Tag Archives: ULEZ Expansion

Legal Fundraising on ULEZ Expansion and Trafalgar Square Demo

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There is a legal claim for a judicial review of the ULEZ expansion being formulated and a fund to finance the action has been set up. See https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/stop-ulez-expansion/

This appears to be a credible case so we recommend that you support it by making a donation as we have done. The basis of the case will be that the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, failed to take into consideration the replies to the ULEZ expansion consultation and other factors, made false statements about the expansion of the ULEZ and otherwise attempted to manipulate the results of the consultation.

PLEASE MAKE A DONATION TO SUPPORT THE LEGAL ACTION

Important Note: The demonstration against the ULEZ planned for the 28th January in Trafalgar Square has been postponed because of concerns on security. We will advise any new date when available.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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Rishi Sunak Criticises ULEZ Expansion and Scrappage Scheme Announced

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At Prime Minister’s Question Time Rishi Sunak said Sadiq Khan should “listen to the public” and scrap the planned expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to all of London. He also said that it is the “overwhelming” view of London residents that the levy should not be expanded.

My response on twitter was “Rishi Sunak and the Government have the power to stop the ULEZ expansion so why don’t they do so?”.

Scrappage Scheme

Meanwhile TfL have announced some details of a scrappage scheme to help some owners of non-ULEZ compliant vehicles. See https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/scrappage-schemes

But it’s unlikely to help many people. Only those car owners receiving social security benefits or are registered disabled will qualify and the maximum grant is £2,000. You can’t buy a new car, or even a decent second-hand one for that money!

It may help sole traders, small businesses and charities with old diesel vans and buses where the allowance is higher.

There is also a mention of some vehicles which might qualify for a “retrofit” that will make them compliant but it seems unlikely to be of use to most owners of older diesel cars. However you can register an interest in a retrofit solution for your vehicle.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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More Comments on ULEZ Expansion

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Following Sadiq Khan’s decision to expand the ULEZ to the whole of London I have had the time to read the whole report (all 300 pages of it) on which he based his decision – see link below. These are my comments on it:

Our objections were mentioned but were rejected with a trivial comment, along with all the other objections from other people and organisations.

The Mayor justifies his decision because of his commitment to have 80% of all trips in London to be made by foot, by cycle or using public transport by 2041. He also wants to go further to reduce air pollution, tackle the climate emergency and reduce traffic congestion. Comment: As already pointed out, the expanded ULEZ will have minimal impact on air pollution and will certainly have no impact on the climate or reduce traffic congestion (only a minority of vehicles are affected and their owners will just switch to newer models).

The Mayor alleges that there are 4,000 premature deaths in outer London caused by air pollution including 204 in Bromley, 201 in Barnet, 196 in Croydon, etc. These are simply estimates and bear no relation to reality. It’s ignoring the fact that outer London boroughs have less air pollution and low rates of most diseases but they do have older populations as people move out of central London to the suburbs as they grow their families or retire.  

The consultation results show overwhelming opposition to the ULEZ Expansion: 68% of respondents (when organised responses are excluded), 70% of outer London, 80% of people who work in outer London, 80% of outer London business owners.

There were a number of “organised” responses to the consultation. Apart from ones we encouraged there were ones directly promoted by Fair Fuel UK, Living Streets, London Cycling Campaign, London Friends of the Earth Network and Wearepossible.org. The last one generated 4,312 emails, more than any other source, and who are they you may ask? Wearepossible.org are a part of the 10:10 Foundation, a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, with very substantial financial support from a hedge fund. Their objective is to achieve a zero-carbon world and their chairperson is an academic focussed on climate change. So much for the complaint of one MP that the consultation was being biased by pro motoring organisations – the exact opposite is the truth.

Many respondents seemed to think it was a consultation on responding to climate change with 37% of respondents saying it was Very Important to take steps to tackle climate change when the ULEZ proposal cannot have any impact on climate change as it will not affect CO2 emissions.

It is noticeable that a large proportion of the responses came from central London addresses, i.e. from people who will not be affected by the ULEZ expansion in any way. In summary there was a concerted effort by environmental activists to distort the consultation.

An article in the Daily Express suggests there will be a massive drop in used car values based on a report by Carwow. There are about 200,000 non-compliant cars that regularly drive into the affected area it notes and these will likely be sold in the next eighteen months so that drivers avoid paying over £2,000 per year to Sadiq Khan. There is still a market for such vehicles in other parts of the country but prices may well be substantially affected.

