ULEZ expansion catches out drivers with nearly £100million worth of charges in less than a year

THE expansion of London’s Ultra-Low Emission Zone has seen drivers cough up almost £100 million in less than 12 months.

And this figure doesn’t even include the money collected from the fines people are slapped with when they fail to pay their Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) charge.

Last year the city’s ULEZ was extended to cover a much larger area.

And new figures, analysed by RAC, show between November and June a whopping £93.6 million has been collected by Transport for London (TfL) from drivers of non-compliant vehicles.

Vehicles being driven in the ULEZ must conform to either Euro 6 diesel standards or Euro 4 petrol standards, and majority of those that don’t must pay £12.50 a day.

About three-in-10 – or 28.5 per cent – of non-compliant vehicles do not pay a charge.

Prior to the expansion, an average of 329,527 journeys were made in the original ULEZ every month by non-compliant vehicles.

This saw revenues of just under £19 million.

But the extension has seen number of journeys rise to 1.9 million.

And while the income from fines isn’t counted in that eight-month period, it is estimated about 1.6 million have been handed out to those who failed to pay their ULEZ charge.

This is compared to the 253,357 that were handed out in the eight months prior to the boundary changes.

Given the £160 fine amount – or £80 for early payment – the RAC estimates the potential income from the fines is between £130.9 million and £261.9 million.

This is again compared to between £20.3 million to £40.5 million in the eight months in the original central London boundaries.  

Nicholas Lyes of the RAC said: “The expansion of the Ultra-Low Emission Zone in 2021 meant a far larger geographical area was covered by the mayor’s strict vehicle emissions standards.

“For many, this meant a very stark choice: either replace their vehicle with a compliant model or face paying the £12.50 daily charge.

“Failing to pay the charge wasn’t an option either as it would result in a hefty penalty charge notice.”

Mr Lyse said the expansion has resulted in a “much-increased revenue stream” for TfL, adding: “Notwithstanding the costs associated with introducing the larger ULEZ.

“Londoners living outside the current ULEZ will now be worrying about the prospect of further expansion, mooted to be at the end of August 2023.

“While we accept that action is needed to reduce toxic emissions from vehicles, the cost-of-living crisis is hurting drivers in the pocket and there is a risk that further enlarging the zone will be hugely costly for those with older vehicles who can least afford to change them for something newer.

“As it is, RAC research suggests drivers are holding on to their vehicles for longer, so there is a real risk that more people with non-compliant vehicles will be forced to pay a charge they can ill afford to.

“We would encourage the mayor to take a pragmatic approach and redouble his efforts to support lower-income families and businesses with non-compliant vehicles with a targeted scrappage scheme ahead of any expansion plans.”