Transport for London is to double the amount of money it spends on cleaning up London’s air over the next four years, with more than £875m committed to tackling the problem.
The funding compares to £425m pledged by former Mayor Boris Johnson and will be confirmed later this week when TfL publishes its draft Business Plan.
City Hall says the money proves Mayor Sadiq Khan’s commitment to clean up the air and reduce the 9,400 deaths each year which are attributed to poor air quality.
The cash will fund a number of initiatives announced by Mr Khan over the past few months, including setting up an Emissions Surcharge scheme, phasing out diesel-only buses, a commitment to purchase only hybrid or zero-emission double decker buses from 2018 and bringing forward the date from which buses must meet the ULEZ emissions standards.
The Mayor is also proposing introducing five Low Emission Neighbourhoods, spanning eight boroughs, to be part-funded by City Hall and TfL and will continue with the Air Quality Fund which helps tackle some of the worst pollution hotspots across London.
Today he shared his ambition for London to become “a world leader” in boosting air quality and called on the Government “to prove that they share my ambition.”
Mr Khan said ministers could do this “by funding a national diesel scrappage scheme and reforming vehicle excise duty the Government could also prove that they understand the enormity of our air quality emergency.”
