[jarym]

ULEZ did improve air quality in central London - owing to the large concentration of cars. I'd say probably strong incentives for non-gas vehicles helped also (exemptions from Congestion Charge, reduced parking fees in certain boroughs, etc)

The ULEZ 'extension' is different. It extends ULEZ to areas on the outskirts of London (the suburbs). There are a number of problems with this:

* Public transport options not as great, so car ownership is far higher. Lots of commuters (that either have to travel to surrounding areas or commute in from nearby).

* The area is not as densely populated as the central areas and there are more highways and things designed to support greater volumes of traffic.

* The costs are high (daily £12.50)

* From 2030, all new cars in the UK will be non-gas. The shift is already gaining momentum so naturally through incentives those that can afford to move to an EV are doing so. TfL's own analysis shows that the scheme will cost more to rollout than the revenue it generates.

Also, I detest the 'pulling at heart strings' approach taken to justify this extension. It is akin to the people who want to break E2E encryption and privacy crying 'think of the children' - the basis is not logically sound.