Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced plans in March to expand the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to cover the whole of Greater London by the end of 2023.
The announcement comes less than a year after the ULEZ was first expanded to cover the area up to but not including the north and south circular roads, having initially just covered central London.
Although a consultation will need to take place before any changes to the Mayor’s clean air scheme are implemented, questions are already being asked about what the expansion could mean.
Here is everything you need to know about the ULEZ, including what we know so far about the planned expansion.
Where is the current Ultra-Low Emission Zone?
The Ultra-Low Emission Zone was first introduced by Mr Khan in April 2019 in a bid to cut toxic air pollution from vehicles in central London, originally operating in the same area as the Congestion Charge zone.
But in October 2021, the operating area of the zone was expanded to 18 times its original size which the Mayor said has brought cleaner air to around 3.8 million people.
The zone now covers most of inner London, having been expanded to include everywhere within the north and south circular roads.
Drivers whose vehicles do not meet strict emissions standards face a daily charge of £12.50 to enter the zone.
Unlike the Congestion Charge, the ULEZ is in operation 24 hours a day over the 365 days a year.
Petrol cars being driven into the zone must meet Euro 4 emissions standards which became mandatory on all new cars made from 2005 onwards.
Diesel vehicles must have a Euro 6 engine which became mandatory in 2015.
Where will the new ULEZ be?
In his announcement, Mr Khan said “we don’t have time to waste” in tackling the “triple challenge” of air pollution as well as climate change and congestion.
The Mayor of London revealed he plans to expand the Ultra-Low Emission Zone to cover the entirety of Greater London, meaning all 33 boroughs would be affected.
If the plan goes ahead, it effectively means that only “clean” vehicles would be able to drive within the M25, with drivers of older and more polluting vehicles having to pay the £12.50-a-day levy.
Why is it being expanded again?
In January, an expert report commissioned by City Hall found car journeys in London would need to be reduced by 27 per cent by the end of the decade if the capital were to reach its ambitious climate change goals.
That prompted the Mayor of London to instruct TfL to investigate the feasibility of four different options which could be introduced to cut emissions and reduce car dependency.
Those options included expanding the ULEZ to the whole of Greater London, introducing a £2-a-day “Clean Air Charge”, a combination of the two, or a controversial Greater London Boundary Charge that would have seen drivers charged £3.50-a-day to enter London.
Mr Khan said the rising cost of living was a “key consideration” in his decision to press ahead with expanding the ULEZ.
He explained it “will have the biggest effect on emissions and congestion relative to the potential financial impact on Londoners as a whole.”
The Mayor of London revealed he had axed plans to introduce a Clean Air Charge or a Boundary Charge – the latter of which did not have the backing of Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
Aside from tackling air pollution, bolstering TfL’s coffers will also undoubtedly have factored into the decision.
When plans were being drawn up for the first ULEZ expansion last year, it was estimated widening the zone would net TfL up to £2 million per day from both fines and levies.
But with around 92 per cent of vehicles entering the expanded zone meeting minimum emissions standards, the income generated by the scheme is significantly less than anticipated – around £600,000 per day.
What impact will further expanding the ULEZ have?
The first ULEZ expansion in October 2021 was deemed to be a huge success.
City Hall estimates that expanding the zone to cover outer London will take the number of polluting cars that do not meet minimum emissions standards from 160,000 to 46,000.
This resulted in a 30 per cent reduction in the amount of polluting nitrogen oxide emissions (NOx) in London.
Drivers in London were keen to avoid paying the £12.50-a-day charge, leading to a 92 per cent compliance rate with ULEZ emission standards.
But further expanding the Ultra-Low Emission to cover the whole of Greater London will not lead to quite as significant an impact, according to estimates.
City Hall estimates a total of between 20,000 and 40,000 polluting vehicles will be taken off the roads as a result of further expansion which could see a further 10 per cent reduction in NOx emissions.
While any impact on toxic air would be a benefit, TfL will likely have to weigh up the cost effectiveness of widening the ULEZ even further.
It spent around £130 million installing 750 cameras to enforce the expanded zone last year.
What has the reaction been?
It is widely accepted more needs to be done to tackle toxic air in London but the response to Mr Khan’s announcement on Friday has been lukewarm.
Simon Birkett, founder and director of Clean Air in London, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the proposed ULEZ expansion would be “an important step” in getting polluting vehicles off the road but ultimately it is still a “blunt instrument”.
He said: “The proposed ULEZ expansion is another important step – or would be another important step – on the path to banning diesel vehicles [in London], so that’s obviously a good thing.
“But ultimately, the ULEZ, like the Congestion Charge, are blunt instruments. This is a bigger blunt instrument. What we really need is emission-based road charging, which basically could be stronger, smarter and fairer. That’s what we would like to see.”
Mr Khan admitted in his speech on Friday morning that a system of smart road user charging would ultimately be “the fairest solution” to tackling pollution but that TfL is still “many years away” from being able to implement such a scheme.
Charging drivers based on how far they drive and the amount of emissions their vehicle produces is an idea that has been suggested in the London Assembly by members of the Green Party.
Reacting to the announcement, Green Party Assembly Member Zack Polanski said expanding ULEZ would be a “good interim step” but “we need road user charging to clean up London’s air”.
He said: “Greens on the Assembly have been calling for smart road user charging for at least a decade – so I’m disappointed the mayor claims we are ‘many years’ away from this scheme.
“Londoners will now have another flat, less fair system implemented instead. The mayor must consider the unfair impact these changes could have on Londoners – they will be charged one fee whether they’re dropping someone off for a doctors’ appointment or driving around all day.”
He added a system of smart road user charging should be implemented “without delay” and “not kicked into the long grass yet again”.
The Centre for London thinktank’s chief executive Nick Bowes called the proposed expansion “another step forward for cleaner air in the city”.
But he added it cannot be “another short-term stepping stone to a smarter pay per mile road user charging scheme” which could be “the truly transformational change” needed to tackle pollution, climate change and congestion in London.
