From TfL press release
Proposals to improve air quality across the capital and significantly reduce the number of vehicles not meeting pollution standards
A consultation on plans to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to cover almost the whole of the capital from 29 August 2023 has been launched.
The Mayor of London and Transport for London (TfL) have delivered a range of schemes to tackle the capital's toxic air crisis, the climate emergency and traffic congestion, but further bold action across the city is required. Around 4,000 premature deaths in 2019 were attributed to filthy air, with the greatest number in outer London. Bromley, Barnet, Havering and Croydon were the boroughs with the highest number of early deaths, showing that poor air quality is not just a central London problem. More extreme weather events are predicted if the world fails to act to reduce carbon emissions, with London already seeing these in the form of flash floods in 2021.
The current and long-term threat from toxic air pollution to public health is significant. All Londoners live in areas that breach the World Health Organization (WHO) target for particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, around 500,000 suffer from asthma and a similar number will develop diseases linked to dirty air over the next 30 years. In the same period, it is estimated harmful emissions will cost the NHS and social care £10.4bn if no further action is taken to improve air quality.
Traffic congestion continues to be a persistent problem in the capital. Last year, the cost to the London economy was estimated to be £5.1 billion. Nearly two-thirds of the cost of congestion in London has been attributed to traffic delays in outer London. This comes at a cost to everyone, impacting businesses, bus customers and essential services.
The Mayor considered a range of options when deciding the next steps to take in dealing with the emergency facing the capital. In the short term, expanding the ULEZ London-wide will have the biggest effect on emissions relative to the cost to Londoners as a whole, as well as helping to tackle the climate emergency and traffic congestion. The current £12.50 daily charge level for cars, vans and motorbikes that do not meet the standards would be retained. This would be supported by a revision of the Mayor's Transport Strategy, which is also part of this consultation. The consultation will also ask Londoners to help shape the future of road user charging in the capital. This could include scrapping existing charges, such as the Congestion Charge, and replacing them with a single road user charging scheme that uses more sophisticated technology to make it as simple and fair as possible for Londoners.
If a larger zone were introduced, it would have a significant impact by the end of 2023. It is estimated that the number of cars not meeting the tough ULEZ standards each day in outer London would fall from 160,000 to 46,000 and the number of vans from 42,000 to 26,000. Pollution afflicts the lives of young people, stunting the development of their lungs. These proposals would mean the air around an additional 145 schools, mostly in outer London, would meet the interim WHO target for nitrogen dioxide. The changes would also see a further 340,000 Londoners living in areas meeting these international health-based standards.
The tough emission standards have already been hugely successful in central London, helping reduce lethal nitrogen dioxide at the roadside by around half. In outer London more than four out of five vehicles are already compliant with the ULEZ standards. For those who own older, more polluting vehicles it is proposed there will be as big a vehicle scrappage scheme as is feasible to help people adapt to the change if the proposals are confirmed by the Mayor. This would build on the Mayor's previous £61m scheme, which took more than 15,000 of the dirtiest vehicles off the road, supporting low income and disabled Londoners, charities and small businesses.
TfL is working quickly to clean up its services with more than 800 zero emission at tailpipe buses, making it the largest green fleet in western Europe. Strict licensing standards mean that over a third of iconic black cabs are now zero emission capable. As part of the wider move to electric, all drivers are being supported to switch to the cleanest vehicles, with more than 10,000 charging points now within the M25 - a third of the UK's total.
TfL is also proposing to make it easier for people to pay the charge by removing the annual £10 per vehicle Auto Pay registration fee, while ensuring financial penalties for non-payment remain an effective deterrent by increasing the penalty by £20, or £10 if paid within 14 days
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "The air Londoners breathe is so toxic it stunts children's lungs, exacerbates chronic illness and contributes to thousands of premature deaths each year. More than half of the 500,000 Londoners with asthma live in outer London and all areas of London still breach safe levels of pollution.
"That's why my proposals for expanding the Ultra -Low Emission Zone are the right thing to do. Air pollution is not just a central London issue and Londoners in the outer boroughs should be able to enjoy the clean air benefits the ULEZ brings.
"We're keen to hear from all Londoners, so please share your views on my plans to build a better London for everyone - a safer, fairer, greener and more prosperous city for all Londoners."
Alex Williams, TfL's Director of City Planning, said: "It's clear that the capital's toxic air is continuing to blight the lives of Londoners and progress in outer boroughs is slower than anywhere else. The number of premature deaths and current projections for diseases linked to poor air quality is unacceptable. We must act at pace to tackle this, which is why we are proposing to expand the ULEZ London-wide next year and are looking at the longer-term solution of a new form of road user charging. We would encourage people to respond to this consultation to help shape our plans."
