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Cities should commission research and policy analysis to gather this information, and understand the benefits and disadvantages of policy options for a range of stakeholders. Consider establishing an independent body to make policy recommendations based on the analysis, as London did. Clean air, low or zero emissions and reduced congestion zones share an approach: the use of a designated zone with stricter policies. However, they may differ in objectives and the policies enacted within the zone.
Low emissions zones typically emphasise both health benefits from better air quality and environmental concerns. Signatory cities to the C40 Green and Healthy Streets Declaration , for example, have pledged to ensure a major area of the city is zero emission by Clean air zones often target the same emissions sources as a low emissions zone — particularly traffic emissions.
However, when communicating the zone with the public they give greater emphasis to the health benefits from better air quality. They could also tackle sources of air pollution that are not greenhouse gases. These large clean air zones differ from the many smaller, targeted zones used by some cities to manage air quality hotspots. Reduced congestion. Cities focusing on congestion must also be careful to reduce total vehicle emissions by ensuring that the alternative transport modes provided are low emission.
If additional public transport capacity is heavily polluting such as diesel buses it can neutralise any pollution reduction from lower private vehicle use. Because most LEZs target traffic pollution particularly NO 2 , the tried and tested LEZ policies are concerned with defining the types of vehicles entering the zone and driving a modal shift to non-motorised travel.
The approach a city can take will depend on the range of powers at their disposal. The commissioned policy analysis mentioned previously will need to assess which options are politically feasible, aiming for the highest emissions reductions possible.
It will also need to answer key design and implementation questions, such as which roads to include, what vehicle monitoring technology to use, what road pricing charges to set, how to use road-pricing revenue, and how to ensure fairness and accessibility. It is also usually more affordable for the city. Over time, you can increase the area covered by the zone, the vehicle standards, the levels of charging and the area s in which polluting vehicles or all vehicles are banned.
In Oxford, United Kingdom, a zero emission zone will start with the most polluted streets in before expanding to encompass the whole city centre by The congestion charge in the Spanish capital of Madrid was controversially suspended recently, a decision at odds with air quality data which showed the scheme helped to reduce pollution to historic lows.
This led to emissions rising to pre-congestion charge levels only 3 months later. Protests followed in the Spanish capital as the congestion charge was seen by many to have substantially benefited the sustainability and quality of life in Madrid.
When the congestion charge zone was first introduced in February , it was done so with the promise that by charging motorists to enter it, the zone would help to lower emissions in the surrounding area and increase the quality of air in central London.
To show the effect of the congestion zone, Select Car Leasing has analysed the air quality data collected from three points within the congestion zone before and after the charge was implemented, and what effect the introduction of further congestion zones may have. Carbon monoxide levels have dropped across the board as soon as the congestion charge was introduced. Carbon monoxide is both odourless and colourless and is caused by an incomplete combustion process which can be extremely harmful to humans.
The chemical has been shown to cause irritations such as headaches and respiratory problems. Sulphur dioxide is a contaminate caused by combustion engines when sulphur reacts in the atmosphere to form fine particles and other pollutants. The researchers show that the reduced pollution per mile travelled in the zone exceeds that expected from the reduction in traffic flows alone.
Thus, the reduction in these pollutants reflects, in part, removing very high levels of traffic congestion as well as reducing miles driven. The authors argue that this increase is likely to reflect the shift towards diesel-based transport. Importantly, NO2 is linked to particularly adverse health outcomes including severe lung and respiratory problems.
Moreover, the scientific consensus increasingly regards the association between respiratory morbidity and NO2 to be causal and not just a function of other associated pollutants. Thus, the congestion charge may have actually increased the harm from pollution. In additional tests concerned about making proper inference, the researchers find that the most robust of all their results is the clear increase in NO2.
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