What’s our advice to those who own non-compliant cars? Don’t panic. Running an existing vehicle until next August will reduce the impact and there may be an immediate rush by some sellers that will temporarily depress prices further which already reflect the anticipated decision. For those who only use a vehicle occasionally it might be more cost effective  to retain it rather than buy a new vehicle.

There is always a chance that the implementation will be delayed or cancelled. There is a move by some outer London Councils to try and thwart the Mayor’s plans. The Secretary of State for Transport could also intervene if he had a mind to do so.

There is also a Parliamentary petition requesting the position of Mayor of London be removed – see https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/617592 . I suggest you sign it!

Roger Lawson

Report to the Mayor on ULEZ Expansion: https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/15619/widgets/58629/documents/34558

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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ULEZ Consultation Results Leaked

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The Daily Telegraph has obtained a report on the consultation results on expansion of the ULEZ to outer London. It revealed that two thirds of the respondents oppose the expansion.

This was leaked in advance of a formal report on the results. The Telegraph article suggests that the figures are being “massaged” by excluding some responses.

London Assembly Member Nick Rogers, transport spokesman for the Conservatives, said: “Sadiq Khan’s Ulez expansion would have had a negligible effect on air quality, but would have been devastating for small businesses and low income families.

I am not surprised that an overwhelming 66pc voted against his cost of living charge, which will force him to drop the policy. Londoners will be shocked by the Telegraph’s revelations on the Ulez expansion consultation.

Sadiq Khan must reassure them by confirming he will now scrap the Ulez expansion and address the serious integrity concerns raised by the investigation.”

Comment: This is a consultation not a poll so Sadiq Khan can ignore the result if he does not like it. As a dictator he is very likely to do that.

Telegraph article here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/09/30/leak-reveals-two-thirds-londoners-oppose-expansion-ultra-low/

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Bromley Council Opposes ULEZ Expansion

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Bromley Council Opposes ULEZ Expansion

The London Borough of Bromley has opposed the expansion of the ULEZ to cover the borough and have condemned it as a “cynical tax raid against the borough’s residents”.

Councillor Colin Smith, Leader of Bromley Council, said, “Quite simply, this proposal is wrong on just about every level and is really about paving the way for the introduction of road charging taxes across the whole of London by stealth.

Our borough already has amongst, if not actually the best air quality levels in London, and if this were truly about improving air quality even further, which we obviously support, those responsible would be thinking far harder in terms of broadening the scrappage scheme for non-compliant vehicles and accelerating the roll out of green vehicle charging points and buses”.

You can read his full response to the consultation on ULEZ expansion here: https://www.bromley.gov.uk/news/article/366/no-to-mayor-of-london-s-ulez-expansion-proposals

Comment: The Council’s response is well argued and basically says that the Council is already doing a good job of minimising and reducing air pollution while the expansion of the ULEZ to cover outer London will not significantly help and will be very costly for many residents.

Expansion of the ULEZ to outer London will hit those with older vehicles hard which are generally the poorer segment of the population. A good article on this subject was published by the Daily Telegraph here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/08/10/sadiq-khans-hatred-motorists-control/ . It’s a symptom of Mayor Sadiq Khan’s hatred of cars despite the fact that public transport in outer London cannot be relied on and many people drive into the outer boroughs from surrounding counties for employment and shopping.

Expansion of the ULEZ makes no economic sense – the money involved would be better spent on other measures to reduce air pollution which is already very low in boroughs such as Bromley.

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ULEZ Expansion to Cost £200 Million

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The expansion of the ULEZ scheme to the whole of London will cost £200 million according to a report in the Evening Standard. Based on FOI Act requests, they report that this is required mainly to pay for the extra cameras and does not include the cost of a scrappage scheme which has been promised. Neither does it include the cost imposed on London residents who would need to change their vehicles.

As many as 40,000 vehicles would need to be changed so that’s potentially many more millions of pounds imposed on a proportion of the population with very little benefit.

Nick Rogers, a Tory member of the London Assembly, is quoted as saying “£200m could buy 500 electric buses or fund hundreds of low-traffic “school streets”.

This is yet another example of the reckless expenditure by Mayor Sadiq Khan and TfL. When you are running out of money (as TfL is), you need to stop spending it. TfL might get more income in the short term from non-compliant vehicles paying the charge or from fines on those who don’t pay, but that would likely soon disappear as people changed their vehicles.

Another recent example of gross waste was the disclosure that almost 600 TfL staff earn more than £100,000. The financial management of TfL is clearly out of control. TfL pays such high salaries that it sucks in traffic engineers and management from London boroughs and outside London thus denuding them of valuable expertise.

TfL needs to be removed from the control of the Mayor, and a public transport authority (which is what TfL is) should not have control of the roads used by private vehicles. As we have said before, major reform of the governance and control of TfL is required.  

