Sadiq Khan wins 2024 London Mayoral election

[IvanV]

.... personal air quality meter on his trip into town (displayed pm2.5 in microgrammes per cubic metre).

TL/DR: roads around his home measured 3-5. Central London, 4-6. Journey there by Underground 60-200+.

V high particulate pollution in the Underground. There were some shock-horror articles a while back, and I did some research on it, not really coming to any firm conclusion. Origin is brakes, wheel on rail contact, electrical machinery, high density of people, etc. The actual nature of the particles in there is very specific, very different from other places. We don't really understand how bad it is for you, the nature of the pollution is probably more important than the number, given it is so different from the generality of surface pollution where we can say more is worse. On the fence article, Science Focus.
Probably very bad for you article, Cambridge Univ.

Another place where people fail to realise they are suffering very bad pollution is inside their car as they drive along. The car's fan sucks in exhaust fumes of their own vehicle and vehicles you follow. It's actually worse than riding a bicycle or walking along the same road.

[Woodchopper]

London mayor Sadiq Khan has shelved plans for a zero emissions zone in central London that would have levied a charge on drivers of all combustion-engined vehicles, marking a shift in his politically contentious crackdown on pollution.

The mayor’s office confirmed it had dropped the plan, adding it would focus on hitting the capital’s 2030 target for net zero emissions in other ways.

The development comes as Khan faces a backlash over his decision to push ahead with the expansion of London’s ultra low emission zone from Tuesday.

Khan told the BBC’s Today programme on Tuesday morning that his move to expand Ulez was a “difficult decision but a vital one”, adding that evidence of the harmful effects of air pollution on people’s health was “quite clear”.

The extension of Ulez means owners of older and more polluting vehicles will have to pay a daily charge of £12.50 to drive in Greater London.

Khan had previously pledged to go further and introduce a zero emissions zone in central London in his transport strategy, which was first published in 2018. It was updated last year to highlight “the triple challenges of toxic air pollution, the climate emergency and traffic congestion”.

In the plan, the mayor had pledged to work towards a new central London zone by 2025, which it said would “likely” require any non-zero emission vehicle to pay a daily charge. As well as Ulez, central London has a congestion charge zone that levies a £15 daily fee on drivers of all petrol or diesel-engined vehicles.

https://www.ft.com/content/d373d159-7a9 ... 542eac8527

[bjn]

It was Shapps that insisted the ULEZ expand in return for bailing out London transport during COVID. Khan (and I) may agree with the expansion, but a Tory minister's involvement is never mentioned in articles like that. Grrrr.