London's Ultra Low Emission Zone to cover entire city
Only cars which meet strict emission standards will be allowed to enter London boroughs
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan confirmed the zone, which bans the most polluting cars, will expand from August 2023
London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which bans the most polluting cars from driving in the capital, will cover every borough by August 2023, it has been confirmed today.
The move from Mayor of London Sadiq Khan means the current zone – which was only expanded six months ago to cover all areas within the North and South Circular Roads – will move all the way to the boundary of the current Low Emission Zone (LEZ) from 29 August next year. The M25 will not be covered
It means that only cars which meet strict emission standards will be allowed to enter London areas: Euro 4 engine compliance for petrol cars (all cars registered after 1 Jan 2006) and Euro 6 (from 1 January 2016) for diesel. Vehicles that don’t meet these standards will continue to pay £12.50 a day; those who don’t pay will be fined an increased £180 (currently £160).
It will also continue to operate 24 hours-a-day, every day of the year (bar Christmas day).
The decision was made after fresh data revealed the current ULEZ had reduced roadside pollution levels by 44 per cent in central London and 20 per cent in inner London. A public consultation, which ran between May and July 2022, also showed that 59 per cent of respondents agreed that more needed to be done to tackle toxic air.
Cleaner air is coming to outer London.Today I’m announcing that we’re expanding the #ULEZ London-wide in a move that will bring cleaner air to *5 million* more Londoners. Here’s why pic.twitter.com/nAWjTweJ6b
— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) November 25, 2022
Khan said: “Expanding the ULEZ London-wide has not been an easy decision. The easy thing for me would have been to kick the can down the road. But in the end, public health comes before political expediency.
“We have too often seen measures delayed around the world to tackle air pollution and the climate crisis because it’s viewed as being too hard or politically inconvenient. But there’s no time to waste when people’s lives are on the line and we are facing a climate crisis. ”
He added: “Expanding ULEZ is the right choice for our city and something that I know will help us to continue building a better, greener, fairer and healthier London for everyone.”
Alex Williams, TfL’s chief customer and strategy officer, said: ”Expanding the ULEZ is vital for public health in this city. We know that there are more deaths that are attributed to toxic air in the city’s outer boroughs and that bringing in these world leading standards over a larger area will see millions more breathing cleaner air.
“Our experience of these schemes shows that they work, with significant reductions in pollution since the first zone was introduced in 2019.”
A £110m scrappage scheme has also been announced, to allow those living within the expanded ULEZ to get money towards a compliant car; van owners will be allowed to use the cash to retrofit their vehicles to make them compliant.
