Transport for London (TfL) has revealed it's set to spend as much as £75 million on installing the necessary signs and cameras it needs as part of the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).
Responding to a freedom of information request, a TfL official replied: "The current estimated total cost to supply and install on street infrastructure, i.e. cameras and signs, for the London-wide ULEZ scheme is in the range of £60-£75m.”
This comes on top of the £5 million already spent by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, on ordering and installing new ULEZ signs.
Sadiq hopes that expansion of ULEZ and charging individuals £12.50 a day if they drive a non-compliant vehicle will raise £300 million in its first year of implementation. However, with costs spiralling up, no revenue is expected to be accrued until 2027.
Home counties councils, including Surrey, Kent, Hertfordshire, Essex and Buckinghamshire, have refused permission to allow the Mayor to install his signs in their county until adequate mitigation measures have been put in place for local residents neighbouring Greater London.
Commenting, a spokesman for Surrey County Council said:
"We have informed TfL that we will not enter into a Section 8 agreement which is needed for them to place signage and cameras on our highways, while there isn’t any mitigation in place to minimise the impact on Surrey residents."
Cllr Martin Tett, Leader of Buckinghamshire Council, said:
"The Council continues to strongly oppose the expansion of the ULEZ. We still call on the Mayor of London to halt the proposal to expand the zone to all of Greater London until we can agree mitigations for the thousands of residents and businesses who will be seriously impacted.
"We must see mitigations for people from Buckinghamshire who have no option but to travel into London for work or to receive NHS healthcare.
"We also remain very concerned about the impact on our local roads and local air quality if motorists seek to avoid the Ulez charge by driving round the edge of the zone."
