In July 2008, the city of London introduced the Low Emission Zone. The Low Emission Zone (LEZ) specifically affects older diesel-engined lorries, buses, coaches, large vans  and minibuses having over 8 seats.  Currently, all buses and coaches that have EURO III engines meet the LEZ standard. This is set to change in 2012 when vehicles must have engines meeting the EURO IV standard.

Coach operators that have coaches that are not EURO III compliant need to pay a £200 per day surcharge for entering the LEZ. Typically these are vehicles that are 10 years old or more, but quite often these are still coaches that are well maintained and useable.  The £200 LEZ charge is generally passed on to the passengers which can mean a 40% increase in price for visiting London by coach.  This means that passengers wishing to travel to London by coach need to either pay a premium on the quality of the coach or pay for the LEZ charge. Understandably, this may have an effect on the number of tourists visiting London by coach from other areas of the country.

Another potential impact of this policy is that it encourages coach hire companies to operate more in their own locality, as the potentially more lucrative market for coach trips to London will have reduced.