London has made significant progress over the last six years in improving air quality. However, toxic air caused by traffic is still leading to children growing up with stunted lungs and thousands of premature deaths a year – with the greatest number of deaths attributable to air pollution in London’s outer boroughs, which the ULEZ doesn’t currently cover. There has also been a slower rate of improvement in air quality in outer London than in central and inner London.
The ULEZ is highly targeted at getting the most polluting vehicles off our streets. Expanding the ULEZ to cover most of London will strike the best balance between maximising the health and environmental benefits for Londoners while minimising the cost to drivers. Already 9 in 10 cars and 8 in 10 vans seen driving in outer London on an average day meet the ULEZ standards and nearly half of London households do not own a car but are disproportionately feeling the damaging consequences that polluting vehicles cause.
Road transport accounts for approximately 28 per cent of carbon emissions in London. Experience from the ULEZ in central and inner London shows that many Londoners replaced some or all of their car and van journeys in the ULEZ with walking, cycling or public transport.