New data shows Mayor’s ULEZ expansion is working better than expected, bringing cleaner air to five million more Londoners
- Data shows ULEZ expansion is working better than predicted, with London’s air quality continuing to improve at a faster rate than the rest of England and pollutant emissions in 2023 reducing dramatically, compared to a scenario without the London-wide expansion.
- PM2.5 exhaust emissions from cars in outer London are estimated to be 22 per cent lower than without the expansion.
- Within the outer London ULEZ area, NOx emissions from cars and vans are estimated to be 13 and seven per cent lower than a scenario without the expansion. This is equivalent to removing 200,000 cars from the road for one year.
- Overall, NO2 concentrations in outer London are estimated to be 21 per cent lower than without the ULEZ and its expansions.
- 96 per cent of vehicles seen driving in London as a whole are now compliant, with a 53 per cent reduction in non-compliant vehicles in only six months.
New data from City Hall has revealed the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) across the whole capital last August is working – driving down emissions and bringing cleaner air to millions more Londoners.
In London, around 4,000 premature deaths are attributed to toxic air each year as well as increased risks of asthma and cancer and emerging evidence of links between air pollution and dementia.
The ULEZ is the centrepiece of a range of measures the Mayor is implementing to tackle London’s toxic air, including putting a record number of zero-emission buses on the roads. These additional measures are making a difference, but all the evidence shows that clean air zones like the ULEZ are the most effective tool available to quickly and meaningfully cut air pollution in big cities.
Today’s report, which covers the first six months of the expansion across all London boroughs, shows that pollutant emissions in 2023 with the London-wide ULEZ expansion in place are dramatically lower, compared to a scenario without it:
- Within the outer London ULEZ area, NOx emissions from cars and vans are estimated to be 13 per cent and seven per cent lower than a scenario without the expansion. This is equivalent to removing 200,000 cars from the road for one year.
- PM2.5 exhaust emissions from cars in outer London are estimated to be 22 per cent lower than without the expansion (six per cent more than expected).
- Across all measures, these impacts are aligned with, and in many cases greater than, what TfL estimated in the consultation for the outer London expansion.
NOX emissions savings in outer London now represent over 90 per cent of the total emission reductions seen in London as a result of the London-wide expansion.
The report also shows that, compared to what roadside NO2 concentrations are estimated to have been in different parts of London without the ULEZ and its expansions:
- Levels in Outer London are estimated to be 21 per cent lower
- Levels in Central London are estimated to be 53 per cent lower
- Levels in Inner London are estimated to be 24 per cent lower
The report shows that London’s air quality at the roadside is continuing to improve at a faster rate than the average for the rest of England. In 2014, the gap in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels between London and the rest of England was 20 µg/m3, whereas now it is less than 5 µg/m3. The expansion brought five million more Londoners into the ULEZ, and today’s report shows that outer London – which has historically had worse air quality than the rest of England average – now has levels of pollution much closer to levels in the rest of the country.
Even in the short six-month timeframe covered by the report, roadside NO2 concentrations in outer London have dropped by up to 4.4 per cent compared to what would have been expected without the London-wide expansion of the scheme. Given the size of outer London, every percent makes a huge difference.
Compliance levels have also increased further than expected, with 96.2 per cent of all vehicles subject to the ULEZ recorded driving in London now compliant, up from 90.9 per cent in June 2023. This has been aided by the Mayor’s £210m scrappage scheme, launched in January 2023 to support Londoners to switch to cleaner vehicles, with 53,351 applications approved so far and over 300 donated to humanitarian and medical efforts in Ukraine.
There are now fewer older, more polluting vehicles driving in London, with 90,000 fewer non-compliant vehicles detected on an average day in February 2024 compared to June 2023, representing a 53 per cent reduction in non-compliant vehicles in the first six months of operation.
Today’s preliminary data reveals significant progress, with a further report expected in early 2025 which will examine the first full year of the London-wide ULEZ expansion. The one-year report will be supported by an independent advisory group of experts and provide an even more comprehensive analysis of the air quality and traffic impacts of the scheme.
