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Deputy London mayor for environment and energy, Shirley Rodriguez, has pledged her support to the drive towards lower emission commercial vehicles.

The keynote speaker at the fourth annual LoCITY clean air conference at the Oval in London on 25 September, Rodriguez told delegates the programme continues to be very successful and that, since April, 75% of vehicles in the central London zone were meeting European standards – "a massive rise" from just 39% in 2017.

There has also been a large reduction in the number of older, more polluted vehicles, she confirmed, and steps were continuing to clean up freight services.

The conference focused on clean air strategy and sustainable delivery projects taking place across the capital supported by TfL and the boroughs.

In particular, Rodriguez highlighted the work being done by Royal Mail which now operates 100 electric vans in inner London, and Travis Perkins who have put 3,000 drivers through their training programme to ensure they operate vehicles in the most environmentally friendly manner. They also incentivise driving behaviour through an eco bonus scheme.

New policies to cut emissions in London will come into effect next October, she confirmed, and apply to the HGVs operating across the capital. These regulations will then be extended out as far as the North and South Circular roads.

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Meanwhile, a campaign is under way urging the government to provide adequate funding so businesses can make the change to lower emission vehicles.

Rodriguez also pointed to the scrappage scheme launched earlier this year to help micro businesses and sole traders to scrap vehicles for cleaner alternatives.

Meanwhile, principal TfL city planner Oliver Draser explained the work being done to roll out infrastructure for alternately fuelled vehicles. The initial aim, he said, was to help fleets prepare for the central London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) launched back in April.

Richard McGreevy from TfL also gave a policy update confirming emission standards for lorries were being tightened from Euro-4 to Euro-6. Owners of non-compliant vehicles will have to pay £100 per day if their vehicles don't meet Euro-6 standards and £300 if they don't meet Euro-4.

He also confirmed rapid charging hubs would be available from 2020 and shared business charging infrastructure would be supported.

Other presentations came from Dr Guilia Privitera from UK Power Networks which is enabling the transition to commercial electric vehicles, and Paul Wilkes, business services manager at FORS, who updated delegates on its efforts to transform road fleet activity.

Meanwhile, The Cross River Partnership explained the work it is doing with businesses to set up 'clean air villages' in the capital.

Contributions from business included a presentation from the Co-Op featuring its new Starship delivery robot which has had trials in 100 cities and was recently successfully launched in Milton Keynes.

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