Engineering360: "Cities Pledge to Ban Diesel Vehicles"

Thats almost funny, in Germany, recent tests have shown that modern Diesel cars with an exhaust filter are many thousands of times cleaner, particle wise, than most petrol engined cars....

AutoBild about 4 weeks ago.

Whatever happened to the emissions tax/surcharge based on annual tail pipe testing of everything entering the city limits? The pure market based solution. I recall Franco had something like this (a random spot check fine system run by a special division of the local cops) in Madrid when he was honcho in Spain.

Older dirty diesels are an issue, the port city of Southampton where I work has major issues with pollution at times, but it's the road users that will suffer from these bans and/or punitive taxes, not the diesel engined railways, ships or aircraft that all put out significant amounts of pollutants into the city. Add in the effects of the public transport network of buses that are favoured at traffic lights, and behind which nothing else can move, by design all bus stops are built out to obstruct free flow of traffic, leading to even greater emissions than necessary and one has to wonder if the city has any idea about actually improving smooth flow to reduce emissions. The recent advice on health grounds by the medical profession for removing traffic 'calming' humps etc that cause flow surging and increased pollution is seen as unacceptable by some campaigners too. Perhaps the ban will help, but alone it's not enough, not until the other polluters are dealt with too.