TfL makes £80 million of funding available to boroughs to help make streets safer and improve bus journey times
- Funding includes up to £50 million available over the next three years for boroughs to deliver significant safety improvements to their local area
- £30m also available to deliver transformational bus infrastructure and operational improvements in three successful boroughs
- London’s 33 boroughs are responsible for around 95 per cent of streets across the capital and are vital partners in making them safe, accessible and reliable for all
Transport for London is making up to £50 million of funding available for boroughs to improve road safety on borough roads, as well as £30 million of funding to improve bus journey times and increase bus ridership. London’s boroughs play a key role in the planning and delivery of schemes that transform local areas and support the Mayor’s Vision Zero goal of eliminating death and serious injury from the transport network, as well as improving opportunities for safe and active travel in local communities. They also help ensure that the capital’s bus service is comfortable and easy for all to use, offers attractive journey times and provides the connections people need.
This funding is in addition to the £80.4 million of Local Implementation Plan funding allocated to London’s boroughs in 2024/25 and will help boroughs to continue their vital work making the capital’s roads safer and more attractive for people using public transport, walking and cycling.
TfL is providing a fund of £50 million available to boroughs over the next three years to deliver significant safety improvements in their local area by reducing speeds and tackling the city’s most dangerous roads and junctions. The fund will be open to projects between £0.5 million and £5 million. Examples of schemes TfL will consider funding through Borough Safer Streets include:
- Projects that look to improve safety by reducing speeding and help to reduce the risk and severity of collisions
- Projects that develop improvements to protect vulnerable road users and improve safety for people walking and cycling
- Road safety improvements in high-risk locations
TfL is also providing £30 million in funding to a new programme called Better Bus Partnerships, which will make up to £10 million available for three successful boroughs to deliver transformational bus infrastructure and operational improvements. This includes new bus priority measures to improve journey times, better management of road works to reduce delays to buses, improvements to stops and stations to make it easier to change between buses and other modes of transport, and improvements to streets to make it easier to walk to bus stops and stations.
More than a billion Hopper journeys made on TfL
More than a billion Hopper journeys have made on a bus or tram since the scheme was introduced in September 2016.
Figures show how effective Hopper fares have been since their introduction, reaching a total 1,005,000 hopper fare journeys.
Elly Baker, London Assembly Labour spokesperson for transport, has said the figures demonstrate the success of the scheme, saving Londoners £1.75 each time they do not have to pay a second bus fare.
In the last year, Londoners’ savings equate to more than £300 million over 176 million journeys.
Hopper fares allow passengers unlimited free transfers between buses and trams if they touch on within an hour. The scheme was introduced by London Mayor Sadiq Khan so those who change buses to get to their destination are not charged more than those with a direct route.
Transport for London has maintained over 100 million journeys a year every full year since its introduction except for 20/21, when it fell to 80 million journeys due to the pandemic.
As well as the Hopper fare, the Mayor of London has frozen fares on TfL to save Londoners money and has piloted “off-peak Fridays”, in which all journeys on a Friday are charged at an off-peak rate.
Taylor Swift’s record-breaking The Eras Tour to generate £300m for the capital’s economy – as London confirms status as the world-leader for music
- London is hosting more performances of Taylor Swift’s record-breaking The Eras Tour than any other city in the world, with nearly 700,000 people attending
- Tourists attending the London gigs are set to boost the capital’s economy by £300m
- New poll shows more people would consider travelling to London for a music event than other international or UK cities
- Capital celebrates Taylor’s first performance at Wembley Stadium on Friday night with murals, a special Tube map, a Taylor trail and a wide series of events across London’s fantastic venues
Across London there are a huge range of special events and celebrations to mark the performances:
- Wembley Park is hosting two new public artworks, including a giant mural on the Spanish Steps, which are being temporarily renamed the ‘Swiftie Steps’. The steps, which connect Wembley Stadium and the OVO Arena Wembley, will feature ‘Auras’ by Frank Styles which is compiled digitally from over 30 separate physical paintings. Below the steps will be the ‘…Ready For It’ mural by MurWalls & HUMOR which features a portrait with lyrics interwoven across the installation.
- Transport for London (TfL) has reimagined the Tube map in her honour with an exclusive pull-out in Friday’s Evening Standard. London (Taylor’s version) sees each line named after a different album and drawn in sequin colours to match, with stations named after songs, and gemstones to reflect key locations with links to Taylor that fans can visit.
- A Taylor trail (#LDNTaylorsVersion) launched on Friday will celebrate places across the capital that are referenced in her music, with venues displaying new vinyl stickers in their windows to welcome Swifties and share other locations of interest. They include the West End, Soho, Bond Street, Camden Market, Highgate, Hampstead Heath, Vauxhall, Shoreditch, Hackney, Brixton and Kentish Town. The trail will be available on the Visit London website and through QR codes at participating venues from Friday.