Adam Tyndall, Programme Director for Transport at London First, said: "The ULEZ has been transformative in cleaning up London's air but there is clearly more to be done. For example, congestion on the capital's roads still costs the economy more than £5bn every year, and if we are to achieve the Mayor's ambitious net zero targets then bold thinking is required. Solving these challenges will involve difficult decisions, so it is important that Londoners and London's business engage fully with this consultation."
Oli Lord at the Clean Cities Campaign said: "London's ULEZ is envied across Europe and I'm thrilled the Mayor remains committed to it. A London-wide ULEZ will ensure everyone breathes cleaner air and especially people living on busy arterial roads, who are often left behind. We are, however, long overdue a conversation on what comes next and I'm pleased this has begun because we need to do more than the ULEZ to meet our climate goals."
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said: "Fewer and cleaner cars on the road is good for communities, the high street and - crucially - our health. In the short time since ULEZ was expanded, Londoners have chosen to leave their cars behind or trade them in for cleaner models. Now it's time to extend ULEZ onto the South Circular, where children are still walking along just to get to school, and beyond. Illegal levels of air pollution on the South Circular caused my daughter Ella's deadly asthma nine years ago, expanding ULEZ London-wide can help prevent future deaths like Ella's."
Jemima Hartshorn, Mums for Lungs said: "We have been calling for this for four years and are delighted to see it happen. This will help clean up the air and hopefully reduce some of the preventable illnesses caused by air pollution. But it's sadly not enough to ensure all kids can breathe easily. We need to see a plan to get rid of diesel in its entirety and look forward to continuing working with the Mayor."
From TfL Have Your Say
Improving air quality and Londoner’s health, tackling climate change and reducing congestion
Overview
We are consulting on proposals to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) London-wide on 29 August 2023. We want to hear your views on our proposals. These proposals are part of the commitment by the Mayor of London and TfL to help improve air quality and public health, tackle the climate emergency and reduce traffic congestion across Greater London.
Taking a look at the consultation brochure:
London’s air quality is a public health crisis
In 2019, it’s estimated that more than 4,000 Londoners died prematurely because of filthy air, with the greatest number of deaths attributable to air pollution in outer London boroughs.
The London boroughs with the highest number of air pollution related deaths in 2019 were Bromley, Barnet, Croydon and Havering, proving that poor air quality is not just an inner London problem.
More than 500,000 Londoners suffer from asthma, making them vulnerable to toxic air pollution. If we do not act now, it is estimated that more than 500,000 Londoners will develop diseases attributable to toxic air pollution in the next 30 years.
We face a climate crisis
Last year the COP 26 conference concluded that without urgent action, there will be catastrophic temperature increases and extreme weather events. London is already suffering these, such as flash flooding of some stations, schools and hospitals in 2021.
Road congestion is still a big problem Congestion cost the capital £5.1bn last year alone. This heavily impacts businesses, bus customers and other essential services. Longer journey times affect us all.
Traffic can negatively impact our health and wellbeing, and increases road danger. This makes our city a less pleasant place to live, work, visit and do business.
Overview of proposals
Expanding the ULEZ London-wide in 2023 would be an important stepping-stone, while we investigate the potential for future road user charging using more sophisticated technology.
We are consulting on a proposal to expand the ULEZ in August 2023 and changes to the Mayor’s Transport Strategy.
We are also seeking views on what our priorities should be as we think about the future of road user charging.
More detail on each scheme proposal can be found at www.tfl.gov.uk/clean-air
Proposals for the ULEZ expansion in 2023
• Expand the ULEZ London-wide from 29 August 2023
• Remove the annual £10 registration fee for Auto Pay for the ULEZ, Congestion Charge and the Low Emission Zone (LEZ – for heavy vehicles)
• Changes to fines for the ULEZ and the Congestion Charge
• Changes to the Mayor’s Transport Strategy
Shaping the future of road user charging
We are starting to think about how future road user charging could work using more sophisticated technology.
This work is at a very early stage, but we would like Londoners to help shape any potential plans in the years ahead by understanding their views on the challenges that London is facing, and how road user charging could work to tackle them.
Going green across London We’re proposing to expand the ULEZ London-wide in 2023 to tackle harmful emissions from the most polluting vehicles.
The good news is that 82 per cent of vehicles in outer London are already ULEZ compliant. This means most drivers will not need to pay the ULEZ charge, with only drivers of non-compliant vehicles having to pay to drive within the zone.
We’ll encourage people using non- compliant vehicles to switch to walking, cycling and using public transport, where possible, or use a car club or a cleaner vehicle for essential journeys.
