London’s ULEZ Expansion
London’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) expansion is set to kick in today.
ULEZ will extend from the Congestion Charge Zone in Central London, creating one larger zone.
This zone goes up to the inner boundaries of the North and South Circular Roads. It will operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Drivers of older non-compliant vehicles can pay the £12.50 toll to enter the zone.
If unpaid, they could face a £160 fine. Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras across the city’s road network will enforce this charge.
TfL Comment
TfL’s general manager of road user charging, Paul Cowperthwaite said:
“Bold action is required to tackle London’s toxic air quality crisis which contributes to thousands of deaths each year linked to heart disease, dementia and the stunted development of children’s lungs. That is why we are expanding the ULEZ to 18 times its current size.”
Vehicle Scrappage Scheme
Transport for London (TfL) has estimated that this expansion will affect 135,000 car and van drivers. This is also expected to hit those that can’t afford to replace their non-compliant cars the hardest. In response to this, Sadiq Khan launched a £60 million vehicle scrappage scheme in 2019. This scheme is offering £1,000 for motorbikes and £2,000 for cars to help people to convert to greener transport solutions. The scrappage scheme is only available to drivers who need financial help and live in London.
Scheme Issues
But new findings from the Mail Online’s This is Money saw that the scrappage scheme has limited funds left. The remaining funds would be enough to help 1,500 Londoners to switch to a ULEZ compliant vehicle. Some have called for a delay to the ULEZ because of this. A letter from Conservatives transport spokesman Keith Prince AM called for the Mayor to delay the expansion to allow Londoners to recover from the pandemic. The letter also claimed that only 1 in 3 of low-income and disabled applicants to the scrappage scheme had received a pay-out. According to data from The Evening Standard, TfL has received 19,594 applicants since 2019. But the scheme accepted only 6,854 applications of those applications.
Comment
RAC head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said:
“While the majority will be unaffected by the expansion of the ultra-low emission zone, around a fifth of vehicles don’t comply, so it’s vital drivers of cars, small vans and motorbikes use the TfL checker before 25 October or are prepared to pay a £12.50 daily charge”.
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London’s ULEZ Expansion
