£52 million bid to battle traffic and pollution

Charity Davenport
11/27/09
3:50pm

According to a European article from November 26, 2009, people are making plans to deal with traffic and pollution. Councilors are going to meet up and talk about an update in cross-boundary negotiations for the Transport Innovation Fund bid. Their goal is to create a Low Emissions Zone that they believe would improve the quality of the air in their urban areas. The main focus would be to keep the vehicles that emit the most pollution (heavy goods vehicles) off of the main routes of the area by introducing some form of charging. They will base the charges on European emission standards depending on both the age and the type of the vehicle. The zone would be to reduce the amount of nitrogen oxide in the air to meet a European deadline for cleaner air in 2015.

I found this article to be pretty interesting, however I do have some mixed feelings about the situation. I love the fact that they are taking steps to reducing the amounts of pollution in their towns, but it seems like it may be a little unfair for people who have purchased the heavy goods vehicles. I understand that those are the highest emitters, but singling them out just seems a little excessive. This would create a huge burden for people who have already purchased these types of vehicles. If they are going to charge people, I feel that for the best interest of all of the people, everyone with a vehicle should be charged. It may not be what those people would like to hear, but I think it’s only fair.

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2061559_52_million_bid_to_battle_traffic_and_pollution