In the first month of operation 13% of all trucks entering London's Ultra-Low Emission Zone each day weren't Euro-6, motortransport.co.uk has learnt.

London's ULEZ was launched in April this year and operates within the same footprint as the London Congestion Charge Zone. However, unlike the congestion charge zone the ULEZ operates 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

Trucks entering the zone must meet the Euro-6 emissions standard or face a charge of £100 a day.

According to TfL, on average 89,380 vehicles entered London's ULEZ each day in the first month of its operation and - based on motortransport.co.uk's calculations - around 3,846 of these were trucks. Of those trucks TfL confirmed 13% need to meet the emissions requirement, amounting to an average of around 500 a day.

In comparison, of the 85,534 vehicles, excluding trucks, entering the zone daily, 30% - 25,695 - did not meet the requirements.

It means that in totality, trucks made up just 1.9% of vehicles that did not meet the emissions requirements entering London's Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in its first month of operation,

All vehicles in contravention of the scheme were issued with a warning notice on the first offence in this period rather than fined. The fine for non-compliant trucks, buses and coaches entering the ULEZ is £100 a day with non-compliant cars, motorcycles and vans facing a penalty of £12.50 a day.

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TfL conducted research between 8 April and 5 May and factored in disruptive events and unusual traffic patterns, such as the Extinction Rebellion protests, road works and the Easter and bank holidays, to arrive at its representative average figures.

However, the transport authority was unable to supply a breakdown of the volume of trucks that would now be deemed non-compliant that had entered the ULEZ area in previous months, or any data in regards how many trucks travelling within the ULEZ were non-UK registered.

In response, RHA policy director Duncan Buchanan said: “If they are going to make claims as to the impact of the ULEZ we need all the facts. I think it is concerning that they are unwilling to provide this information. We would also be very interested to know the figures on non-UK registered vehicles."

Buchanan also warned against reading too much into the performance of the central London ULEZ in other cities or in London's suburbs.

“This zone is not at all typical. It is a single isolated zone so vehicles can more easily divert. There is not one vehicle servicing centre in this zone, very little through traffic and only high end construction traffic and retail, so I would caution against using central London ULEZ results as a yardstick for other cities or wider across London,” he said.

ULEZ impact:

  • There were around 9,400 fewer older, more polluting, non-compliant vehicles seen in the zone on an average day, a reduction of more than a quarter (26%), compared to the previous month
  • As people prepared for the start of the ULEZ, from February 2017 to April 2019, around 36,100 fewer older, more polluting, non-compliant vehicles entered the zone on an average day, which was a 58% reduction during the period.
  • There was also an 80% rise in the proportion of vehicles in the central zone that were compliant from February 2017 to April 2019.

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