What are Clean Air, Low or Ultra-Low Emission Zones?
As the government gets ready to phase out petrol and diesel cars over the next two decades, one trickle-down policy has been for local authorities to introduce traffic restrictions in the form of Clean Air, Low or Ultra-Low Emission Zones (CAZs, LEZs and ULEZs). These zones will allow them to charge motorists for driving fossil-fuelled vehicles through certain town and city centre areas.
And with more than 35 million cars on the road in Britain, that could mean lots of drivers paying fees for their fossil-fuelled vehicles’ emissions.
Why are Clean Air Zones being introduced?
The main aim of these zones is to minimise vehicle pollution in congested town and city centre areas, with nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels a key measure of urban air cleanliness. In 2010 the European Ambient Air Quality Directive established a safe air quality level of below 40 micrograms of NO2 per cubic metre of air.
In 2007, the European Commission published a report titled ‘Towards a New Culture for Urban Mobility’. This report claimed that 100 billion euros, or 1% of the EU’s GDP, was being lost every year as a result of decreased productivity in urban areas caused by traffic congestion.
But the biggest issue is public health, with nitrous oxides (NOx) and fine particulate matter – or PM2.5 and PM10 – present in the air. For those who live and work in polluted areas, these can increase the risk of a range of health conditions from asthma to heart attacks and strokes. Therefore, in place of cars and trucks, another aim is to increase the use of public transport, or walking or cycling in city centre areas, and make them much more habitable.
How will these low emission zones work?
One way of encouraging city drivers to shun personal and business vehicles in favour of alternative methods of transport is to introduce penalties for vehicles entering the areas while failing to meet European emissions standards. This index covers petrol and diesel cars and light commercial vehicles, ranging from ‘Euro 1’ with the fitting of catalytic converters to cars in 1992, to ‘Euro 6’, the most recent upgrade of Euro emissions standards in 2014, with an even stricter ‘Euro 6’ revision in 2017.
Which towns and cities are they in?
London: The UK capital’s eight million residents were already familiar with the Congestion Charge policy put in place back in 2003, but in April 2019 Transport for London went even further by introducing a ULEZ for Central London, with a £12.50-per-day charge for motorists using motorbikes, cars, private taxis, small and large vans, and minibuses that don’t meet petrol Euro 4 and diesel Euro 6 standards. For buses, coaches and heavy vehicles over 3.5 tonnes failing to meet Euro 6 standards for both petrol and diesel, the charges are dramatically higher at £100 per day.
Currently only covering City district and Westminster, London’s ULEZ will extend from Haringey in the north to Lambeth and Lewisham in the south from October 2021.
Glasgow: A limited LEZ is already in place, with one in five of the buses using the city centre subject to European emissions standards. An extension to subject all vehicles entering Glasgow’s LEZ to the rules is to be introduced by December 2022.
Birmingham: As Britain’s second most populous city, Birmingham has been earmarked for a CAZ from July 2020 in response to huge commuter numbers entering the city each day. The following standards must be met for vehicles passing through:
- Diesel, minimum Euro 6
- Petrol, minimum Euro 4
- Zero-emissions vehicles such as all-electric and hydrogen. • Low-emission like hybrids meeting diesel Euro 6 and petrol Euro 4 standard.
There will be an £8 charge for private cars and taxis, and a £50 levy for buses, coaches and HGVs that are not up to recognised emissions standards.
Leeds: The West Yorkshire city’s council hoped to introduce a CAZ to its centre by 6th January 2020 but this has been delayed. The plan is for vehicles meeting Euro 6 standards, and all-electric vehicles, to enter the CAZ for free. Aimed primarily at business vehicles, both Hackney-style and private hire taxis will have to pay £12.50 per day (£50 per week for Leeds-licenced vehicles) to drive in the Leeds CAZ, while there’s a £50 charge for HGVs, coaches and buses entering the area, which takes in Bramley in the west and much of the city centre areas immediately bordering the M621 and M1 roads.
Edinburgh: LEZ plans for Scotland’s capital are at the consultation stage as of January 2020. With the local authority concerned that 80% of the city’s air pollution is caused by nitrogen oxides (NOx), options for clean air zones have been put to the public, including for a city centre zone or a city-wide zone stretching further out to Edinburgh’s suburbs.
Aberdeen: Plans are in place to introduce an LEZ in late 2020, with cars travelling through the Granite City set to be subject to charges for not meeting Euro 6 diesel or Euro 4 petrol requirements.
Manchester: With a metropolitan area of more than two million people to consider, the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan seeks to introduce two-pronged reforms, the first wave beginning in 2021, with its proposed Clean Air Zone, where any charges would occur, not including cars (other than private hire taxis), mopeds or motorbikes.
Amongst those categories to be charged a daily rate of £100 for urban driving are HGVs with an engine classification poorer than Euro 6, and there’ll be a £7.50 charge for vans and minibuses from 2023.
Sheffield: The local authority wants to introduce a CAZ in early 2021 with a proposed £10-per-day charge within the Steel City’s inner ring-road and centre, covering taxis, vans and LGVs who don’t comply with Euro 4 petrol standards, and £50 per day for coaches, buses and HGVs that don’t meet diesel Euro 6 standards.
For a comprehensive list of inner-city zones across the UK and Europe, the EU’s Urban Access Regulations section has an interactive map where you can check dozens of European cities’ lower-emission requirements.
And with all this in mind, why not discover a cleaner way to drive?