Study: London T-charge and Ulez cut emergency
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- Imperial College London researchers (Dr Rosemary Chamberlain and Dr Daniela Fecht) found emergency hospital admissions in central London decreased 3% per year after the T-charge (2017) and Ulez (2019) launched, reversing a pre-scheme trend of 3% annual increases.
- The study identified an 8% reduction in heart-related emergency admissions and a 6% reduction in breathing-related admissions for residents inside the central London zone.
- Dr Daniela Fecht, who led the research, said that after controlling for other trends and policies, the reductions in hospital admissions are "directly linked to the emission reduction initiatives in central London."
- The total and heart-problem reductions remained statistically robust when benchmarked against similar areas elsewhere in England, though the 6% respiratory decrease was present in the data but did not reach statistical significance.
- Chamberlain said the inconclusive respiratory finding may stem from the analysis covering adults only, noting "children are particularly susceptible to the effects of air pollution on respiratory health."
- Traffic-related nitrogen dioxide fell about 44% on central London roads before Covid lockdowns began, though the researchers lacked sufficient health data to disentangle the separate effects of the T-charge from the Ulez.
Why it matters: Benchmarked against similar areas in England, the Imperial study gives policymakers peer-reviewed evidence that London's low-emission zones deliver measurable public health gains, including an 8% drop in heart-related emergency admissions — a concrete counterweight to the political controversy that has surrounded Ulez expansion.
