please empty your brain below
I am excited for ulez to come to the rest of Wandsworth but then it occurs to me that unless non-compliant car owners in my area have been restricting themselves to non-ulez areas this whole time, it's unlikely that I'll even notice a difference next week.

MMR | 22.08.23 - 7:51 a.m. | #

Well I live in Bromley, home to some of the worst Londoners. Truly, a great many of the people in this town and borough are horrible people.

And while there are lovely people who are opposed to Ulez, not that I agree with the opinion they hold-there are some truly awful anti Ulez people who use it as a cover for racism.

My car happens to meet the standard, but I barely use it anyway, preferring the train or tube in town.

Jonathan | 22.08.23 - 8:13 a.m. | #

I look forward to the extension of the scheme, but I gave up using a car once I got a Freedom Pass. Yesterday I helped a friend apply for £2000 scrappage scheme which he seemed quite happy about as his car is only worth about £600 if that.
Now lets have more action to stop car drivers engine idling whilst parked outside schools

John | 22.08.23 - 8:16 a.m. | #

I think ULEZ is great. My parents owned a diesel car which broke down for good just before the North/South circular expansion, and haven't replaced it since - which to me shows the policy works. Now just need the rest of the country to catch up - looking at Manchester in particular

Ed | 22.08.23 - 8:38 a.m. | #

I think it’s brilliant.

James Poleaxe | 22.08.23 - 8:43 a.m. | #

I live in N1 3 Islington. I like the ULEZ.

Moved there in 2014 in possession of a Volkswagen Blue Motion diesel car that was zero rated for road tax. Car sometimes grew moss through lack of use, and battery went flat once. It was only used when driving out of London for holidays and visits to NT properties etc.

Then came emissions scandal, and I felt like a criminal.

About 3/4 years after moving to Islington I sold the car after hearing about the eventual expansion of the ULEZ. It was a relief to get rid of it in the end and I had no regrets. The insurance cost was getting ridiculous.

I can hire a car if I need it, though I rarely do.

Neesi | 22.08.23 - 8:47 a.m. | #

I'm generally pro, but I sympathise with those affected. The ULEZ as it's going to be implemented is less than ideal, but that's mainly because Parliament and the Home Counties refused to work with City Hall on a scheme. Despite some sort of pollution control being inevitable.

That being said, my sympathy gets tested when people insist they're being "forced" to buy a brand new car instead of something as old (or even older!) as what they already own. And the anti-ulez crowd aren't particularly picky about the bedmates they pick up, so long as they're rabidly anti-ulez as well as antivax, antiLTN, anticard, etc.

Chz | 22.08.23 - 8:54 a.m. | #

London is a far more pleasant place than it was 20 years ago thanks to the air quality and reduced traffic. This is the one thing that we can thank Boris & Grant Schapps for.

Mike | 22.08.23 - 8:58 a.m. | #

Roll it out nationwide.

Anon | 22.08.23 - 9:16 a.m. | #

I'm surprised that it isn't being picked up that ULEZ was a Conservative initiative, but I guess that doesn't fit the Tory voter agenda!

Like the first comment, I doubt I'll notice any difference. Those who were going to change their vehicle will have done so by now and those who haven't won't likely do so by next week!

Cornish Cockney | 22.08.23 - 9:19 a.m. | #

Personally I believe this should be expanded nationwide and to further reduce our reliance on driving people should pay 20p per mile they drive in cities and 10p in rural areas tax. This tax can be used to provide free bus services nationwide.

lemons | 22.08.23 - 9:19 a.m. | #

Air pollution kills. Full stop.

I genuinely don't understand the fuss. When the Clean Air act came in in the 50s to ban fireplaces and clear smog, did people get upset then too or is this contrived anger from politicians with nothing else to offer?

Will | 22.08.23 - 10:53 a.m. | #

We live just inside the old north circular boundary.. i certainly think i notice the difference.

But i wonder if that will revert next week when people bring their cars back from the other side of the boundary or decide to take the cut through Walthamstow now they are paying anyway.

As relatively few vehicles dont count it should be ok, fingers crosses.

Alistair Twin | 22.08.23 - 11:58 a.m. | #

The ULEZ "controversy" is the standard playbook of a very noisy, very small minority claiming to be the silent majority.

Simon | Homepage | 22.08.23 - 12:34 p.m. | #

So much whinging about ULEZ, especially the cost of buy another car. E.g. on the NextDoor site.

My 2009 i20 is worth maybe £2500 and it is ULEZ-compliant. Those cars that don’t qualify will be old and mostly worth v little. They can be sold and a compliant car bought at relatively small cost, especially with the scrappage scheme.

I think a lot of the moaning is manufactured as a desperate attempt for the Tories to save seats at the next election.

P S BAKER | 22.08.23 - 1:32 p.m. | #

I live just inside the North Circular. I didn’t think the ULEZ had made any difference- until I visited Paris last year and realised how much more polluted it felt than London.

If Hillingdon and the other angry outer boroughs don’t want to consider strategies to improve air quality I think they should hold a referendum on being part of London: and should lose their rights to Freedom Passes if they leave.

