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Friday, 25 November 2022

London Bus Tender Awards: Routes 152, 276 & D3 Awarded With New Single Deck Electric Buses! – Mayor Announces ULEZ Expansion to Greater London by 29 August 2023

This is a brief news update as Transport for London (TfL) has recently announced new London Bus tender awards.

LBSL intends to enter into new contracts for the following routes with the operators listed below:

Route

Current Operator

New Operator

PVR

Vehicles

107

Metroline

Metroline

11

Existing hybrid double deck

152

London General

London General

14

New electric single deck

223

London United

Metroline West

6

Existing diesel single deck

276

Docklands Buses

Stagecoach East London

17

New electric single deck

376

Docklands Buses

Blue Triangle

10

Electric single deck

430

London General

London General

11

Existing hybrid double deck

D3

Stagecoach East London

Blue Triangle

9

New electric single deck

New electric vehicles may enter service after the contract start date, dependent on infrastructure and/ or vehicle delivery timescales.

All of the diesel & hybrid vehicles detailed above will meet Euro VI emissions standards.

The start and end dates for the above contracts are detailed in the following table:

Route

Contract Start Date

Contract End Date

107

7th October 2023

4th October 2030

152

2nd December 2023

29th November 2030

223

14th October 2023

11th October 2030

276

16th September 2023

13th September 2030

376

16th September 2023

13th September 2030

430

18th November 2023

15th November 2030

D3

16th September 2023

13th September 2030

It’s good to see routes 152, 276 and D3 awarded with zero-emission electric buses and no doubt more conversions to zero emission buses will be announced in due course.

ULEZ Expansion to Greater London

Map of the Greater London ULEZ expansion

The Mayor of London has announced the ULEZ’s will be expanded to the Greater London area by 29 August 2023, which will mostly affect older, private cars, entering the outer areas of Greater London. This is a brief follow up to my previous article published in May 2022 when TfL launched the consultation on the proposal to expand ULEZ to Greater London.

From Greater London Authority

• Mayor of London confirms the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone to clean up London’s toxic air and tackle the climate emergency

• Expansion means five million more Londoners will breathe cleaner air

• Mayor is also announcing a new and improved £110m scrappage scheme, with a new public transport option to support Londoners going greener

• New package to support more disabled Londoners than ever before, including an extended grace period to October 2027

• Expanded ULEZ to be complemented by the biggest ever expansion of bus network in outer London

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced that he will expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) London-wide to tackle the triple threats of air pollution, the climate emergency and congestion, and to ensure five million more Londoners can breathe cleaner air. The expansion will come into effect on Tuesday 29 August 2023 and will operate across all London boroughs up to the existing Low Emission Zone boundary.

Toxic air pollution is a matter of life and death – with around 4,000 Londoners dying prematurely each year, children growing up with stunted lungs and a higher risk of dementia in older people. More than 500,000 Londoners live with asthma and are more vulnerable to the impacts of toxic air, with more than half of these people living in outer London boroughs.

The ULEZ has already been hugely successful in central and inner London, helping to reduce roadside pollution levels by 44 per cent in central London and 20 per cent in inner London.[1] The Mayor believes that all Londoners have the right to breathe clean air.

Sadiq is doing all he can to support Londoners through the cost-of-living crisis, which is why the expansion will be accompanied by a brand new £110m scrappage scheme to support Londoners on lower incomes, disabled Londoners, charities and small businesses and sole traders. The Mayor listened to feedback from these communities during the consultation process, including from disabled people and the organisations that represent them to create a scheme to best support them. Successful scrappage applicants will receive a grant to scrap or - for the first time - retrofit their vehicle for certain vans and minibuses. Successful car owners can opt to receive a smaller grant accompanied by up to two free annual bus and tram passes, which would give them a higher financial package.

To maximise the potential benefits of expanding the ULEZ and strengthen alternatives to private cars, the Mayor today also announced a plan for improving the bus network in outer London. Two new routes will be introduced in Sutton, with improved service to the new Cancer Hub at the Royal Marsden Hospital. In east London, new zero-emission cross-river services will be introduced, subject to consultation. This includes a new high-frequency, limited stop service between Grove Park and Canary Wharf, and an extension to route 129 (Lewisham – North Greenwich) north across the river to Great Eastern Quay via the Royal Docks.

New services and improvements, that will see over one million further kilometres added to the bus network, are also planned to support growth areas in a number of other outer London location. This is part of the biggest ever expansion of the bus network in outer London. Examples include:

• Improved links between Harold Hill and Upminster in Havering

• New and improved services at Brent Cross in Barnet

• Improved services in Southall

• Bus improvements in the Harrow & Wealdstone area

• New routes to serve the Haringey Heartlands development at Wood Green

• Better bus links in Wanstead, including to and from Whipps Cross Hospital

About the scheme

• It will expand on 29 August 2023 (from 00.01am)

• It will operate London-wide across all London boroughs, up to the current Low Emission Zone (LEZ) boundary.

• The LEZ for heavy vehicles will continue to operate.

• It will continue to operate 24 hours a day, every day of the year (except Christmas Day)

Vehicles must meet strict emission standards to drive in the ULEZ area:

• Euro 4 for petrol cars and vans (widely available since 2006)

• Euro 6 for diesel cars and vans (widely available since 2016)

• Euro 3 for motorcycles and mopeds (widely available since 2007)

• Vehicles that do not meet the standards must pay the £12.50 daily charge

• TfL is removing the annual £10 per vehicle Auto Pay registration fee to make it easier for people with non-compliant vehicles to pay the charge.

• TfL is increasing the PCN level for the ULEZ to £180 (reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days) to maintain the deterrent effect of the scheme and achieve the scheme’s air quality and health objectives.

Read more

Some areas in England have ‘Clean Air Zone’ in place with restrictions equivalent to the London’s ULEZ; certain councils allow non-compliant private cars to enter in to the Clean Air Zone free of charge.

You can read more about the Clean Air Zone and the different types on the UK Government website.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter by searching for @CLondoner92 or by clicking on the direct link to my Twitter page here.

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