Air pollution back to normal
TRAFFIC and air pollution in Newcastle are “back to pre-Covid levels” and could be about to get even worse, according to experts.
Analysis from Newcastle University’s Urban Observatory shows that the number of vehicles on the city’s roads has steadily risen since April.
There are fears traffic and harmful emissions from the roads will continue to rise.
Passenger numbers on the Tyne and Wear Metro, by contrast, remain at only around half of normal rates.
Meanwhile, council chiefs remain silent on whether a proposed ‘Clean Air Zone’ (CAZ) will be imposed on schedule in January.
The plans could see some high-polluting vehicles hit with tolls, in the hope of reducing road traffic and cutting illegal levels of pollution, but other UK cities have delayed similar schemes because of the impact of the pandemic.
Phil James, director of the Newcastle Urban
Observatory, said that the number of vehicles on the city’s roads had halved at the height of lockdown, substantially improving air quality. He reported on Monday that rush-hour traffic is now “back to pre-Covid levels” on key commuter routes.
Mr James said: “It has been a very steady increase week on week, but the places where we would expect traffic to be high like the Tyne Bridge and the Coast Road are the ones where it is pretty much back to normal now in terms of the shape of the data and the number of vehicles.
“Across the whole of the network it is still a little bit lower, about 90%.
“Last week Metro was at 50% capacity and obviously people are making choices as to how they get into work.
“With the schools going back we often see an increase because people need to take the kids and then go to work, so they use a car instead of a bus or Metro.
“I would expect that we are going to exceed normal levels over the next few weeks, students coming back will obviously increase traffic.”
He added that air pollution is “essentially back to normal” but is “only going one way” if traffic continues increasing.
Leeds City Council recently announced that a decision to delay its CAZ was down to improved air quality levels caused by a drop in road traffic during the pandemic, while Bristol mayor Martin Rees said his city could drop plans for a charging zone if lockdown emissions levels could be maintained.
However, Mr James said that while cities’ average pollution levels will drop for 2020 as a whole this is likely to only be a “blip” caused by the exceptional circumstances.
No announcement has been made on the future of Newcastle’s CAZ plans – and the subject has been scrubbed from the agenda of a council cabinet meeting next week.
Buses, coaches, and lorries that do not meet environmental standards would face £50 daily tolls under the plan, while some taxis and vans would be hit with £12.50 fees.
Newcastle City Council said it believed traffic is now at around 85% of normal.
A spokesman said: “We would encourage everyone to consider the impact of their travel choices and, if at all possible, to use alternatives to driving.”
He added: “Traffic-related air pollution remains a real problem and we will see these levels rise if we don’t take this chance to change the way we travel.”