A scrappage scheme would also help support Londoners to make the switch to cleaner alternatives.
Proposal in detail
Our proposal to expand the ULEZ London- wide from 29 August 2023 would:
• Cover most of Greater London, up to the LEZ boundary. The LEZ boundary is considered suitable for the London-wide ULEZ as it broadly follows the Greater London Authority boundary and provides opportunites for vehicles to divert away from travelling into London
• Daily charge of £12.50 if you drive within the zone
• Operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 364 days a year, excluding Christmas Day
82% of vehicles in outer London are already ULEZ compliant.
Remove the annual £10 registration fee for Auto Pay
Our Auto Pay service automatically charges registered drivers for any Congestion Charge, ULEZ or LEZ charges. This removes the risk of getting fined if you forget to pay. It currently costs £10 per vehicle to register per year. However, we’re proposing to remove this, so drivers can register for Auto Pay for free.
Proposal 2 - Changes to the Mayor’s Transport Strategy
The Mayor’s Transport Strategy is a statutory document that sets out the Mayor’s vision for transport in London. TfL, the London boroughs and other stakeholders use the Mayor’s Transport Strategy to plan and provide transport in London. All transport services and planning in London must align with the Mayor’s Transport Strategy.
In the current Mayor’s Transport Strategy, Proposal 24 sets out that the ULEZ will be expanded to inner London in 2021. This expansion happened in October 2021.
We would need to replace this proposal and update the text in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy to enable the ULEZ to be expanded London-wide. We would also need to update the text to ensure the triple challenges of the climate emergency, air quality and traffic congestion are addressed.
Proposal 3 - Help shape the future of road user charging
Experts think that a new form of road user charging will need to be part of the solution to addressing the triple challenge of air pollution, the climate emergency and traffic congestion. This could include scrapping existing charges, such as the Congestion Charge, and replacing them with a road user charging scheme that uses more sophisticated technology to make it as simple and fair as possible for Londoners.
For this to be effective, we would also need to continue to make improvements to walking, cycling and public transport. If we do all of these things together, we could reduce traffic and make it easier to travel around London without using a car.
We are now starting to explore the potential for future road user charging. We want Londoners to help shape any potential plans in the years ahead by telling us what is most important to them. Any potential scheme proposal would be subject to further consultation at a later date.
You can see more information in the consultation brochure and you can express your views of the proposal linked below.
https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/cleanair
Consultation closes on: 29 July 2022
TfL, Mayor of London (by issuing direction and transport strategy to TfL), local authorities, combined authorities and integrated transport authorities have powers by statute to create road user charging systems.
GLA Act 1999 and Transport Act 2000 allows TfL and local authorties to create Road User Charging schemes such as C-Charge, ULEZ etc.https://t.co/AQpokOT4yyhttps://t.co/bimRLpRlnmhttps://t.co/JYFMPR2CFBhttps://t.co/YHBeK3EZJ6https://t.co/bvr7CdQ990https://t.co/r5rLYb8oXZ pic.twitter.com/Y8Lu7kpp1t
— CLondoner92 (@CLondoner92) May 20, 2022
No doubt there’s going to be some controversy because there are Districts which are inside the M25 and not part of Greater London, they are:
Three Rivers, Hertfordshire
Watford, Hertfordshire
Hertsmere, Hertfordshire
Epping Forest, Essex
Brentwood, Essex
Thurrock, Essex
Dartford, Kent
Sevenoaks, Kent
Tandridge, Surrey
Reigate and Banstead, Surrey
Epsom and Ewell, Surrey
Elmbridge, Surrey
Spelthorne, Surrey
The consultation says that 82% of vehicles are ULEZ compliant, but no data is shown for ULEZ compliant vehicles in the Home Counties which surround Greater London.
Fuel costs are rising for drivers worldwide, so to reduce travel costs, there should be more cross-boundary bus services to provide better connectivity to areas which are near the Greater London boundary.
“I’d like to see TfL collaborating with Councils in the Home Counties surrounding the Greater London area to help enhance bus services which are near to Greater London and services crossing the Greater London boundary. This would be similar to when London Transport operated Green Country Bus services before they were transferred over to National Bus Company in 1970 and later privatised and deregulated in 1988.”
You can read the ‘Crossing the border 2008’ publication by London Travelwatch on their website.
Are there similar ULEZ schemes in the UK and elsewhere?
The most notable is in Greater Manchester, their Clean Air charging scheme is currently on hold until a new plan is formulated by July 2022.
For road user charging schemes in Europe, you can view the Urban Access Regulations website for a list of areas in Europe.
I invite you to follow me on Twitter by searching for @CLondoner92 or by clicking on the direct link to my Twitter page.
