Scotland’s four biggest cities have warned drivers with more polluting vehicles to get rid of them in the next year or two or face fines for driving into the city centres.
Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen have introduced low-emission zones (LEZs), following in the footsteps of London, Birmingham and several other English cities.
Drivers of older and non-compliant vehicles entering the LEZs will be fined £60, or £30 if the charge is paid quickly.
Diesel cars and vans built after 2015 are unlikely to be compliant and nor are petrol cars and vans registered after 2006.
Scotland’s Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth said it was a “truly significant public health moment for Scotland” and she said there was a “moral responsibility to act.”
Gilruth said, “Our air quality is generally good, but for too long air pollution has exceeded legal limits for health in our city centres as a consequence of unrestricted vehicle emissions.”
But enforcement action will not begin in Dundee until May 30, 2024 and not until June 1, 2024 in Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
In Glasgow an LEZ is already in place for buses and coaches and it will be extended to cars and trucks from June 1, 2024.
In Edinburgh and Aberdeen, enforcement will begin on June 1, 2024.
In Dundee, enforcement begins on May 30, 2024 but in all four cities disabled users with blue badges will be exempt.
The Liberal Democrat group leader in Edinburgh, Kevin Lang, said he felt the LEZ was “too timid in its ambition and too slow in its implementation.”
He said, “It will leave too many communities with unacceptably low levels of air quality and could even make the situation worse in areas around the city centre zone.”
London introduced an Ultra Low Emission Zone in central London in April 2019 and extended it to the North and Circular Roads in October 2021, while Birmingham introduced a similar scheme within the A4540 city centre ring road in June last year.