- Visit London, the official visitor guide to London, has created an online guide for Swifties to make the most of London, including brunches, singalongs and quizzes that are taking place across the capital’s venues.
Brent benefits from new VRU funding from the Mayor giving young people positive and meaningful opportunities to succeed
Mayor announces record additional £14.5m investment in Violence Reduction Unit’s flagship approach to tackle violence in key hotspots
· Sadiq to fund expansion of VRU’s community-led MyEnds programme from eight areas to 11 to deliver youth work and preventative activities
· Remaining 21 areas to receive an allocation for borough-led activity
· Funding boost will mean hyper-local approach to tackling violence will for the first time operate in all 32 London boroughs
· Evidence shows backing communities and a neighbourhood approach is crucial in tackling violence and providing positive opportunities for young people
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today announced he is investing a further record £14.5 million in a major expansion of his Violence Reduction Unit’s (VRU) flagship prevention programme to tackle violence. New funding will be used to expand the VRU’s MyEnds programme and its neighbourhood-focused approach to every borough in London, for the first time ever.
The Mayor’s increased investment will ensure the successful programme continues and expands into a community-led approach in 11 of the top neighbourhoods affected by violence. From next month, groups of local youth leaders, grassroots organisations, young people, and parents and carers, will begin delivering youth work, positive activities and targeted interventions, to support young people and to drive down and prevent violence.
For the first time, and delivering on a manifesto commitment, this hyper-local approach will be carried into all boroughs in London, learning the lessons from the award winning MyEnds and its community-led, neighbourhood-focused approach. Funding will go to the remaining 21 areas of London that are without MyEnds community-led groups. It means boroughs starved of investment due to Government cuts can form partnerships with small community organisations to put a real focus on tackling violence at a hyper-local, neighbourhood level, working alongside local people and communities to deliver prevention and diversionary work in areas they live and know best.
The VRU’s successful award-winning MyEnds programme brings networks of local people together to deliver meaningful change. Evidence shows that a community-led approach, by those who know their area and its challenges best, is the most effective way to prevent violence. MyEnds provides communities with the tools and resources to deliver their own prevention measures, including support networks for parents and carers, after-school activities, youth work in neighbourhoods and youth clubs, as well as sport, music, arts and drama activities.
Over the next two years, targeted investment from City Hall will support local MyEnds groups to tackle violence through prevention in neighbourhoods and estates in Barking and Dagenham, Brent, Croydon, Haringey, Islington, Lambeth, Lewisham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets. Funding will also help two existing consortiums, in Newham and Hackney, to continue their community-led approach. Every other borough will receive a share of a £6.7m funding pot for their own local preventative activities.
Today’s funding announcement builds on the work of the MyEnds programme which has operated in eight neighbourhoods over the last three years. Since it was set up in April 2021, MyEnds has:
· Supported more than 50,000 young people and community members
· Delivered targeted interventions and activities to more than 48,000 young people
· Held nearly 600 community events each year
· Provided small pots of funding for almost 70 grassroots organisations to carry out youth work and prevention measures this year alone
This community-led approach has contributed to tackling risk factors associated with violence and exploitation, including improved mental health and wellbeing of young people, better engagement with support services and improved behaviour and engagement in education.
Since the Mayor set up the VRU, the first of its kind in the country, in 2019, it has invested in 350,000 interventions, opportunities and diversionary activities for young people most affected by violence.
Alongside the MyEnds community-led approach, this includes support for families, work to keep young people in education, and funding youth work in schools, neighbourhoods and youth clubs, in sport, in hospitals and police custody suites.
Today, the Mayor joined VRU Director Lib Peck in visiting a new MyEnds consortium partner in Brent, which is working to tackle violence across three estates through detached youth work, school-based interventions and parental support.
Krupesh Hirani pledges to make Brent and Harrow safer, fairer and better-connected following victory in London Assembly elections
Krupesh Hirani has promised to help make Brent fairer, safer and better connected following being elected as London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow.
Last week’s elections to the London Assembly saw Mr Hirani elected to represent the boroughs of Brent and Harrow, alongside Mayor Sadiq Khan, who was elected for a historic third term.
