Data released by TfL has shown its raking in an eye-watering £750,000 per day as a result of non-compliant vehicles driving in London each day.
The data shows there are 93,700 non compliant vehicles driving within the extended ULEZ boundary that now covers Greater London, although 36% of those vehicles were exempt from paying the charge.
That means, on average, 60,000 vehicles will pay the £12.50 charge each day.
The report also says there are around 2% fewer vehicles on London’s roads as a result of the ULEZ expansion, while 95% of those on the roads are non ULEZ compliant – an increase from 85%.
Sadiq Khan has said this will make a ‘huge difference’ to the health of Londoners. By our maths, there are over 1.8m vehicles using London’s roads daily so ‘huge’ may be overstated – especially as today’s new worry is that particle pollution from tyres is now significantly more damaging to public health than exhaust emissions.
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Mr Khan said: “I’ve always said that the decision to expand the ULEZ was very difficult, but a month on from the expansion we can already see that it is working.
“London is now home to the world’s largest clean air zone and this new data shows 95 per cent of vehicles seen driving in London on an average day now comply with our air quality standards – a 10% increase since I began to consult on the ULEZ expansion in May 2022."
TfL sent warning letters to those who haven’t paid the £12.50 charge as well as issuing 13,480 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) between September 26th-30th. Fines for FPNs are £180 but reduced to £90 if paid within 14 days.
If every non-compliant motorist was to pay the £12.50 charge, Sadiq Khan’s TfL would generate £750,000 per day on average as it seeks to reduce its whopping £13bn of debt.
In terms of who has accrued that debt, Ken Livingstone was able to rack up around £2bn by the time he left office in 2008. Debt rose by a huge £7bn under Boris Johnson before he departed in 2016 and then Khan has added another £4bn to the bill since he arrived at City Hall.
That means ULEZ penalties alone could clear the tab in as little as 17,333 years assuming interest was at 0%. Yes, you read that correctly.
