Request ID: FOI-1754-2324 Date published: 10 October 2023
You asked
Who manufactured the new ULEZ cameras that have been put up in Greater London this year? I wouldn't like to think they are affiliated with China as that would be a national security threat. As highlighted in the recent Panorama, Is China Watching You?
How much has TFL spent on the new ULEZ cameras?
How much has been spent for installation of the new ULEZ cameras?
Who concluded that 9/10 cars are ULEZ compliant? I am certain you are aware that this number is misleading. TFL’s statistics from 2022 show that 6/10 cars are non-compliant.
What location did King’s College London measure the air quality information that is on TFL’s website? What date and time was this conducted? What were the variables? How did they make it a fair test?
Why was the decision made to air TFL television and radio adverts, earlier this year, whilst having unclear and misleading information included in them?
Why were advertisements made by TFL? The money spent on making them could have been used for much better purposes like: not imposing the ULEZ expansion on people, maintaining the tube lines, reducing TFL’s debt. Since Iver train station has been revamped, in line with the new Elizabeth line, it is now modern and clean. The total sum spent on the new ULEZ cameras, signs and marketing campaign could have instead been used to maintain Iver train station along with all the other stations that have been modernised. This would prevent them from becoming tired, unclean and into a state of disrepair, or, at the very least, gone towards preventing these probable issues.
What is the outstanding total of TFL’s current debt as of August 2023?
9) What company made the new ULEZ signs?
10) How much money has been spent on new ULEZ signage?
What is the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency’s explanation for granting TFL access to UK citizens identifiable information? I believe this is a breach of the Data Protection Act 2016 and General Data Protection Regulation 2018. I do not have a contract with TFL to: access, hold, store or use information about me. Why is this being done? I am sure millions of other road users all over the United Kingdom have not given their permission for TFL to process their personal information and would feel the same as me. Therefore, I do not believe TFL are GDPR 2018 compliant.
How long has Sadiq Khan known the judge, Mr Johnathan Swift?
We answered
TfL Ref: FOI-1754-2324 Thank you for your request which we received on 21 August 2023, asking for information about the ULEZ expansion. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Information Regulations (EIRs) and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked:
Who manufactured the new ULEZ cameras that have been put up in Greater London this year? I wouldn't like to think they are affiliated with China as that would be a national security threat. As highlighted in the recent Panorama, Is China Watching You?
Yunex Traffic UK are TfL’s term contractor for the supply and installation of ANPR cameras for TfL Road User Charging Schemes. The cameras are manufactured in the UK.
How much has TFL spent on the new ULEZ cameras?
The current estimated total cost to supply and install the ANPR cameras and associated supporting infrastructure for the London-wide ULEZ is in the range of £45-55m.
How much has been spent for installation of the new ULEZ cameras?
As above.
Who concluded that 9/10 cars are ULEZ compliant? I am certain you are aware that this number is misleading. TFL’s statistics from 2022 show that 6/10 cars are non-compliant.
What location did King’s College London measure the air quality information that is on TFL’s website? What date and time was this conducted? What were the variables? How did they make it a fair test?
The data is provided by LondonAir and their website provides details on how the data is produced including what pollutants are included, when the data is collected, where the monitoring stations are in London and how accurate the data is. You can see more information on their website, here: https://www.londonair.org.uk/LondonAir/nowcast.aspx
Why was the decision made to air TFL television and radio adverts, earlier this year, whilst having unclear and misleading information included in them?
TfL’s TV and radio adverts formed part of an information campaign to raise awareness of the ULEZ expansion, to explain where the zone would operate ‘across all London boroughs’, who may be affected ‘If you’re one of the few who drive a petrol vehicle over 16 years old or a diesel over 6 in London’, the aim of the ULEZ ‘to help clear the air’ , the date of the expansion ’29 August 2023’ with a call to action to encourage vehicle checking. The TV advert included a map of the zone and a reference to the signage. Before the adverts were aired, the TV script and final film were approved by Clearcast and the radio scripts by Radiocentre and in the case of the TV advert the visual content was approved too before the advertising aired. All TfL TV and radio ads go through a rigorous pre-clearance approval systems to ensure the advertising claims adhere to the UK Advertising Codes determined by the Committee of Advertising Practice and the Broadcast Committee of Advertising Practice with TfL providing factual substantiation for any information contained within the ads to the relevant clearance authorities before they are approved to be aired. TV and radio channels are an effective way of reaching drivers to raise awareness of the ULEZ expansion and to encourage vehicle checking to help drivers prepare. The TV airtime on ITV and Channel 4 has an overspill into the Home Counties of up to 50 miles outside of London subject to the terrain, and the radio on stations such as Heart, Capital, LBC and Smooth has spill over into the Home Counties of up to 25-30 miles radius outside of London subject to the terrain.
Why were advertisements made by TFL? The money spent on making them could have been used for much better purposes like: not imposing the ULEZ expansion on people, maintaining the tube lines, reducing TFL’s debt. Since Iver train station has been revamped, in line with the new Elizabeth line, it is now modern and clean. The total sum spent on the new ULEZ cameras, signs and marketing campaign could have instead been used to maintain Iver train station along with all the other stations that have been modernised. This would prevent them from becoming tired, unclean and into a state of disrepair, or, at the very least, gone towards preventing these probable issues.