Evening Standard article: https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/ulez-expansion-greater-london-boundary-cost-two-hundred-million-pounds-b1011721.html

The public consultation on expansion of the ULEZ is still open so please respond to it here if you have not already done so: https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/cleanair?cid=clean-air

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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ULEZ Expansion and Changes to Euston Road

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This note is a wrap up of recent news.

Euston Road

Firstly Transport for London (TfL) are changing the Euston Road scheme. This scheme which introduced a cycle lane has caused terrible traffic congestion on what is one of the key arterial roads in London particularly for east/west traffic. To quote from TfL:

“We have decided to make significant alterations to the scheme, including reinstating the bus lane and the removal of the temporary eastbound cycle lane. We will, however, retain some elements of the scheme which is set out below.

As London gets busier our monitoring has identified significant increases to bus journey times along Euston Road, resulting in delays to bus passengers. We are also seeing increased traffic congestion on Euston Road. Furthermore, High Speed 2 (HS2) construction works are planned in and around Euston Station and HS2 will need to use road space on the Euston Road as part of their construction plans.

Reinstating the bus lane on Euston Road should help to reduce the delays currently experienced. As road space will be required for the HS2 works, it will not be possible to maintain a cycle lane here. Cyclists can continue to use the bus lane and there is an alternative route just south of Euston Road.

We will shortly remove the cycle lane and reinstate the eastbound bus and traffic lane along Euston Road. We are currently planning a construction programme for the works which we expect to take place later in the summer, although we will write to local businesses and residents to confirm the extent of works and dates when confirmed”.

Comment: All they seem concerned about is bus journey times when this scheme degraded the road network for all vehicle users and was yet another damaging and ill-conceived road scheme in London.

ULEZ Expansion

Opposition to the expansion of the ULEZ scheme to the whole of London is growing. A new petition has been raised against it on change.org. Please sign it here: https://chng.it/wCC249NWK8

Sadiq Khan has claimed that “the greatest number of deaths attributable to toxic air are in outer London boroughs”. This is a false claim with no evidence to support it. There may be more deaths from respiratory disease in outer London but that is because there are more elderly people living in outer London boroughs. There is no connection to air pollution as boroughs such as Bromley have cleaner air than central London boroughs.

The Mayor claims that the ULEZ expansion will also “tackle the climate emergency” and “reduce congestion”. How exactly? He does not explain.

In reality the Mayor is using false statistics to justify imposing more taxes on vehicle owners and targeting the small minority of people who drive older vehicles. They can typically ill-afford to upgrade their vehicles.

The Mayor even concedes that “the dominant proportion of road transport emissions are now non-exhaust emissions including tyre and brake wear along with road wear and resuspension of particles as vehicles travel on roads….”. You can therefore anticipate that after older vehicles there will be new taxes soon to deter all vehicle usage. You have been warned!

See https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/cleanair for what the Mayor and TfL are saying. Please do respond to the consultation.         

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Sadiq Khan Commits to Expanding ULEZ to All London

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The Mayor of London is pushing ahead with expanding the ULEZ to the whole of London despite strong opposition from outer London boroughs. He has launched a public consultation (see link below) on his proposal. The plan is to expand it in August 2023 and anyone with a non-compliant vehicle will need to pay £12.50 per day – that means older vehicle users, particularly diesel cars and vans.

He claims this is necessary to clean up London’s air but it’s really about raising tax to fill the yawning hole in TfL’s budget.

The consultation document claims it will lead to a 9% reduction in NOx emissions in outer London and a 6% reduction in CO2 emissions but will anyone notice the difference? These changes will not have any significant impact on the health of Londoners and the Mayor’s comments about cutting “harmful emissions to help save the planet” are just nonsense. It won’t save the planet from anything but it will cost many Londoners an enormous amount in paying the charge or having to replace their vehicles.

He even suggests that his proposals will help to reduce traffic congestion. Again a nonsensical claim unless he manages to discourage vehicle use altogether which is clearly the plan. An outright attack on freedom of movement and the choice of how you travel.

His claims about the impact of the ULEZ in central London are grossly exaggerated. Emissions have reduced mainly because the vehicle fleet has been renewed as older vehicles are scrapped and central Government tax incentives have encouraged more fuel-efficient vehicles (including EVs).

The Mayor says that only one in five drivers in London will be impacted but the financial impact on them will be devastating.

The Mayor has proposed a vehicle scrappage scheme to support low income and disabled people and he mentions a reimbursement scheme for NHS patients but no details are provided. A vehicle scrappage scheme is likely to be very limited in scope and likewise any reimbursement scheme for patients (there is one already but it’s administratively complex and limited so don’t expect it to help much).

