News

Transport East has submitted its response to Transport for London’s ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ) expansion consultation.

As the Sub-national Transport Body for Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Southend-on-Sea and Thurrock, our partnership provides a single voice for councils, business leaders and partners on our region’s transport strategy and strategic transport investment priorities.

The proposal to extend the ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ) to effectively cover the whole of Greater London by adopting the current HGV LEZ boundary from August 2023, will have a significant impact on the Eastern region as we border the Greater London Authority to the north-east.

In principle we understand the need for further action to reduce transport induced air pollutants and the rationale for the proposed changes to the ULEZ. Evidence from the implementation of original LEZ and ULEZ indicates the expansion would see some level of improvements to air quality beyond the GLA boundary into the Transport East region.

However, we believe the details presented in the scheme – and potential mitigations require further discussion, development and refinement with partners in the East to manage the impacts on them. This is particularly true for the Local Transport Authorities of Essex and Thurrock, and the relevant district councils of Epping Forest and Brentwood which bound the proposed new ULEZ.

Our full response to the Transport for London’s ultra-low emissions zone (ULEZ) expansion consultation is available here: TfL Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) expansion consultation response.