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The ULEZ was expanded in October 2021 to cover everything inside the North and South Circular roads, estimated to contain 3.8 million people. According to the RAC, Sadiq Khan’s decision to expand has boosted Transport for London’s income by £93.6million in its first year – or an extra charge to drivers of around £385,000 a day.
This means TfL has generated an estimated £93.6million of additional revenue from drivers of non-compliant vehicles having to pay £12.50 a day.
Between November 2021 and June 2022, an average of 1.9 million journeys were made into the zone every month by non-compliant vehicles.
This includes those not conforming to Euro 6 diesel, Euro 4 petrol and Euro 3 motorbike standards.
Originally restricted to central London, the RAC found that ULEZ generated £19million between February and September 2021 in the months leading up to the expansion in 2021.
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Data shows that in the first eight months since the expansion, an estimated 1.6 million PCNs have been issued, compared to just 253,357 in the eight months prior to the boundary changes.
Given the £160 fine amount (£80 for early payment), the RAC estimates the potential income from PCNs issued to drivers in the expanded zone is between £130.9million and £261.9million.
This can be compared to between £20.3million to £40.5million in the eight months in the original central London boundaries.
Prior to expansion, around 13.1 percent of all vehicles were deemed non-compliant with emission standards, with this falling to 6.9 percent after the expansion.
Mr Lyes continued, acknowledging that action is needed to reduce toxic emissions from vehicles, but warned of the impact of the cost of living crisis on drivers.
He added: “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.”
To help people adapt to the ULEZ, the Mayor launched a £61million vehicle scrappage scheme, which helped take more than 15,000 of the “dirtiest vehicles” off the road.
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