Bristol’s clean air zone will be introduced next year after the city’s plans to curb air traffic pollution were formally backed by the Government, the city council has announced.
Mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees confirmed the initiative will definitely go ahead in summer 2022, though an exact date has not been announced.
Some £42m of Government funding has been made available for greener transport initiatives in the city, including electric bike loans, free bus tickets, and upgrades to cleaner vehicles.
The proposals, which were finally submitted to the government in February after a series of delays, mean older and more polluting vehicles will have to pay to enter the centre of the city.
Bristol City Council said that under the plans nearly three-quarters of vehicles (71%) travelling into the zone are “already compliant” and will not be charged for entering the zone.
Smaller vehicles, such as private diesel and petrol cars will be charged £9 for entering the zone, while larger vehicles such as lorries and HGVs are set for higher charges of £100 per day.
The approved plan includes measures to meet clean air targets for 2023, including to help residents and businesses switch to cleaner ways of travelling.
These include:
- £32m for businesses to upgrade HGVs, LGVs, taxis and private hire vehicles to meet the clean Air Zone’s emission standards
- £2.1m to help local bus and coach companies buy cleaner vehicles or upgrade existing vehicles
- A £2m freight consolidation project will be set up to help businesses switch to greener ways of transporting goods, as part of efforts to make 95% of all city centre deliveries made by zero-emission vehicles within 10 years
- £5.9m will be spent on helping people switch to public transport and make more journeys by walking or cycling with free bus tickets, free electric bike loans and cycle training
- £1.8m of loans and grants will be available to help people on low incomes, or those traveling to work/study in the zone, that need to upgrade their vehicles to meet the zone’s emission standards
Most Read
A range of exemptions will be available to give eligible businesses and individuals time to prepare for the clean air zone.
All residents in the zone with a vehicle that doesn’t meet its emission standards can apply for an exemption giving them until the end of 2022 to upgrade their vehicle.
Exemptions will be available for groups including people on low incomes travelling into the zone for work, patients and visitors to hospitals in the zone and people with commercial vehicles subject to finance agreements.
Mr Rees said: “This is a real win for the city. We are introducing one of the most wide-ranging clean air zones in the 海角视频 which will see us not only reduce air pollution but also help people change how they travel, delivering a cleaner, greener and healthier city for years to come.
“We are tackling a climate emergency, but we also have people facing financial crisis. We can’t look at these two things in isolation. We have taken our time to find a way to clean up our air while not adding huge financial strain to people that live and work in our city.”
Mr Rees said he was "adamant” that he would minimise any disproportionate impact on businesses and citizens created by the clean air zone.
Ahead of the announcement on Friday (November 5) Mr Rees told BusinessLive at a regional COP26 event in Bristol attended by business leaders: “It is possible, and we’ve been making this point from the beginning, for good things to have negative consequences for some people.
Don’t miss
"Which is one of the reasons why we grapple with Government about the clean air zone from the very beginning. What that got portrayed as, was we were missing deadlines.
"That’s not what was going on. We were saying to Government, ‘hold on’, we could negatively impact small business. It will impact access to the hospital. There are groups, such as disabled groups, who need access to their cars. How are we going to support them?
“Families, not just low-income families, but all those who can't just go out and put some more money in and buy an electric car.
“What we’ve been doing is negotiating a package of financial support for businesses and households to transition. That includes grants, public transport passes, to make sure that we get that just transition from what we’re doing.”
Only older and more polluting vehicles will be charged to drive in the Clean Air Zone. Charges will not apply to Euro 4, 5 and 6 petrol vehicles (around 2006 upwards) or Euro 6 diesel vehicles (around end of 2015 onwards).
Bristol’s Clean Air Zone Charges
Private petrol cars - £9
Private diesel cars - £9
Taxis - £9
LGVs - £9
HGVs - £100
Coaches -£100
Like this story? Why not sign up to get the latest South West business news straight to your inbox.