Erin Baker: Should we have to shoulder the London T‑Charge?

I don’t object to stringent taxes on the most polluting machinery in our cities; I’m just not entirely sure that cars are the worst offenders. 

It’s so easy, isn’t it, to punish the motorist? An immediate, short-term, quick-fix political win. You only have to look at the way The Guardian, serial hater of cars and drivers, reported it: “London’s £10 T-charge comes into effect in a fight against toxic car fumes”. “Fight against toxic car fumes”? Do me a favour. Where is the fight against owners of wood-burning stoves, by far and away a bigger source of air pollutants than cars in London (17 per cent of all particulate emissions are caused by wood burners as opposed to 18 per cent by ALL road transport - not just cars)? And how many Guardian readers own a wood burner? It’s only a guess, but my guess is a lot. The hypocrisy is rank.

No one has even bothered looking at the huge toxicity levels in London’s air quality that are contributed by the rail network. A study by Kings College London showed enormous air pollution round St Pancras and Kings Cross. But that’s a far more difficult, expensive and unpleasant fix for politicians because they’d have to look at public transport – both the infrastructure and the rolling stock itself - which is meant to be the panacea; the Holy Grail of moral sanctity, alongside cycling.

Ah yes, cycling. If only motorists would get out of their cars in cities and onto bikes; we’d all be ok. Except not everyone is physically well enough, young enough or fit enough to cycle. Most people have nowhere to change and shower when they get to work and have briefcases and paperwork to carry with them. Which leaves the worst of both worlds on our roads: arrogant, aggressive cyclists and motorists fighting for the same road space.

Not only does it not work, not only is it dangerous, but the presence of cyclists alongside motorists actually increases air pollution. What happens is this: at every junction in London in rush hour, cyclists crowd round idling cars at the lights. When the lights turn green, the idling cars must wait while 20 cyclists push off in front of them. You’re lucky if three cars then get past the lights before they turn red again. I know: I’ve been commuting by car in central London for 15 years (I have to go by car for my job). It’s a total nightmare: the traffic jams build up and more cars spend longer with their engines idling and doing a series of stop-start manoeuvres that use more fuel than if they made steady but slow progress. So much for cyclists saving the planet.

Yet again, the motorist is taking the financial and political hit for a problem, not of their primary making. Still, we may be worse off financially, but at least, unlike politicians, The Guardian and cyclists, we’re not hypocrites.