New era for Bristol as Clean Air Zone means ‘3 in 10’ vehicles have to pay
JUST after midnight last night – long before the actual dawn – a new era dawned on Bristol’s roads.
The first vehicle to be charged for driving in the city’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) would have triggered an automatic camera and made its owner liable for a fee of up to £100.
We may never know the identity of the first driver of a non-compliant vehicle to record this small piece of history – it might have been a taxi driver ferrying a passenger home from a pub, it may have been a plumber responding to an emergency call out or it may have been a nurse, returning home after a long shift.
It is estimated that three in ten vehicles in the city will face the daily charges – which range from £9 to £100 – or fines if they refuse to pay.
Time will tell if the controversial scheme – which has been in the pipeline for years – could ultimately be viewed as a huge success. One that cut illegal levels of air pollution and inspired people to change behaviour and embrace greener transport methods.
Equally, it is just as probable that it could also be viewed as an expensive failure that treats motorists as a cash cow during a cost-of-living crisis.
Mayor Marvin Rees, under whose watch the scheme has been introduced, said yesterday that his administration was mindful of the conflict between seeking to reduce air pollution and putting residents under additional financial strain.
On his mayoral blog he wrote: “We have worked to find a way to clean up our air, while also providing support to those who need it most.
“Back in 2021, we secured a package of £42 million funding to help people to find ways to make their journeys in and around our city more sustainable. To date, the council has had over 6,000 applications for financial support such as grants and loans to change or upgrade their vehicles.
“I would encourage everyone to try out our bus, train, and park and ride services as an alternative way to travel around Bristol, and we still have free vouchers available to help you give these options a go. We can’t take on the task of delivering clean air alone. We need everyone in Bristol to play their part.”
Bus operator First West of England said that all of its fleet of buses are already compliant with the CAZ.
Through a combination of new buses – including 99 biomethane powered buses that use food waste as fuel – and retrofits of new technology to slightly older models, the local bus operator says it has ensured that all its buses are compliant by meeting the minimum Euro 6 emissions standard. This means harmful emissions will be reduced by up to 95 percent compared to the oldest buses that have now been replaced.
“The retrofits, alongside the new, cleaner buses, represent a £30m investment from First West of England and its partners, putting them at the forefront of cleaner, greener travel in the region,” a spokesperson for First Bus said.
First West of England managing director Doug Claringbold said:
“We are fully prepared for the introduction of the Clean Air Zone with greener and cleaner buses. With the help of Government funding, we have invested in new buses and retrofitted older buses. We wholeheartedly endorse the council’s work on cleaner air.”
The new era of traffic management in the centre of Bristol will see drivers using non-compliant vehicles – generally older diesels and petrol-powered cars and vans and larger lorries, buses, coaches and trucks – required to pay a charge of either £9 or £100 for bigger vehicles if they are driven into the zone.
It stretches from the Brunel Way dual carriageway over the Cumberland Basin at the western end of the Floating Harbour, all the way either side of the river to Temple Meads and Newfoundland Way at the bottom of the M32 into the city centre.
Bristol City Council has erected signs at all the entrances to the zone bearing a green facemask symbol, and cameras are in place at every road access, including the smallest of side roads in residential areas.
Drivers in newer vehicles that comply with the emissions levels – which are estimated to be around three-quarters of all the motorists in Bristol – are not affected by the zone and will not have to pay. But tens of thousands of motorists will be.
When the city council switched on the cameras for three weeks during September as a test run, a total of around 95,000 individual drivers were sent letters warning them that, if they made the same journey after November 28, they would be liable for the CAZ charge.
When the zone goes live, drivers who cross into the zone in noncompliant, polluting vehicles will not necessarily be fined if they have not paid the charge.
The council is instigating a sixweek ‘grace’ period, which means that people who should be fined will be given the chance to simply pay the charge of £9 or £100, rather than the charge and the fine.
That ‘grace period’ offer only applies to people who pay up within a week of receiving the notification, and only lasts until January 9.
I would encourage everyone to try out our bus, train, and park and ride services as an alternative way to travel around Bristol, and we still have free vouchers available to help you give these options a go. We can’t take on the task of delivering clean air alone. We need everyone in Bristol to play their part.
Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees
We are fully prepared for the introduction of the Clean Air Zone with greener and cleaner buses. With the help of Government funding, we have invested in new buses and retrofitted older buses. We wholeheartedly endorse the council’s work on cleaner air.
First West of England managing director Doug Claringbold