Ultra Low Emission Zone
(Picture: PA)Sadiq Khan has said the latest data on the ultra-low emission zone provided “game, set and match” evidence to justify expanding it across Greater London.
But the Mayor’s Tory critics said the £200 million cost of widening the Ulez for a second time would be better spent on other projects more likely to cut toxic emissions.
Transport for London this week revealed that last October’s Ulez expansion — from central London to the inner boundaries of the North and South Circular roads — had reduced the number of non-compliant vehicles driving within the zone by 54 per cent, from 124,000 to 57,000 a day.
However, TfL’s analysis also indicated that the Ulez’s effectiveness at reducing nitrogen dioxide emissions had declined, both in central London and across inner London.
This might be linked to the increase in car journeys since the end of lockdown a year ago, with Mr Khan insisting pollution levels would be much worse if the Ulez was not in place.
A consultation on expanding the Ulez across all 33 boroughs on August 29 next year closes on July 29. More than 35,000 people have already responded.
Mr Khan, asked if the TfL data encouraged him to press ahead with his plans, told the Standard: “I think this makes it game, set and match in relation to expansion, subject to consultation.
“Why do I say that? Four million Londoners who live in central and inner London are seeing the benefits of cleaner air, directly attributable to Ulez 1 in central London and UIez 2, the expansion to the North and South Circular.
“When you are told by experts that we have got 600,000 people in our city with lung conditions, of those 500,000 have asthma, and the majority are in outer London, and the majority of premature deaths are linked with air pollution in outer London, if it’s good enough for central London and inner London, why not for outer London?”
TfL estimates it will cost £185 million for more enforcement cameras and road signs — plus up to £180 million more for a vehicle scrappage scheme. The expansion is expected to take a further 20,000 to 40,000 polluting vehicles off the road and deliver a nine per cent cut in NO2.
But the GLA Conservatives, in their response to the Ulez consultation, say the Ulez is a “blunt instrument that has caused real hardship to Londoners”.
A total of 85 per cent of vehicles in outer London are already Ulez-compliant.
Mr Khan told Mayor’s Question Time on Thursday that he “simply cannot say” at present how much would be available for a scrappage fund for low-income and disabled Londoners, small businesses and charities. “I have committed to providing the largest scheme feasible,” he said.
Shaun Bailey, a Tory member of the London Assembly, said: “Improving air quality is vital, but expanding the Ulez is the wrong way to go about it.
“£200 million is a lot to spend on a camera network and could be put to better use elsewhere, by expanding the zero emission bus fleet or even by putting a significant amount into scrappage schemes.”
