Pay per mile roads, Project Detroit, Sadiq Khan, TfL, ULEZ - behind the election noise

As the mayoral election approaches, and as the Tories work to mobilise motorists, we are likely to hear more and more phrases such as 'pay per mile' and 'Project Detroit'.

The expansion by Labour's Sadiq Khan and Transport for London (TfL) of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) last year created a clear political dividing line.

The next stages of London's congestion and air quality policies are set to be hotly contested – not least the idea that motorists could be charged based on the kind of vehicle they use and the distance they drive, or 'pay per mile'.

For his part, while the mayor has previously expressed an interested in the idea, he has recently said flatly, and repeatedly, that it is not being considered.

"Pay per mile charging has been ruled out and no such scheme is on the table," his spokesperson told me this week.

But City Hall's Conservatives say they do not believe him, with Emma Best AM saying: ‘From the mayor’s previous comments, it’s clear that he and TfL are intending to introduce pay per mile. Whilst Labour and the Liberal Democrats leave the door open to supporting Sadiq Khan with a future scheme, we will be resisting this at every opportunity – just as we have done with the mayor’s ULEZ expansion."

'Project Detroit'

To be fair to the Tories, the suspicion that pay per mile is on the cards is not entirely without cause, and it relates to Project Detroit, a title which conjures the famous 'Motor City' of the American Midwest.

Project Detroit, on which more than 150 people are currently working, is the development of a system to bring the current road charges onto one platform: ULEZ, Congestion Charge, Low Emission Zone, HGV permit, new tolls on the Blackwall and Silvertown Tunnels etc. The aim is for an in-house system to replace the contracts with the outsourcing firm Capita which expire in 2026.

So far, so reasonable, but what is concerning critics is that from the start the intention has been flexible enough for the new system to be used for any new charging schemes, and these specifically included pay per mile.

In a response to a freedom of information request, TfL wrote in December 2022: "The Detroit platform has the capability to be extended and we will be looking to build the system flexibly so that other forms of charging based on distance, vehicle type, etc, could be catered for if a decision was made in future to do so."

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Furthermore, in a statement accompanying a report commissioned from Element Energy (Analysis of a Net Zero 2030 Target for Greater London) in January 2022, the mayor's office said in a statement: "The report sets out that to achieve anywhere near a 27% reduction in car vehicle kilometres, London will need a new kind of road user charging system implemented by the end of the decade at the latest.

"Such a system could abolish all existing road user charges – such as the Congestion Charge and ULEZ - and replace them with a simple and fair scheme where drivers pay per mile, with different rates depending on how polluting vehicles are, the level of congestion in the area and access to public transport. Subject to consultation, it is likely there would be exemptions and discounts for those on low incomes and with disabilities, as well as consideration around support for charities and small businesses.

"The mayor recognises that London could benefit from more sophisticated types of technology to introduce this kind of simple, fair road user charging scheme and has therefore asked TfL to start exploring how it could be developed. However, it’s clear the technology to implement such a scheme is still years away from being ready."

Pay per mile

All of which is notwithstanding the fact that Mr Khan has since unambiguously ruled out pay per mile.

But should he have? Certainly, not everyone is against it, and the idea is far from new.

In November 2020, on the Ham&High Podcast, the Green Party's then co-leader Siân Berry told me: "It's much, much fairer than the current Congestion Charge where you pay once, and it's now £15, no matter how far you drive, which isn't fair, really. 

"You can create a system that varies the charge per mile on different roads by where they are – so central London would be more; by the time of day so you can do things to try to smooth out rush hour; by the emissions of the vehicles; and other things like how big the vehicles, how dangerous they are. There are lots of things you can vary the price by and send really clear and fair signals to people if you want them to change their behaviour, whether that's changing their vehicle or how far they drive. 

"[It will] do things like encouraging people to share lifts. The technology is there so that the car can have a price and you can share it between all the people in the car by clicking on an app – like I think you can do in Wetherspoons now for the bill."

That's the Greens - surely "they would say that"? Well, it hasn't just been the Greens.

The Conservatives and pay per mile

When he was mayor of London, Boris Johnson explored the idea of pay per mile. And in 2020, at the time Ms Berry was speaking, then-chancellor Rishi Sunak was reported to be looking into it. That, of course, was before the Uxbridge by-election result led him to rethink his green priorities.

The current Conservative London Assembly members are unambiguously against the idea. Last week, Keith Prince AM proposed a motion in the assembly: "This assembly strongly opposes the introduction of London-wide, pay per mile road user charging and urges the mayor to instruct TfL to stop spending any time or money preparing for its introduction.”

It is worth noting that the "London-wide" specification would leave open the possibility of supporting a central London pay per mile scheme, without a U-turn.

Amending the motion, Labour's Elly Baker AM added wording highlighting that Sadiq Khan has denied any intention of bringing in pay per mile in the next mayoral term - and that TfL has said no one on its staff is working on it.

Ms Berry spoke to suggest the assembly should not be voting when the publication of a cross-party report on the subject is imminent.