The date's been a long time coming (proposed 2017, confirmed 2018) but Monday 25th October 2021 is finally here - the day the Ultra Low Emission Zone gets extended. Yesterday it only affected the Congestion Charge zone, which most drivers can readily avoid, but today it extends all the way out to the North and South Circular Roads.
I wrote a big ULEZ post one year ago so won't retread old ground, save to remind you of a few important statistics.
» Today's extension takes the ULEZ from 1.3% of the capital by area to 24%.
» The new zone encompasses 40% of London's population.
» Ten London boroughs are entirely inside the new ULEZ and ten entirely outside.
» Most households inside the new ULEZ don't have a car whereas most outside do.
» Over 80% of cars in London already meet the ULEZ emissions standards so won't incur a charge.
Also I'd best repeat this.
Roughly speaking, you have to pay £12.50 a day if your vehicle was registered...
• before 2005:cars with petrol engines (Euro 4)
• before 2006:vans with petrol engines (Euro 4)
• before 2007:motorbikes(Euro 3)
• before September 2015:cars with diesel engines (Euro 6)
• before September 2016:vans with diesel engines (Euro 6)
What I thought I'd do yesterday was see how the eastern edge of the new zone is shaping up.
Here's the approach to the ULEZ boundary in Barking.
This is the junction where Barking Road crosses the North Circular Road. Importantly the North Circular isn't part of the ULEZ so you can drive your vehicle around the edge of the zone for free. It's only vehicles taking the exit into Newham that have to pay, as indicated on the roundabout sign by a green circular logo. A heck of a lot of junction signs have had to be updated or replaced over the last few weeks to get them ready for this morning.
A green sign at the appropriate exit off the roundabout warns drivers they're about to enter the new zone. These are the same signs which used to appear around the edge of the Congestion Charge zone (and I guess no longer do because that's no longer the edge of the ULEZ). A short distance beyond is a smaller blue sign on a lamppost with the ULEZ logo and a camera icon confirming you've now passed the point of no return. I couldn't see a camera observing the traffic in this location but I bet there is one, and anyway it's not so much crossing the boundary that triggers the £12.50 charge but being spotted driving anywhere within the zone.
In east London the North Circular has ridiculously few crossing points, which for ULEZ purposes is highly convenient. In the four miles between the Redbridge Roundabout and the A13 there are only two points where vehicles can enter the new charging zone, one in Ilford and one in Barking.
This photo was taken on the A13 at Beckton, a massive arterial junction with a big roundabout slung above an underpass. Traffic taking the slip road isn't charged but vehicles sticking to the A13 might be, hence two large ULEZ signs have been erected at the entrance to the underpass. The electronic display on the gantry also displays a message warning that the ULEZ comes into effect today. Nowhere is the practical significance of the ULEZ explained, nor that you might be charged for driving further. Londoners really ought to be aware of the consequences after all these years, but I do wonder how many one-off visitors to the capital are about to be stung with a one-off fine.
South of the A13 the next ULEZ sign is at the entrance to Beckton Triangle Retail Park. This means visits to B&Q, Carpetright and the enormous Sainsbury's are now subject to a potential £12.50 surcharge, whereas the Gallions Reach Retail Park on the other side of the road can still be visited for free. It's then almost a mile to the next ULEZ entrance at Gallions Reach where traffic bound for the Royal Docks and City Airport faces crossing the ULEZ threshold. Visitors to UEL's dockside campus are also subject to the charge even though the site has a single access road connecting only to the North Circular.
Where things get interesting is the final stretch of the North Circular threading down to the Woolwich Ferry. Almost all of North Woolwich lies within the ULEZ except for a few fortunate residents who live on the south side of the North Circular between the road and the river. Live on Woolwich Manor Way and you can always drive away from home without being charged. Live opposite on Milk Street and your car could be hit by a £12.50 charge every time you leave your garden.
This is the entrance to Milk Street, which now has a pesky camera installed on top of one of the ULEZ signs.
I thought it'd be interesting to determine how serious a problem the ULEZ might be for local residents so I made a note of all the registration numbers of the cars parked in Milk Street, then put them into TfL's vehicle checker when I got home. Just two of the fifteen cars - a Range Rover and a Renault Sport - triggered a warning that the ULEZ charge would be payable. I bet their owners are mighty pissed off this morning. One of Milk Street's residents also has an old car under a tarpaulin which would incur a charge were it ever moved, which thankfully it looks like it never is.
I also checked the 15 cars across the road on Woolwich Manor Way...
...and all 15 were recent enough to pass emission thresholds. That's ironic because everyone on this street lives outside the North Circular so even an ancient petrol belcher wouldn't have been charged anyway. Overall of the 30 vehicles I checked only two were non-ULEZ-compliant and that's less than 10%. Admittedly it's a very small sample in a single location but it does suggest that the vast majority of London's drivers won't be troubled by this morning's zone extension.
The North Circular draws to a close at the Woolwich Ferry, where any polluting vehicles can cross the Thames without entering the ULEZ and drive freely away on the Woolwich side too. Other roads leading into North Woolwich now have warning signs... but at the entrance to Pier Road one sign has been rotated through almost ninety degrees making it look like Albert Road is in the ULEZ instead. This means traffic driving off the ferry and aiming for Beckton might think it's about to enter the ULEZ when in fact it's not, and if anyone from TfL is reading this perhaps you could send someone down to twist it back into position.
At least the North Circular is generally a clear dividing line, being a massive arterial road almost everywhere except here in North Woolwich and through Ealing where it gets more suburban. But the South Circular is another matter altogether, weaving through a sequence of streets your average driver wouldn't normally register, so staying out of the ULEZ might be more of an issue down there.
As of today I find myself living within the extended ULEZ but as I don't drive, only breathe, I'm more than happy to see this groundbreaking scheme rolled out further. What's more I've been living on a main road for years, long before vehicle emission standards improved, so must have been doing my lungs no favours every single time I went out. The price of limiting this invisible killer will be very high for some, but undoubtedly worthwhile for the health of Londoners of all ages.
