Polluting vehicles halved in city’s CleanAir Zone
Controversial scheme sees harmful emissions fall one year on
THE number of high-polluting vehicles driving inside Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone has halved in its first year.
The fall has been hailed as a sign of the project’s success.
Air quality has also improved, with harmful nitrogen dioxide levels down an average of 13%.
Those were the headline figures as the city council reflected on the first anniversary of the controversial scheme.
Designed to tackle illegal levels of pollution in the city centre, the scheme has been lauded as a way to speed up the transition from older petrol and diesel cars to more climate-friendly modes of transport.
It has been criticised too, for appearing to target the least well-off motorists and small business owners, who are most likely to have older vehicles, while the method of charging and fining drivers has also come under fire.
Some motorists have raised complaints about the fining process.
Steve Arnold, the officer who oversees the project, said progress since the launch was in line with expectations, with a significant reduction in polluting vehicles entering the zone and, alongside that, a fall in pollution levels.
Around 100,000 vehicles drive in an out of the zone every day, passing signs warning they are entering a charging area as they go, he said.
When the scheme was launched, around 18.7% of the vehicles moving in and out were deemed high-polluting and liable for the Clean Air charges. By April that had fallen to 9.2% – more than halved.
When looking at cars only, the numbers that are compliant went from 85.3% at the start of June 2021 to 91.1% in April 2022, he said.
Lorries and buses appear to have reacted positively to the call to action quickly, with the vast majority now compliant.
“The data we now have strongly suggests that the introduction of the Clean Air Zone has accelerated the move away from polluting vehicles towards cleaner forms of transport,” said Mr Arnold.
He agreed that polluting vehicles were being phased out ‘‘naturally’’ as more switch to less polluting and electric – but said it was clear the CAZ was accelerating the process significantly.
Two types of vehicles remain problematic – small vans and taxis. Too many high-polluting versions remain on the roads, reducing air quality but also hitting the small business owners in the pocket.
As a result, the council has now extended its commercial grant scheme to include LGVs, while there is an upgraded offer for taxi and licensed hire drivers looking to upgrade or retrofit their vehicles.