A larger proportion of vehicles seen driving in London are cleaner. The London-wide compliance rate for vehicles subject to the ULEZ standards during the first month was 95.3 per cent, up from 91.6 per cent in June 2023 and 39 per cent in February 2017 when changes associated with the ULEZ began.
Compliance rates have increased for both cars and vans. 96.4 per cent of cars and 86.2 per cent of vans seen driving in the London-wide ULEZ met the standards in the first month of operation, up from 93 and 80.2 per cent in June 2023 and 44 and 12 per cent in February 2017.
There are fewer older, more polluting cars seen driving in the zone. On an average day, there were 77,000 fewer unique non-compliant vehicles (i.e., individual vehicles detected travelling in the zone at least once) seen detected in the London-wide ULEZ compared to June 2023. This is a 45 per cent reduction in non-compliant vehicles.
There has also been an overall reduction in vehicles seen driving in the zone. On an average day, there were 48,000 fewer unique vehicles driving each day in the London-wide ULEZ compared to June 2023. This is a two per cent reduction, although it will take more time for traffic patterns post launch to fully emerge. Preliminary analysis of traffic flows indicates there have been no notable changes across London or on the London-wide ULEZ boundary. However, it is too early to draw firm conclusions and monitoring will continue in the coming months.
In the expanded outer London area, vehicle compliance has increased by 10 percentage points since the launch of the consultation to expand the ULEZ London-wide. Vehicle compliance in the expanded outer London area is now 95.2 per cent, up from 85.1 per cent in May 2022 when the consultation on proposals to expand the ULEZ London-wide launched, and from 90.9 per cent in June 2023.
The London-wide ULEZ has closed the compliance gap between outer London and inner and central London. After just one month of the London-wide ULEZ operating, compliance rates for vehicles using London’s roads are now nearly the same across all areas of London for each vehicle type. Overall vehicle compliance in the expanded outer London area is now 95.2 per cent, compared to 95.9 per cent in inner London the same month.
In outer London, well over nine in ten cars now meet the ULEZ standards. Car compliance in the expanded outer London area is 96.4 per cent, up from 92.4 per cent in June 2023 and 90 per cent in November 2022 when the Mayor announced the decision to expand the ULEZ London-wide. Van compliance in the outer London area was 86.2 per cent, up from 79.5 per cent in June 2023 and 77.8 per cent in November 2022.
High levels of compliance mean only a small proportion of vehicles paid the charge. On an average day, of all ULEZ vehicles seen driving in London, only 2.9 per cent pay the charge, 1.7 per cent are non-chargeable (including those registered for a discount or exemption), and 0.2 per cent are issued with a warning notice or, from 26 September, a penalty charge notice. The rest meet the ULEZ standards.