Both Greater Manchester and Birmingham have released proposals to establish clean air zones - but which one is more likely to have a long term effect?
Air pollution is a serious detriment to the health of people in the UK’s cities, costing the country an estimated six million sick days and 40,000 premature deaths. Reducing air pollution is a high priority for cities; DEFRA requires local authorities to assess the geographical extent of illegal levels of air pollution and then devise a plan to deal with it.
The Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Birmingham City Council have developed proposals designed to address air pollution. Both cities plan to create a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) – an area where polluting vehicles are discouraged from entering by having to pay a charge if they travel there.
It is good to see both cities recognising the issue and putting plans in place to tackle it. And while a welcome move for Greater Manchester, some oversights mean that Birmingham’s plan is more likely to have a positive effect on the city’s air quality, and on its residents.
Firstly, Birmingham’s CAZ charges cars, the main cause of air pollution, whereas Greater Manchester excludes cars altogether. Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, justified excluding cars on the basis charging them would hurt the poorest the most. But he overlooked the fact that most poor people in cities don’t own cars, and the poorest are most affected by air pollution, particularly children vulnerable to asthma attacks. Birmingham’s plan excludes diesel cars Euro 6 or better, and petrol cars Euro 4 or better, incentivising drivers to purchase cleaner vehicles.
Greater Manchester’s proposals also have the unintended consequence of incentivising car use over taking the bus. The area’s bus companies hit back at the proposals, pointing out that buses are an essential part of the city’s transport system. The effect of the CAZ will be to make buses more expensive, incentivising people to drive cars and thereby making the air pollution problem even worse. Birmingham’s plan also targets buses which may lead to similar challenges, but it will charge £50 per day, half the £100 per day proposed in Greater Manchester.
Secondly, Birmingham’s plan targets the city centre, where air pollution is worst. The city’s CAZ will only extend as far as the A4540 Middleway Ring Road, covering the city centre and a small portion of inner-city residential areas.
However, by making all of Greater Manchester a CAZ, the authority fails to utilise data showing pollution concentrated in the city centre. Suburban bus users and businesses will be hit by a charge they can’t do anything to avoid, while car commuters to the city centre who could use public transport will face no financial incentives to change their habits.
Map of Greater Manchester, the area within the bold grey boundary is the CAZ
What both schemes have in common is that they both have schemes to help vehicles compliant. To help businesses upgrade to CAZ-complaint vehicles, Greater Manchester’s proposal also includes a fund for new taxis, buses and freight vehicles, subject to approval and money from Westminster. In Birmingham, those affected by the CAZ who earn less than £30 000 per year won’t be charged until 2021, a year after the zone’s planned introduction.
Map of Birmingham’s proposed CAZ
It will be good to see what effects both approaches have in the longer term. But overall, Birmingham’s plan offers a good model for designing a CAZ in other cities. Its penalty payment applies to all types of vehicles, making a significant reduction in pollution more likely. Its limited geographical area targets the heavily-polluted city centre, while acknowledging the reality of car-dependence in low-density neighbourhoods. It incentivises public transport use by charging private cars, recognising a shift in transport policy is a pre-requisite for cleaner air.
CAZs are most effective when they target a broad range of vehicles in a narrow, more highly polluted, geographical area. This will likely result in less air pollution, less congestion and higher rates of public transport use in the city centre.
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Michael Watkins
I am very surprised to read that “most poor people in cities don’t own cars”. I happen to spend time driving in inner city areas, both day and night, and from what I see these areas are simply awash with cars, parked nose-to-tail on the roads and parked (often illegally) on pavements too. I don’t see how any more cars could physically be got in to these areas. In more affluent areas, where off-street parking is abundent, yes, car ownership rates are no doubt higher. I am in no doubt that those living in poorer areas will continue to live in the most polluted areas but now without doubt will be paying disproprtionately if they have to enter the CAZ. They are also the people most likely to be working within the CAZ.
Off-street parking also makes life much easier for owners of (the more expensive) electric vehicles to charge their vehicles safely and securely.