London to be fully covered by the ULEZ

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has confirmed that he will expand the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) London-wide. The expansion will come into effect on Tuesday 29 August 2023 and will operate across all of London up to the existing Low Emission Zone boundary.

According to the mayor’s office, the ULEZ has already been very successful in central and inner London, where it has helped to reduce roadside pollution levels by 44 per cent in central London and 20 per cent in inner London. “The latest evidence shows that air pollution is making us sick from cradle to the grave.  Londoners are developing life-changing illnesses, such as cancer, lung disease, dementia and asthma,” said Sadiq Khan, adding: “Expanding the ULEZ London-wide will mean five million more people will be able to breathe cleaner air and live healthier lives.”

Costs are not forgotten in the new emissions zone, as a new scrappage scheme is being introduced with a £110m funding pot to “support Londoners on lower incomes, disabled Londoners, small businesses and charities to scrap or retrofit their non-compliant vehicles. All the money raised by ULEZ will be pumped back into funding local public transport […].” The mayor also announced that the “biggest ever expansion of bus network in outer London  ” would be taking place simultaneously.

The ULEZ had previously first been extended in 2021, followed by another extension in March of this year. At the time, Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “The triple challenges of tackling toxic air pollution, the climate emergency and congestion mean we need to further reduce emissions from vehicles in London. We simply don’t have time to waste.”

The Ultra Low Emissions Zone had initially been introduced in 2018, and had been first expanded from its small debut area by June of that year. With the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, London cut out some of the regulations to allow for “critical professions” to freely move about the city for work. However, the deregulation did not last long as measures were slowly reintroduced in May of 2020.