He has thanked voters for putting their faith in him and promised to push for investment in northwest London so it gets its fair share of the investments promised by Mayor Khan, including:
- Employing 1,300 more police officers
- Building 40,000 council homes by the end of the decade
- Ending rough sleeping by 2030
- Introducing baby banks to provide essentials to families who cannot afford them
- Investing in youth clubs to create 250,000 new opportunities for young people – steering them away from gangs and crime
In Assembly Member Hirani’s last term in office, he successfully advocated for the Superloop to connect Harrow, Kenton and Kingsbury, along with supporting the introduction of free school meals for primary-school children across London. The scheme ensured no child is going hungry in the classroom and saves parents up to £1,000 per child over two years.
Mr Hirani has successfully campaigned for numerous improvements to community safety in Brent, seeing an uplift in police numbers by three police constables and four police community support officers dedicated to the Kilburn area as a result of his campaigning for a greater police presence in the neighbourhood.
He has promised to continue to campaign on combatting hate crime – including Hinduphobia, which is currently not given the recognition that statistics suggest that it should be given. Home Office figures show Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu hate crimes are increasing across England and Wales. He will continue to work with police and community leaders to help prevent London’s Hindu community from being subject to a recognised hate crime.
He will also continue campaigning to tackle London’s housing crisis, supporting the Mayor’s plans to build 40,000 new council homes. Councils in London currently spend £90 million each month on temporary accommodation to house, for example, those leaving violent relationships or who have been made homeless. Mr Hirani has supported greater provision of council housing to save the public money, take pressure off of the private rented sector and, crucially, keep people off the streets.
Krupesh Hirani AM, London Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow, said:
“Under Mayor Sadiq Khan, City Hall has done a great job of protecting London from the damage the government has done to the rest of the country.
“City Hall has stepped up to help Londoners through the cost-of-living crisis by providing, for the first time ever, free school meals to all state primary children. On top of this, mayoral funding has made sure that the Metropolitan Police have the resources they need to properly support our communities and keep Londoners safe.
“Thank you to voters for putting their confidence in me. I will be the champion for Brent and Harrow at City Hall. The Mayor’s plans will make London fairer, safer and better connected over the next four years – and our area must be a part of that.”
Mayor of London makes call to Londoners as world-leading Friday off-peak fares trial begins: Let’s Do Fridays
- The Mayor encourages Londoners back into the city as groundbreaking three-month off-peak Fridays trial launches
- Starting today, pay as you go with contactless and Oyster fares on Tube and rail across London and parts of the Southeast will be off-peak all day on Fridays
- Restaurants, museums, landmark attractions and theatres announce exciting offers to encourage Londoners to make the most of the city’s great offering – with more expected over the coming weeks
- Trial will also benefit 60+ and Freedom Pass holders who will be able to use their passes all day on Fridays
The Mayor of London has today announced that the pioneering three-month trial of Off-peak travel on Fridays is live, as he makes the call to Londoners: “Let’s do Fridays”. From today, Tube and rail fares on pay as you go with contactless and Oyster will be off-peak all day on Fridays until the end of May.
The trial follows the announcement that the Mayor has again frozen TfL fares until March 2025, which is providing more support to Londoners struggling with the cost of living, and aiding London’s recovery from the pandemic.
London & Partners, London’s business growth and destination agency, has created a new webpage – https://www.visitlondon.com/fridays – where Londoners can see a range of exciting offers from restaurants, museums, theatres and landmark attractions available on Fridays during the trial, to encourage Londoners back into the city. More exclusive offers will be announced as the trial progresses, with different offers each Friday of the trial.
Examples of these Friday offers include:
· 20% off your bill at Gaucho restaurants on Fridays (until 31 March)
· Off-peak Friday prices to see hit musical Wicked
· Half-price tickets on Fridays for ‘‘Turn It Up’ exhibition at the Science Museum
TfL and London & Partners have also been working with local businesses across London and key stakeholders to help promote a range of activities to further encourage people to make the most of their Fridays.
Peak pay as you go fares ordinarily apply between 06:30 and 09:30 and between 16:00 and 19:00 on both TfL and National Rail services. Making pay as you go journeys on Fridays off-peak all day will make it cheaper for people to travel throughout the day. This could potentially support economic growth by encouraging more people back onto public transport and into the office, and the city, on a day that is currently quieter than other weekdays.