There will be a large cost involved in installing all the extra cameras required to enforce the scheme, which TfL can barely afford, and once installed it will give the Mayor the ability to charge all vehicles to drive in London. Don’t expect the Mayor to give up on a new revenue source!

Make sure you respond to the public consultation below and object!  

ULEZ Expansion Consultation: https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/cleanair?tool=survey_tool

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ULEZ Expansion – It’s Mainly About Raising Taxes

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From today (25/10/2021) the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is expanded to cover everywhere within the North/South Circular. If you drive into it and your car or van is not compliant it will cost you £12.50 per day.

Many people are going to get a big shock because a high proportion of people affected do not seem to be aware of the charges they will suffer – as many as a third of drivers in London and the South-East who will be affected are not aware of the change – see the “This is Money” article link below.

Particularly badly affected are those who bought diesel vehicles a few years ago after encouragement by the Government and will now have to buy a newer vehicle or pay the charge.

We have consistently argued against this unjust imposition of more taxes when the benefit in terms of improved air quality will be both small and of limited duration. See our web site page here for more details: https://www.freedomfordrivers.org/environment

You can see the real motivation for expanding the ULEZ when you read that it could bring in an extra £723 million per year for TfL. With the Mayor and TfL suffering from a major budget crisis you can understand why the Mayor is trying to justify this scheme on health grounds. But the facts do not support it.

To check whether your vehicle is compliant, go here: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/check-your-vehicle/

This Money Article: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-10112743/ULEZ-extension-Three-five-drivers-London-unaware-changes.html

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ULEZ – The Latest Information Including Poor Financial Outcome

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The London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) is currently suspended due to the coronavirus epidemic. This enables key workers to get to work without taking the risk of taking the still crowded public transport. This is a wise move by Sadiq Khan but it will create yet another hole in his TfL budget.

However, the plans for the expansion of the ULEZ to the North/South Circular in October 2021 are still proceeding. One of our supporters has recently submitted a Freedom of Information Act request and obtained some more useful information. I highlight the interesting points:

  1. The scheme is likely to be enforced in the same way as the existing ULEZ and Congestion Charge, i.e. via cameras, both fixed and mobile ones. A map showing where the boundary will be is present here: http://lruc.content.tfl.gov.uk/ulez-boundary-2021-map-local-detail.pdf
  1. But one concession is that vehicles parked, but which don’t move within the zone, and which are non-compliant won’t incur any penalty. However, there are very large numbers of cars parked on roads within the enlarged zone that are only used occasionally. But as the current ULEZ operates all day, every day, their owners will find themselves paying £12.50 for virtually every vehicle movement (the daily charge).
  1. The expected operating income of the expanded ULEZ for 2021/2022 is £160-£170 million with operating costs of £100-£110 million, i.e. a profit of perhaps £60 million. But the infrastructure set-up costs are forecast to be up to £120 million so it will be at least two years before those costs are even recovered, i.e. by 2024.

Note: in reality by 2024 the vehicle fleet will have changed considerably so the level of emissions will by then have reduced very significantly and few vehicles will be non-compliant thus substantially reducing the income from the scheme. For example the chart below shows the NOX emissions that were originally forecast by TfL, with and without the ULEZ. By 2030 there is no benefit from the ULEZ at all.  This means that this is yet another financial mistake the Mayor is going to make if the scheme is implemented as planned.

ULEZ NOx reduction-web

However, it seems that more detailed design of the scheme is still being undertaken so perhaps Mayor Sadiq Khan and TfL management are having second thoughts. They would be wise to do so as TfL are already running a massive deficit with debts rising. That was before the decline in public transport income from bus and underground fares that will have been badly hit by the epidemic plus the suspension of the ULEZ, LEZ and Congestion Charge.

It would be simply madness to proceed with the ULEZ expansion based on what we now know. But the Mayor is now so desperate for money that he might increase the proposed charge, expand the zone even further, or class even more vehicles as “non-compliant”.  That should go down well in the 2021 election year!

Note that the above financial figures are much worse than the last numbers we reported in January 2019 on our blog. There will be a very substantial amount of cash taken out of the London economy from the ULEZ taxes. This  will hardly help the economic health of the city, when it might still be recovering from the severe recession that is predicted from the virus epidemic. In addition, there may be a cost to Londoners of over £200 million from having to upgrade to compliant vehicles.

In conclusion, the expansion of the ULEZ makes no sense. A very expensive project that will not have much impact on air pollution.

See this page of our web site for more information: https://www.freedomfordrivers.org/environment.htm

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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