MAG slams TfL’s ‘guilty until proven innocent’ approach to ULEZ


MAG’s Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, has expressed outrage that motorcyclists in London are being treated as guilty until proven innocent by Transport for London (TfL) and London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan.

MAG’s Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, has expressed outrage that motorcyclists in London are being treated as guilty until proven innocent by Transport for London (TfL) and London’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan.

Colin said “In the midst of press hype around the launch of Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ policy, MAG received a quiet email from TfL along with their official press release, stating that ‘the website information for powered two wheelers is also up-to-date’.  Whilst we are happy to see those details – covering the routes for individual exemptions by Certificate of Conformity (CoC) and individual testing – once again we see that TfL is happy to treat bikers as guilty until they jump through hoops and suffer financial burden to prove their innocence.

TfL’s formal press release to the world makes no mention of the hard-won concessions that they have been forced to make.  Bear in mind that these concessions show that TfL accept that they are unnecessarily charging many bikers in the first place.  I am even more disgusted by the fact that they refuse to publicly announce that they have no intention of reimbursing bikers for the expensive emissions test that can be conducted at a single test station that was not open for business until one day before the ULEZ implementation date, and they also will not reimburse any ULEZ payments made before any individual exemption is agreed.  They are therefore blatantly refusing to repay monies that they accept were never due, and are deliberately hiding the possibility of individuals proving their innocence.”

TfL’s updated details on motorcycles state:

“Check your vehicle to see if it meets the standards. If the checker says your vehicle is subject to ULEZ but you think it does meet the standards, follow the steps on the results page to send us proof.
Contact your vehicle’s manufacturer if you’re not sure about its emissions – we will accept supporting evidence from them.
Motorbike emissions testing
We will also accept evidence from test facilities approved by us for measuring NOx emissions. If successful, the test facility will contact us with the results.
Test centres that believe they can offer motorcycle emissions testing to the required standards should email their contact details to ruculezenquiries@tfl.gov.uk.
Approved centres for motorcycle emissions testing
Riverbank Motorcycles Ltd
Unit 12, Riverbank Business Park
Dye House Lane, Bow
London E3 2TB”

The full details can be found at:
tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/motorcycles-mopeds-and-more

MAG wants to hear your stories of how you have been affected by ULEZ.  If you have incurred any financial burden (e.g. from selling a bike that was later found to be compliant, receiving fines or making ULEZ payments for a bike that was later proven to be compliant), please get in touch.

Contact MAG at 01926 844 064 or central-office@mag-uk.org