Request ID: FOI-1277-2324 Date published: 16 August 2023
You asked
The Mayor and TFL have claimed that over 90% of vehicles seen in outer London are ULEZ compliant.
This is based on data from 106 cameras.
Please provide the data which supports the claims of the Mayor + TFL.
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The Mayor and TFL have claimed that there are no plans to introduce pay-per-mile or pay-per-minute driving.
This follows claims in Parliament that the Mayor and TFL are working on ways that road pricing might be introduced across London.
Please provide answers to the questions below.
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In order to assess the accuracy of the first claim, it is necessary to see the actual data, including the location, date and time of the observations.
This needs to include a spreadsheet listing each location, and the numbers of compliant and non-compliant vehicle at each, broken down by car, LGV and HGV.
As TFL have now installed many hundred ULEZ cameras to enforce their ULEZ expansion, there can be no reason not to confirm the 106 locations where the data was collected.
The precise location is not required, just the actual section of road and direction of travel monitored.
Questions on TFL’s ULEZ scheme
A – What is the estimated installation cost, operation / maintenance cost, and revenue to TFL from the ULEZ expansion to outer London in each of the first 5 years of operation?
B – Where someone has registered for auto-pay, will TFL provide a bill which shows when and where any charges applied have been incurred, so that the driver can check they have not been wrongly billed?
That means each ULEZ camera that recorded a charge event, even if there is only one charge incurred.
C – What does TFL do with the data collected of vehicle movements by its network of ANPR cameras?
D – What is TFL’s data destruction policy – how long does it retain data on each vehicle?
E – Is any data passed to any body outside of TFL?
If so what data and why?
F – Is any data passed or retained anonymised, so noone can backtrack the movements of any individual vehicle?
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Questions on TFL plans for road pricing.
1 – Have the Mayor or TFL stated, or will they state clearly that they respect and support the right of the public to choose their mode of travel, and their right to drive their cars on the road and park there – with no new charges to make their travel by car more expensive?
2 – Have the Mayor or TFL pledged, or will they pledge that TFL will never introduce any pay-per-mile or pay-per-minute scheme so long as Sadiq Khan is mayor?
3 – Can the Mayor and TFL confirm that they are unaware of any work undertaken by TFL or anyone employed by TFL to consider whether and how any such schemes could be introduced?
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-1277-2324
Thank you for your request received on 24 July 2023 asking for information about the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and future road user charging proposals. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked: Please provide the data which supports the claims of the Mayor + TFL. The data for outer London (in November 2022) shows that 9 out of 10 cars seen driving on an average day meet the ULEZ emissions standards, so their drivers will not need to pay the ULEZ daily charge or take any action ahead of the London-wide ULEZ expansion. The information you have requested is available on our ULEZ pages on the TfL website: https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/ulez-compliance-data The Mayor and TFL have claimed that there are no plans to introduce pay-per-mile or pay-per-minute driving. This follows claims in Parliament that the Mayor and TFL are working on ways that road pricing might be introduced across London. Please provide answers to the questions below. In order to assess the accuracy of the first claim, it is necessary to see the actual data, including the location, date and time of the observations. This needs to include a spreadsheet listing each location, and the numbers of compliant and non-compliant vehicle at each, broken down by car, LGV and HGV. As TFL have now installed many hundred ULEZ cameras to enforce their ULEZ expansion, there can be no reason not to confirm the 106 locations where the data was collected. The precise location is not required, just the actual section of road and direction of travel monitored. The data was taken from the breadth of the expanded ULEZ area, it is the average daily number of vehicles measured over the entire month of November 2022. Questions on TFL’s ULEZ scheme A – What is the estimated installation cost, operation / maintenance cost, and revenue to TFL from the ULEZ expansion to outer London in each of the first 5 years of operation? The ULEZ is not a money-making scheme, and within a few years, as compliance increases, it will actually make a net loss. A successful expanded ULEZ will lead to cleaner air and at the same time generate ever smaller net revenues, as has been the case with the previous expansion to inner London where people switched to greener vehicles. We are already seeing 90 per cent of cars driven in outer London on an average day complying and compliance levels are increasing all the time. The estimated costs to set up the expanded London-wide ULEZ are in the range of c£160m.This includes costs of signage, detection and enforcement infrastructure and systems, marketing, project overheads and risk. TfL estimates that the London-wide ULEZ could generate up to £200 million a year for the first two years following expansion on 29 August but that this will decline sharply to approximately £50 million in 2025/26. It is a statutory requirement that any net revenue generated by our road charging schemes (the ULEZ, LEZ or the Congestion Charge) is reinvested back into London’s transport network, including investing in improving transport links in outer London. All money received from the ULEZ is reinvested into improving London’s public transport network, such as expanding bus routes in outer London. By 2027/28 net proceeds from the ULEZ are projected to be negligible. Further information on the projected revenue is available in the Four-Year General Programme: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/lez-four-year-programme-final.docx#:~:text=The%20ULEZ%20currently%20covers%20an,same%20area%20as%20the%20LEZ B – Where someone has registered for auto-pay, will TFL provide a bill which shows when and where any charges applied have been incurred, so that the driver can check they have not been wrongly billed? That means each ULEZ camera that recorded a charge event, even if there is only one charge incurred. Yes, a monthly statement is sent via their preferred contact method that details the journey dates over the statement period and the total amount payable. The customer has the option in their online account to get more details of each charge, this includes an image of the vehicle along with the location. If a customer believed a charge has been incorrectly applied then they can dispute it. C – What does TFL do with the data collected of vehicle movements by its network of ANPR cameras? D – What is TFL’s data destruction policy – how long does it retain data on each vehicle? E – Is any data passed to any body outside of TFL? If so what data and why? F – Is any data passed or retained anonymised, so noone can backtrack the movements of any individual vehicle? The information that you have requested is available from the road user charging scheme privacy page of our website: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/privacy-and-cookies/road-user-charging Questions on TFL plans for road pricing. 1 – Have the Mayor or TFL stated, or will they state clearly that they respect and support the right of the public to choose their mode of travel, and their right to drive their cars on the road and park there – with no new charges to make their travel by car more expensive? 2 – Have the Mayor or TFL pledged, or will they pledge that TFL will never introduce any pay-per-mile or pay-per-minute scheme so long as Sadiq Khan is mayor? 3 – Can the Mayor and TFL confirm that they are unaware of any work undertaken by TFL or anyone employed by TFL to consider whether and how any such schemes could be introduced? We have no current plans for any such schemes. If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me. Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
