You seem oblivious to the irony here—owning a car already puts you in the upper tier of wealth in the world.

Talking about Manhattan specifically, this is already about the most expensive place in the world and the only place in the US with this scheme in place, adding more traffic isn’t going to change that so no point in using it as an example of anything.

Plenty of countries that are not so car dependent have pedestrian zones in less affluent cities.

For the record, here are the requirements: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/car...

Minimum emissions standards

Petrol: Euro 4 (NOx)

Diesel: Euro 6 (NOx and PM)

Petrol cars that meet the ULEZ standards are generally those first registered as new with the DVLA after 2005, although cars that meet the standards have been available since 2001

Diesel cars that meet the standards are generally those first registered with the DVLA as new after September 2015

That's not my experience in London tbh; you can get away with a 7 year old diesel car, for example. Also, this is being done where the public transport is second to none, so everyone has an option for local transport 20 hours or so a day.

Yes, this is literally what they’re achieving. It’s incredible that so many people on here don’t see it, but my guess is cause they’ve never actually looked into the people they’re displacing and negatively affecting.