It’s time for local authorities to place ‘cleaner, greener travel options’ at the heart of transport networks, says Alison Edwards, CPT Head of Policy
Clean Air Zones (CAZs) have had a lot of coverage in the news lately. As we exit lockdown, local authorities who put CAZs on hold are revisiting plans to introduce them, and more local authorities are looking at proposals for CAZs in their area. The World Health Organisation and the UK government recognise air pollution as the largest environmental health risk facing us today, and it is time to take action to change this.
Coaches and buses are the cleanest vehicles on our roads. In 2019 2% of nitrogen oxide emissions were from buses, whereas cars contributed 33%. With this data publicly available, it is disappointing that some local authorities have opted to charge coaches and buses to enter CAZs while leaving private vehicles exempt. This approach fails to tackle the root cause of air pollution, which is car use, and instead penalises the vehicles that offer the solution to air pollution by taking cars off our roads.
To make sure CAZs have the maximum possible impact, we must see local authorities proposing to target private cars in their CAZ proposals. Birmingham City Council is an excellent example of a local authority taking this action. In their recently launched CAZ, it charges cars alongside coaches and buses for entry.
We need more local authorities to make decisions like this, rather than leaving cars exempt from charges, which Greater Manchester plans to do when introducing the UK’s largest CAZ next year. I hope they recognise before then that it is vital we have more journeys by coach and bus to reduce air pollution in our towns and city centres.
Besides policies that target private car use, we need to see local authorities make coach and bus the most appealing and easiest travel options along with priority measures that keep buses out of congestion caused by cars. Plus, facilities for coaches such as drop-off and pick-up points that make it easy to get passengers to where they need to be. Combine this with positive messaging encouraging people to get back on board, and we have the potential to see a decrease in cars on the roads and improved air quality.
Local authorities have the power to place cleaner, greener travel options such as coaches and buses at the heart of transport networks, encouraging more passengers to use them and ultimately achieve the objective of CAZs. I hope to see more of them making the best use of them.
