TFL makes £40m in revenue from London ULEZ

Transport for London (TfL) has generated more than £40 million from the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) since it launched in April.

Businesses and private motorists have been forced to cough up more than £30m paying the daily charge to drive in the Capital, alongside a further £10m in penalties for not paying.

A Freedom of Information request from Motorway.co.uk revealed that more than 2m non-compliant vehicles have paid the ULEZ charge since it was introduced in April.

Alex Buttle, director of car selling comparison website Motorway.co.uk, said: "While ULEZ was not about generating money for councils, it has nevertheless brought in more than £40m in charges and penalty notices in the six months since launch.  

“Schemes like ULEZ should always be about the health and well-being of people living in major urban areas.”

The ULEZ charge is applicable to cars and vans that fail to meet Euro 4 (petrol) or Euro 6 (diesel) exhaust emissions standards, and trucks and coaches that fail to meet Euro VI standards.

Car, motorcycle and van drivers who fail to pay the daily charge of £12.50, face a £160 fine, or £80 if paid within a fortnight. While, HGV and coach drivers, who have to pay a higher daily charge of £100, face a £1000 fine, or £500 if paid within 14 days.

Almost 32,000 drivers have received more than one penalty ticket since ULEZ was launched and the worst offender has amassed 81 penalty notices between May and August, which could lead to fines of up to £13,000.

Transport for London confirmed that until 10 May it issued warning notices rather than PCNs, because the ULEZ scheme was new.

The figures below highlight the revenue earned by the scheme but do not include the cost of running it.

Number of ULEZ charges purchased:

Total revenue raised from ULEZ charges:

PCNs issued per month for non-payment of the ULEZ daily charge:

Total revenue raised by PCNs per month: