Awareness campaign underway to ensure drivers are ready for London's ULEZ

With three months to go until the launch London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has urged London’s drivers and business owners who drive in the zone to check whether their vehicles comply with the required emissions standards.

The ULEZ will come into effect in the current central London Congestion Charge Zone on 8 April 2019 and will replace the current Toxicity Charge. Vehicles will need to meet tighter exhaust emission standards or pay a daily charge (£12.50 for cars, vans and motorcycles, £100 for busses, coaches and lorries) to travel within the zone. The Congestion Charge will be unchanged by the introduction of ULEZ and will continue to apply for all eligible vehicles entering the Congestion Charge zone.  

Drivers can use TFL’s online checking tool to see if their vehicle will meet ULEZ’s tough, new emissions standards.  

An awareness campaign is underway by Transport for London (TfL) to ensure drivers are prepared for the introduction of ULEZ. This includes contacting more than 2.5 million registered Congestion Charge users whose vehicles do not meet the ULEZ standards, to remind them the new zone begins on 8 April 2019. TfL is also contacting other drivers it identifies in central London whose vehicles are not currently ULEZ-compliant. This has helped encourage 1.5 million visits to TfL’s online compliance checker so far.

More than 300 ULEZ warning signs are currently being installed across central London. The signs warn drivers at all entry points to the zone, and on a number of key approach routes, to ensure their vehicle meets the tough new emission standards. These are complemented by posters and digital banners across the whole TfL network, a social media campaign and adverts across print, radio and online video.

To date, 3,000 businesses have been spoken to by TfL officials to make them aware of the introduction of ULEZ. Many of these businesses have confirmed that they are already ULEZ compliant or are putting in place plans to upgrade their vehicles.