Will there be at least two cameras on every road inside the North and South Circulars once the expanded ULEZ is in place?

Air pollution is the biggest environmental risk to health we face, and the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has already helped reduce pollution in central London by nearly half. In the Central Activities Zone, 87% of vehicles now meet the standards, up from 39% in February 2017 when changes associated with the ULEZ began. This is huge progress, which is helping to protect the health of Londoners.

However, air pollution is not just a central London issue, which is why it is vital to build on the success and expand the ULEZ up to the North and South Circular Roads. Cameras play an essential role in making the ULEZ effective. The area covered by the existing Congestion Charge and ULEZ has around 650 cameras. The new zone will be 18 times the size, but new technology means TfL estimates that only around 750 new cameras will need to be installed as part of the ULEZ expansion. Due to this new technology, there will not be two enforcement cameras on every road within the expanded area. Instead, cameras will be located on all entry routes as well as in a number of other locations throughout the zone. The number and placement of cameras has been calculated to enforce the rules to achieve the air quality benefits London needs without cluttering up the streets and while keeping costs down. Cameras will capture number plates from vehicles driven in the zone to check against the TfL database to see if they meet the ULEZ standards.

To minimise new infrastructure on the network and disruption for Londoners, TfL is also upgrading the existing cameras and installing new cameras on existing infrastructure such as traffic signals where practical. TfL estimates that approximately 200 existing monitoring cameras will be upgraded to ULEZ cameras to support the expansion. The introduction of multi-lane cameras will also reduce the total number of cameras required at each location as they are able to capture vehicles travelling in both directions, ensuring better compliance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation and privacy and surveillance camera codes of practice.

The success of the existing ULEZ shows what we can do to protect health of Londoners, and I am determined that we will continue to make systemic changes that will last to deliver cleaner air for millions more Londoners.

Thank you, Mr Mayor. You rightly acknowledge that the new zone will be 18 times the size of the existing zone and I take the point about new technology, but with just 100 more cameras than is needed in a zone 18 times the size, without x-raying through people’s houses, I am struggling to follow how that is going to capture all the vehicles.

You drive around London a lot in your job. You will have noticed that especially around the A406 boundary there is a lot of rat-running and a lot of issues on those roads. Are you confident that there will be entire, complete, 100% coverage, and that we will not have room for further rat-running to further cause misery for residents of those roads?

Do you mean the ULEZ cameras?

Yes. Will we have 100% coverage so there is no chance that people will rat-run to avoid the charge?

We currently have around 98% or 99% coverage of central London and we think we will get the same sort of coverage for the expanded area, about 98% or 99% coverage.

You are confident we will have 98% to 99% coverage with just 100 more cameras than in a zone 18 times smaller?

I want to have the same coverage, 98% to 99% of the expanded ULEZ, like we do for the central London ULEZ.

I will take your word for that, then. Thanks.