Mike on a bike | 22.08.23 - 1:53 p.m. | #

As a ULEZ compliant car owner who lives in London, I'm supportive of it as I don't need to change my car and I'll enjoy cleaner air. However it doesn't take a great leap to imagine how the scheme could be extended to be a daily charge for all vehicles (don't think that electric cars will be safe either). Just look at how the congestion charge has increased in scope and price since its original introduction.

James Armitage | Homepage | 22.08.23 - 1:56 p.m. | #

I would expand ULEZ nationwide asap, then introduce a contention charge in every town with a population of more than, say, 50,000 people. Eventually public transport should be improved such that these congestion charging zones can become car-free zones.

DB83 | 22.08.23 - 2:16 p.m. | #

No scheme is perfect, but complaining about things not being 100% perfect is not the hallmark of a pragmatic individual.

This will have a real effect on the quality of air in the capital and the health of all of us. The problem is even though it's significant the health benefit is hard to measure, and so people will campaign successfully on the financial cost to individuals.

In a way Khan is sacrificing political capital (this policy will win him zero voters and will likely *cost* him voters) for the good of the people, something I find admirable. No one in the current government would ever do what's right if it cost them votes

Bob | 22.08.23 - 4:34 p.m. | #

Sooner it covers the whole of Britain the better. We will look back in 50 years and be astounded by the pollution we allowed for decades.

Toby Jenkins | 22.08.23 - 6:03 p.m. | #

I find it hilarious how the ULEZ haters haven't realised their journeys will be potentially quicker

brush | 22.08.23 - 11:19 p.m. | #

I agree with Bob above, a genuinely politically selfless act by Sadiq Khan for the good of all Londoners (as we’ll all benefit from cleaner air even if vehemently against it!).

I thoroughly recommend Richard Herring’s interview with Sadiq on his podcast (RHLSTP Book Club 55) where he gets the opportunity to fully explain his policy.

Joe | 23.08.23 - 8:01 a.m. | #

I don't understand how the ULEZ scheme is to be funded, as the number of non compliant vehicles drops. Will the scheme be funded out of TFL central funds, or will eligibility be increased.

coffin dodger | 23.08.23 - 8:29 a.m. | #

As someone who breathes air in London, I think it should have gone further and restricted all ICE vehicles. Perhaps that's phase 7, known as NEZ. It's got my vote for Khan.

CAPEWELL | 23.08.23 - 8:41 a.m. | #

It’s nice to breathe clean air :)

Felix | 23.08.23 - 8:58 a.m. | #

I think it's brilliant and I can't see what the problem is.

Newton Spadge | 23.08.23 - 11:00 a.m. | #

Hear hear!

Only wish there was some big boost in the bus network similar to when the congestion charge was launched -- but alas, the central government doesn't seem very inclined to fund public transport properly, whether in London or elsewhere.

matthieu1221 | 23.08.23 - 1:46 p.m. | #

It's widely loved with manufactured and misdirected hate that, as the other place shows, still needs factual corrections.

Toby | 23.08.23 - 1:57 p.m. | #

As a non-driver in a borough already in the ULEZ the extension won’t impact me directly, though I support the principle. But public transport is always the achilles heel: the ULEZ extension, and LTNs, seem to be created without any attempt to provide real alternatives first, other than meaningless exhortations to walk or cycle. Superloop is clearly a nonsense, and the disconnection between govt and Mayoral/borough policies (plus Tory hatred of Khan) completely undermines measures that could reassure sceptics or even help those actually affected.

Labourer | 23.08.23 - 3:12 p.m. | #

I sympathise with the people who are affected by the ULEZ, but I consider the health of the public to be worth the cost.

Jon Jones | 23.08.23 - 6:16 p.m. | #

I don't disagree with the expansion BUT: we have a 2006 diesel car which has done less than 60,000 miles and has been serviced by the dealership we bought it from every year. It has always been our last car (we are over 75 years old). If the scrappage scheme allowed us to sell it to someone in Wales (other locations are available) then we could have considered part exchanging for a compliant car that is in worse condition. It the sledgehammer implementaion that annoys. And putting a camera at the entrance to the Royal National Orthopeadic Hospital just tells us its a money making exercise forced on TfL by the Tories.

Mike Roberts | 23.08.23 - 8:26 p.m. | #

ULEZ is amazing but its not enough and it shouldn't stop here. There are a ton of other schemes that should exist too, like extending the Congestion Charge. Honestly, even Electric and Hybrid cars are bad - its environmental impact is still bad considering we are still dependent on fossil fuels for electricity, and it's the same cars, same traffic, same noise, same accidents.

Unfortunately, it's shown us all the carnage that Tories are willing to create over genuine progress. The misinformation has been absolutely rampant. I go to a school with many well-off students, who without doubt have compliant cars. Yet I constantly hear complaints about ULEZ, with claims it 'bans cars from London' and 'allows only electric cars'. I'm sure most of it is stuff they repeat from their parents. I'm sympathetic with the genuine complaints such as access to hospitals and tradesmen but the majority of complaints are absolute nonsense.

May the ULEZ empire expand.

TW | 23.08.23 - 8:38 p.m. | #

I think the "Polluter Pays Principle" is always a good idea. As a Bexley resident in a one-compliant-car-household it doesn't really affect us. I am finding the bonkers comments on the local facebook groups amusing though! Maybe more people will vote in the mayoral election next time?

Kathryn | 25.08.23 - 4:09 p.m. | #











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