It is consistent with TfL’s responsibilities as a public authority to act reasonably to ensure we provide information about the scheme and any changes to it to people who may potentially be affected. This is important, given non payment of the ULEZ daily charge by those wishing to drive within the zone with a vehicle that doesn’t meet the ULEZ emissions standards could give rise to a penalty charge being issued. For every major scheme TfL has implemented, advertising has been developed to ensure those who may be affected understand if they are, how any scheme operates and what to do and when so they are not inadvertently caught out.
The advertisements were produced in order to provide public information to explain to drivers where and how the ULEZ operates, who is affected, where to check a vehicle, the cost of the daily charge for those drivers intending to pay the charge and how to pay the charge as well as the benefits of expanding the zone, namely to help clear the air and improve health. The Mayor and TfL continue to invest in improving public transport particularly in outer London and this is absolutely central to the Mayor’s Transport Strategy and to enabling people to travel more sustainably. That’s why the Mayor has announced that TfL is going to consult on expanding the bus network in outer London. Already, more than 96 per cent of Londoners live within 400m of the bus network, the London Overground network has expanded including a new station at Barking Riverside, and the Elizabeth Line is transforming public transport connectivity directly and through new interchanges along its length.
Whilst TfL would prefer people to use a vehicle that meets the ULEZ emissions standards rather than pay the daily charge, revenue is reinvested into running and improving London’s transport network, such as contributing to the proposed Superloop, which is made up of express bus routes to help connect more people in outer London.
What is the outstanding total of TFL’s current debt as of August 2023?
The signs are provided via our contractors, TKJV and Ringways Infrastructure Services.
How much money has been spent on new ULEZ signage?
Please refer to question 2.
What is the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency’s explanation for granting TFL access to UK citizens identifiable information? I believe this is a breach of the Data Protection Act 2016 and General Data Protection Regulation 2018. I do not have a contract with TFL to: access, hold, store or use information about me. Why is this being done? I am sure millions of other road users all over the United Kingdom have not given their permission for TFL to process their personal information and would feel the same as me. Therefore, I do not believe TFL are GDPR 2018 compliant.
Information on the handling of personal data acquired through all of our Road User Charging schemes can be found on the Privacy pages of our website. This includes information on the legal basis which applies to our use of personal data. Seehttps://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/privacy-and-cookies/road-user-charging With regards to the letters sent by the DVLA on behalf of TfL, these were sent to owners of non-compliant vehicles seen in the outer London area ahead of when the ULEZ expanded on 29 August 2023. The DVLA is a national database which is not owned by TfL. TfL has access to the data for the purpose of vehicle checking to understand whether a vehicle meets the ULEZ standards. The DVLA do not share registered keeper data with TfL or any third party for this purpose, and TfL does not know the registered keeper or addresses where these letters have been sent to.This is to ensure we are working in accordance with the GDPR regulations. The letters provided information in advance of the expansion on the vehicle’s compliance status, the options available including the scrappage scheme, grace periods and how the scheme operates including how to pay. The DVLA do not share registered keeper data with TfL or any third party for this purpose, and TfL does not know the registered keeper or addresses where these letters have been sent to.This is to ensure we are working in accordance with the GDPR. The letters were sent based on identifying non-compliant vehicle registration marks (VRMs) seen driving in our Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras within the ULEZ expansion area. TfL then de-duplicated the VRM captures and identified which are non-compliant with the ULEZ Scheme using the existing TfL database used for the existing Ultra Low Emission Zone. Those VRMs that are non-compliant are then checked against TfL’s existing Road User Charging customers and if they are an existing customer with an associated email address (e.g. Auto Pay Customers who get monthly statements) then they would be contacted directly by TfL. A record of the remaining non-compliant VRMs is then provided to the DVLA who send an agreed letter to the registered keeper, where they have details in their database. The registered keeper details for these vehicles are not shared by the DVLA with TfL. TfL doesn’t know who the letters were sent to as we have no access (for this purpose) to the DVLA database. We provide the DVLA with a list of just the VRMs we have seen (after the checks described above – plus the vehicle has to have been seen at least twice in the zone during the relevant period). We don’t share any data about when or where we saw the vehicle. The DVLA then match the VRM to the address information they hold and send the letters, and don’t share any address information with us. We have a lawful basis under the GDPR to do this (as we are doing it to fulfil our statutory and public functions) and the process has been designed to ensure compliance with other GDPR requirements around data minimisation, purpose limitation, retention security, fairness and transparency. This was covered in the Data Protection Impact Assessment for London Wide (LWULEZ) in 2022 (published at https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/privacy-and-cookies/road-user-charging#on-this-page-11 ) and the process has been described in the RUC Privacy Notice on the website since similar letters were sent ahead of the first ULEZ expansion in 2021. The Privacy Notice was then updated for LWULEZ: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/privacy-and-cookies/road-user-charging#on-this-page-12.
How long has Sadiq Khan known the judge, Mr Johnathan Swift?
We do not hold this information. 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 as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed. Yours sincerely Eva Hextall FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
