London Mayor plans to extend ULEZ across all London boroughs
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced plans to expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) across all London boroughs next year.
He has asked Transport for London to consult on the proposal which represents an interim measure to cut carbon emissions and air pollution while the previously announced long-term ambition to implement a smart, pay per mile, road user charging scheme in the capital is explored.
The ULEZ was extended to the boundary of the North and South Circular roads last Autumn and drivers of older and more polluting cars have to pay a daily charge of £12.50.
The move, says the Mayor, is in response to overwhelming evidence showing further measures are required to reduce toxic air pollution, tackle the climate emergency and cut congestion in the capital.
According to the Mayor the greatest number of deaths attributable to air pollution are in London’s outer boroughs, which the ULEZ doesn’t currently cover.
And analysis by City Hall published last month showed that despite recent improvements in air quality, every hospital, medical centre and care home across the capital is located in areas that breach the World Health Organization’s guidelines for nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter.
Also last month, the Mayor released a report which revealed that to get to net-zero in London by 2030, its car traffic must reduce by at least 27 per cent by the end of the decade.
Just last week the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned there is only a brief and rapidly closing window to tackle the climate crisis, with a warning of the dire consequences of inaction. Severe impacts are already happening and vulnerable people with the least resources to adapt are most exposed.
Making the ULEZ London wide will, it is claimed, reduce the number of high polluting cars on the capital’s roads by between 20,000 and 40,000 per day, on top of a reported 47,000 daily reduction achieved through the previous expansion.
Sadiq Khan also said he is planning a scrappage scheme to help motorists in outer London get rid of their old vehicles and switch to cleaner forms of transport.
Clean air charity Asthma + Lung UK chief executive Sarah Woolnough welcomed the Mayor’s plan as a “landmark moment in protecting the lives and lungs of all Londoners”. She said, “We now want to see this scheme put into action. For it to succeed there needs to be improved walking, cycling and public transport infrastructure in outer London boroughs so people are more confident to stop using their cars and transition to cleaner travel.”