putting out lead into the air that give children brain damage should be the ones charged and not the fuel efficient, emission concious modern vehicles.

What do you think?

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