Bradford CAZ goes live

The Bradford Clean Air Zone is now live, which means there will be a daily charge to drive into the zone for vehicles that do not meet the required emission standards.

The charges will not apply passenger cars or motorbikes. Some vehicles have also been awarded an exemption.

Non-compliant vans and minibuses will pay £9 per day to enter the zone, while HGVs will pay £50.

The emissions standards are Euro 6 (diesel) or Euro 4 (petrol).

The Bradford CAZ covers the area inside, and including, the Bradford outer ring road.

It also extends out along the Aire valley corridor, (Manningham Lane/Bradford Road and Canal Road area) to include Shipley and Saltaire.

Bradford was one of the regions identified by the UK government as exceeding air pollution levels at several locations across the city. Many of these locations are in the inner-city areas. 

The Bradford Clean Air Zone has been designed around those areas where air pollution levels exceed the legal limit. It is expected that an average of 140,000 vehicles per day will drive through the Bradford CAZ.

The support of local businesses who have already upgraded their vehicles means that the chargeable non-compliant vehicles are predicted to be 4% of all traffic. The CAZ is expected to reduce nitrogen dioxide (NO2) by 35% and CO2 by 147,000 tonnes.

Bradford Council has worked closely with local businesses and transport operators who, in advance of the CAZ launch, have already upgraded to cleaner vehicles, thanks to over £30m of Government funding.

Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council said: “Bradford is acting on a Government directive to implement a charging Clean Air Zone. We know that air pollution levels are too high and have damaging impacts on the health of too many of our residents.  There’s no escaping that fact.

“After protracted negotiations with Government the CAZ has been designed very carefully to exempt private cars, motorbikes, and local businesses, while having an immediate and material impact on the air we all breathe.  What we have to stop is polluting commercial vehicles from outside the district using Bradford as a de facto motorway, coming through the district but not stopping to do business here.

“The support from transport operators in the District has been incredible. 92% of taxis in Bradford are already compliant, along with over 370 buses meeting clean air zone standards.

“The Clean Air Zone will substantially reduce air pollution in Bradford and improve the health of residents, their families and our communities.”

Any revenue from the introduction of the Bradford CAZ will be reinvested in further programmes in the district to reduce harmful emissions. This may include support for zero emission buses, further help for residents and businesses to upgrade their vehicles, the development of hydrogen in the district and support for schools to reduce emissions in their areas.