Drivers Pay Hundreds As Net Zero Parking Charges Spread Nationwide

U.K. councils are increasingly charging drivers for parking based on vehicle emissions, hitting higher-polluting cars with higher fees and disproportionately impacting those with lower incomes. The Telegraph has the story.

Drivers are having to fork out hundreds of pounds each year to park their cars as new Net Zero charges spread nationwide.

Analysis by the Telegraph has found that one in seven councils charges for parking based on vehicle emissions, which leads to the most polluting vehicles being hit with higher fees.

Some councils have tripled their rates for petrol cars in the last year, while some drivers are having to pay as much as £110 extra this year for year-long permits.

Drivers of diesel vehicles are being increasingly targeted, with 18 councils now introducing separate surcharges for these vehicles.

Councils argue that such charges are needed to improve air quality and encourage people to use more sustainable forms of transport.

However, the spread of the charges has been criticised by motoring groups, which have labelled them “inherently unfair” and “inconsistent”.

Luke Bodset, a spokesman for the AA, said: “These charges discriminate against families that need larger vehicles and punish those on lower incomes who cannot afford lower emission vehicles.”

The RAC said the policies “smack of councils simply trying to extract as much money as possible from drivers”.

When councils charge for parking according to vehicle emissions, they base rates on the size of a driver’s engine or how much carbon dioxide a vehicle emits. Councils also reduce parking prices for electric vehicles. …

London councils were the most likely to implement these charges, with responses revealing that at least 20 of the capital’s 32 boroughs have them in place.

But their use has also spread further afield with places such as Sheffield, Somerset and Sevenoaks among the non-London authorities to use a form of emissions-base charging.

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