The congestion capital: How London's roads are more clogged up now than before ULEZ was rolled out - as it emerges Sadiq Khan spent £3million planning a 'smart' pay-per-mile road charging system

Congestion in London is worse now than it was before Sadiq Khan’s hated ULEZ scheme was rolled out and then controversially expanded, new figures have revealed.

Data compiled by TomTom, the location tech company, showed that car journeys around the capital are taking longer now than they did five years ago due to increasing amounts of congestion.

Figures show that the ‘congestion level percentage’, which is a measure of how much longer it takes to drive around London compared to if there was no traffic, is higher in 2024 than it was in 2019.

ULEZ, which requires people to pay a £12.50 daily charge for driving non-compliant vehicles, was first introduced in April five years ago – and was expanded to cover the whole of Greater London, sparking a furious backlash among drivers and so-called ‘Blade Runner’ activists tearing the cameras down.

TomTom data shows that in January it took on average 37 per cent longer to drive around the capital than in the same month in 2019, when the congestion level was at 33 per cent.

In February, it took an average 40 per cent longer compared to 37 per cent in 2019. And last month, the average driving time around London had risen from 37 per cent five years ago to 39 per cent now.

Andy Marchant, Traffic Expert at TomTom: ‘Public programmes that aim to tackle rising traffic emissions, including London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ), remain essential to supporting the UK’s ambition to reach net zero by 2050.

‘It should, however, be coupled with long-term action. Our analysis shows that five years on from the introduction of ULEZ, London remains the world’s slowest city to drive through.

‘The capital’s fuel consumption and CO2 emissions inevitably increased at the same time – with London’s petrol vehicles having the highest CO2 impact in 2023, emitting 3.56 tonnes of CO2 per 10,000 miles driven in 2023 (+1.5% YoY).’

It comes amid claims that Mr Khan is plotting a ‘smart’ pay-per-mile road charging system after it emerged that Transport for London (TfL) has spent around £3million on such a scheme.

The so-called Future RUC, first outlined in documents in 2022, sought to introduce a singular ‘smart road user charging’ scheme that could potentially replace existing charges including ULEZ.

A Freedom of Information request seen by MailOnline shows that TfL officials have been working on this project. The scheme would use ‘sophisticated technology to make it as simple and fair as possible for Londoners’ who would be charged for driving around the capital.

‘A number of technical resource was also procured to support optioneering and undertake early development of functionalities which any potential future scheme could require,’ the FoI response states.

Sadiq Khan speaking to media in Trafalgar Square on April 8, 2024

Traffic building up on the North Circular road in London, March 28, 2024

File photo of an information sign for ULEZ in London

Future RUC had been developed to ‘explore the potential for a ‘smart road user charging’ scheme’. However, the FoI request goes on to claim that it has ‘now closed’.

Susan Hall, the Conservative candidate for the London mayoral election, told the Telegraph: ‘It is outrageous that he has splurged £3 million building a prototype to tax drivers by the mile and now expects us to believe he won’t use it.

‘Sadiq won’t listen, which is why he plans to bring in pay per mile, so he can hammer drivers as soon as his ULEZ cash runs dry.

‘I am listening to Londoners. I will scrap the ULEZ expansion on day one and chuck Sadiq Khan’s pay-per-mile prototype in the bin.’

A TfL spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘Money spent has informed work to bring our existing outsourced schemes, the Congestion Charge, ULEZ and the Low Emission Zone, in house when the contract expires in 2026. The aim of bringing these schemes in house is to achieve better value for money. There are no other plans in development.’

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