Buses targeted in Clean Air Zone bid

Drivers could be fined for idling engines

Proposals for what York is claiming will be the UK’s first “bus-based” Clean Air Zone are set to be considered by council chiefs next week in an effort to reduce emissions.

PROPOSALS FOR what a Yorkshire city is claiming will be the UK’s first “bus-based” Clean Air Zone are set to be considered by council chiefs next week in an effort to reduce emissions.

The Clean Air Zone, or CAZ, will tackle poor air quality in York and include a single ultra-low emissions standard for the majority of local bus services operating in the city.

Plans will also include measures to deter drivers who leave their engines idling in the city centre, with potential enforcement options being considered by York Council. The authority is seeking approval from its executive on Thursday next week to consult on the plans for the Clean Air Zone, which would be launched in 2020.

Feasibility studies on lowemission zones, low-emission buses and anti-idling were submitted to support the proposals, which were approved in principle by the third Air Quality Action Plan adopted in December 2016.

In August last year, the council was awarded £3.3m from the Department for Transport’s lowemission bus scheme to support the delivery of fully electric buses and charging infrastructure for the remainder of York’s park-andride routes.

To support the new Clean Air Zone and subject to assessments, the city’s scheme will help deliver an electric park-and-ride network by February 2019.

The new electric buses will join the 11 existing vehicles already operating at Poppleton Bar and Monks Cross.

Coun Andrew Waller, the interim deputy leader of York Council with responsibility for the environment, said: “We have an opportunity to consider the UK’s first CAZ which is targeted at those buses having the greatest impact on air quality and health.

“The main reason for annual average NO2 levels remaining above health-based levels in the city centre is largely due to emissions from diesel vehicles which have not reduced as rapidly as predicted.”

York Council claims its Clean Air Zone is the first of its kind in the UK and proposes emissions standards for all vehicles operating bus services. It identifies timescales for the introduction of an “ultra-low-emission” bus service. The plans will be consulted on with the city’s bus operators and the views taken of any other interested parties, the authority said.

A further paper will be taken to executive later this spring outlining any major obstacles, confirming the process for introduction of the Clean Air Zone and the date it will be rolled out.

Coun Ian Gillies, executive member for transport, said: “Focussing on the highest-frequency buses using or crossing the innerring road into the city centre, it will help improve air quality for all and so improve health, improve savings to health budgets and spend on repairing air-borne damage to historic buildings.”

Last month, The Yorkshire Post revealed the region is one of the worst in the country for illegal levels of pollutants. The study was released just weeks after council chiefs in Leeds unveiled plans to create a Clean Air Zone after it was named as one of 29 local authorities whose roads breached legal pollution levels, along with Sheffield and Rotherham.

It will help improve air quality for all. Coun Ian Gillies, York’s executive member for transport.

YORK IS undoubtedly one of the nation’s most picturesque cities, but its beauty does not exempt it from the problems associated with air pollution that plague urban areas across the country.

While the pollution levels in the city aren’t quite as severe as those being recorded in Leeds and Sheffield, traffic fumes from diesel vehicles are cited as the key cause of air quality problems which affect the long-term health of residents, create an unpleasant environment for visitors and even damage historic buildings.

But consultation is now due to begin on the introduction of a Clean Air Zone in the centre of York from the start of 2020, which will have a particular focus on reducing the number of high-polluting buses that pass through.

A council report on the issue says buses are responsible for more than one quarter of nitrogen dioxide emitted in the city, despite only making up three per cent of the total miles travelled by traffic.

Turning this around will not be an easy task but the initial signs that it can be done are promising.

Last summer, the council was awarded more than £3m by the Department for Transport to support the delivery of electric buses and it is hoped an electric park-and-ride network will be up and running in the city by February next year.

It is hoped that the changes will contribute to an improvement in health, thereby saving the NHS money, as well as reduce costs spent on repairing airborne damage to historic buildings. For the sake of all who love York, residents and tourists alike, it can only be hoped bus operators get on board with supporting these changes.