The Mayor of London and TfL's ULEZ expansion to the whole of Greater London has gone live today (Tuesday 29th August).
This will have an impact on all Surrey residents, especially those living near the border with Greater London who own a non-ULEZ-compliant vehicle, as they will be forced to pay a daily charge of £12.50 to drive in and out of the capital.
Despite legitimate concerns having been raised, including a plea issued by the trade union, GMB, to the Mayor to delay the expansion, criticising the implementation as being "done by stealth" and how "it's going to affect the average person", Sadiq Khan has ignored these and failed to discuss any mitigations for residents in the surrounding home counties.
Expansion of ULEZ comes at a time when the Mayor and TfL are set to scrap daily travelcards in a matter of months, which will see the cost of travelling into London by public transport increase substantially.
Data analysis by the Telegraph of the 2021 census has shown that in the areas where the ULEZ scheme is expanding too, residents are twice as likely to rely on their car to commute to work. Around 46 percent of those in the expanded zone drive to get to work, and demonstrates the level of inequalities in accessing public transport across the city.
Unsurprisingly, it is residents in the outer London Borough and the surrounding areas that will be worst impacted by the expansion, as the public transport network is not as extensive as compared to the inner city. The attached map shows the proportion of commuters who get to work in a car, with 60 percent of commuters in Hillingdon and Havering rely on their car to get to work, and this figure reaches as high as 80 percent in Biggin Hill, Bromley and Harefield, all now part of the expanded ULEZ zone.
Whilst the scrappage scheme was extended to all households in Greater London following pressure from Conservative led Councils, critics have warned that the £2,000 payments do not go far enough.
Commenting, Cllr Matt Furniss, Cabinet Member for Transport, Infrastructure and Growth at Surrey County Council said: “I am incredibly disappointed that expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone has gone ahead today and the impact this will have on many of our residents as they go about everyday, essential journeys.
“Surrey County Council has informed TfL that we will not enter into a Section 8 agreement which is needed for them to place signage and cameras on our highway, whilst there isn’t any mitigation in place to minimise the impact on Surrey residents. If they wish to install advanced signage or have safety concerns, it’s in their gift to install it on their land and to change the ULEZ border.
“Whilst the extended scrappage scheme looks to be a step in the right direction, this will have no impact on those outside of London. This means that people living in Surrey will not only have to pay the ULEZ charge, but also pay all costs to scrap their own car as the scrappage scheme only applies to people living inside London. Combined with the recent decision to withdraw the day travelcard, it is now increasingly difficult for those outside of London to travel in and out at a fair price.
“We continue to urge The Mayor and TfL to do what is right and extend the scrappage scheme outside of London for those that are impacted, provide exemption for key workers, and provide more and better bus routes between Surrey and London.”
Map sourced from The Telegraph