TfL and the Train companies have agreed to the trial, making all pay as you go journeys made using contactless and Oyster (with the exception of journeys to/from Heathrow airport via Zone 1) off-peak on Fridays. The daily cap will also be amended during the trial to cap at an off-peak rate on Friday, helping those who make multiple journeys through the day save even more. Bus and Tram fares across London will not change during the trial as they are set at a flat rate of £1.75 regardless of the time of travel.
The trial will also see 60+ London Oyster photocard and Older Persons’ Freedom Passes allowed to be used on TfL and National Rail services before 9am, helping Londoners with these passes to travel for free all day on Fridays.
To fund the trial, £24m has been allocated from the Mayor of London’s recently approved budget, which will be used to compensate TfL and rail operators for lower fares revenue during the trial and cover the costs for running it.
Off-peak Friday fares could give a much-needed boost to London’s businesses and commuters as the cost-of-living continues to bite. As an example, someone commuting in from Romford (Zone 6) into Bond Street (Zone 1) would have paid £5.60 for travelling on the Elizabeth line during peak hours. Under the trial, this fare will be reduced to £3.60 – saving £2. Someone commuting from Morden (Zone 4) to Vauxhall (Zone 2) in peak hours would have paid £2.80 for the trip. This fare will now be reduced down to £1.90 – saving 90p. On National Rail, someone commuting using pay as you go with contactless from St Albans City to London Blackfriars would pay £12.90 midweek, but will pay £9.50 on Fridays during the trial – saving £3.40. These savings will be doubled if the return journey is also made during evening peak hours.
The Mayor hopes that having off-peak fares on Fridays could help encourage more people into the city to make the most of London’s offering of bars, restaurants, live music venues and theatres.
89,018 children to now breathing clean air at school thanks to London’s Ultra-Low Emissions Zone
Almost 90,000 children across London will now be breathing clean air on the playground thanks to the new Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), new data shows.
The expansion of the ULEZ means that the air surrounding 144 schools with a total of more than 89,000 students will meet the World Health Organisation (WHO) target for the amount nitrogen dioxide particles.
ULEZ is taking the most polluting vehicles off the streets, bringing cleaner air to five million more people and is also expected to reduce carbon emissions in outer London by a further 27,000 tonnes.
Since 29 August, all of Greater London has become covered by the scheme. This expansion will result in 144 schools with a combined total of 89,018 students facing a drop in their exposure to nitrogen dioxide so substantial the air will reach the standards advised by the WHO.
Toxic air is leading to children growing up with stunted lungs and an increased risk of asthma, with older Londoners facing greater risk of cancer and dementia. These factors contribute to around 4,000 premature deaths every year in London.
To help transition to the new scheme, all Londoners with non-compliant vehicles can now get £2,000 for scrapping a car or £1,000 for scrapping a motorcycle. Small businesses and charities can now receive increased grant payments of between £6,000 and £11,500. Eligible charities, businesses and sole traders can now apply for up to three vans or minibuses to be scrapped or retrofitted in total. And the payment for wheelchair accessible vehicles has increased from £5,000 to £10,000, with grants of £6,000 available to retrofit a van to ULEZ standards.
A number of mitigations have also been made for different groups, including exemptions for disabled people and wheelchair accessible vehicles until October 2027 – and new six-month grace periods also recognise that small businesses and charities are doing the right thing and adapting to the ULEZ but may face a delay with receiving their new vehicle or retrofit appointment.
The total amount the Mayor has invested in the scrappage scheme for the ULEZ expansion is £160m, the most generous scrappage scheme in the UK which has been funded without any support from central Government.
The ULEZ has already proven to be transformational in inner London, where it has cut harmful nitrogen dioxide by nearly half in central London and by a fifth in inner London, helping to reduce the number of air pollution-related asthma admissions for children by a third, and saving 800,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions since 2019 (the equivalent of 1.1 million flights from London to New York).
Any net revenue raised through the ULEZ will be reinvested back into public transport, including on the expansion of bus services in outer London. The ULEZ is expected not to raise any net revenue by the 2026/2027 financial year as the percentage of compliant vehicles continues to rise.
Every child has the right to clean air when they’re travelling to school, learning in the classroom or having fun on the playground. For too long they have been exposed to higher risks of stunted lung growth and chronic illnesses, such as asthma, lung and heart disease.
The ULEZ expansion means almost 90,000 of London’s children will no longer have to breathe poisonous air during their school days.