Not everyone was on board with the ULEZ (Ultra Low Emission Zone) expansion.
When it kicked in on 29 August 2023, there was uproar among some motorists, unhappy they would now have to pay a daily charge of £12.50 if they were driving anywhere within the Greater London boundary, in a vehicle not meeting ULEZ emissions standards.
Now, the latest air quality figures are in, and it's undeniable that ULEZ is doing the job it set out to do — creating cleaner, healthier air for Londoners. In fact, London's air quality is improving at a faster rate than the rest of England.
Among the findings of a Greater London Authority report released on 7 March 2025 were:
- Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) levels — a toxic gas that exacerbates asthma, impedes lung development and raises the risk of lung cancer — have decreased by 27% across the capital
- Particle emissions (PM 2.5) from vehicle exhausts, are 31% lower in outer London in 2024 than they would have been without the ULEZ expansion
- Carbon emissions equivalent to nearly three million one-way passenger trips between Heathrow and New York have been saved
- Air quality has improved at 99% of air quality monitoring sites across London since 2019.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan — who was asked to 'reflect' on ULEZ by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, following a 2023 by-election loss in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, partially attributed to the scheme — said: "When I was first elected, evidence showed it would take 193 years to bring London's air pollution within legal limits if the current efforts continued. However, due to our transformative policies we are now close to achieving it this year.
"The decision to expand the ULEZ was not something I took lightly, but this report shows it was the right one for the health of all Londoners. It has been crucial to protect the health of Londoners, support children's lung growth, and reduce the risk of people developing asthma, lung cancer and a host of other health issues related to air pollution. "
One stat the report doesn't feature is how many lives the ULEZ scheme might be saving. Previous research found that in 2019, toxic air contributed to the premature deaths of around 4,000 Londoners.
