The bigger picture on air quality

WE ALL WANT CLEANER AIR. IF, LIKE ME, your youth was spent in the 1970s, you’ll remember the choking, filthy air, the blackened buildings and the visible smog that settled over our major towns and cities.

Much has been done to improve matters since then, but it’s undeniable that the health of urban dwellers is affected far more deeply by pollution than the health of countr y folk.

Recognising the problem is not the issue. It’s finding the correct way to fix it. And our national and local administrators seem to be struggling to find fair and reasonable ways to do that.

Worst of all, the private hire sector – often cited as a solution to urban transportation problems – is getting a raw deal, as our feature on Page 22 of this issue reveals.

It’s not just London – but let’s look at the issues here first. The expansion of the Ultra Low Emissions Zone has been carried out thoughtlessly and vindictively. Mayor Sadiq Khan is using the dangers posed by pollution to generate revenue for the busted flush that is Transport for London.

TfL’s own data shows only tiny improvements in air quality as a result of expanding the ULEZ into the outer boroughs. But despite a Judicial Review, Khan is ploughing ahead with his wretched plan, which will hit the poorest and most vulnerable people in and around outer London.

It will affect many private hire drivers and chauffeurs, especially those who invested in a diesel car (as they were encouraged by successive governments to do via a favourable tax regime). Diesels registered as recently as 2014 are likely to be non-compliant, so operators in the outer boroughs, and those outside London who make regular trips in to the capital, will face a £12.50 a day charge.

Note also that the charging for ULEZ clicks over to the next day at midnight. So a late night drop-off and pick-up at a dinner or event in, say, Kingston or Croydon – or Heathrow airport, which has naturally been included in the expansion - will most likely incur two charges – that’s an extra £25 in costs that will have to either be absorbed or passed on.

We’re supposed to be part of the solution to urban congestion and poor air quality, yet around the country, we see new Clean Air Zone rules being introduced that see the taxi trade as the low-hanging fruit in terms of revenue generation.

In Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a Euro 5 diesel minicab has to pay a daily charge, while a private car of exactly the same age and spec does not. How is this logical? Surely, the private hire vehicle is an effective way to get people out of private cars? It seems that’s not how they see it on Tyneside.

With the stick must come the carrot, and of course the problem goes away if all PHVs and taxis are compliant. But the trade is not exactly awash with funds, and the sort of scrappage scheme that is being put forward in London or Newcastle is not going to do the job. Drivers need an upgrade path from, say, an 8-year-old diesel to, say, a 5-year old hybrid. Not a couple off grand of a £40,000 new car that they simply cannot afford.

Fair play to Bradford Council for offering a much more generous and sensible scheme – though with a largely compliant fleet, the council can afford to spread available funds across fewer non-compliant cars.

Of course, if you really want to clean up the air, then a lot more needs to be done to help electrify taxis and private hire fleets. But that is going to cost money – if you’re offering grants, they have to be meaningful, as EVs are expensive. And there needs to be a serious raising of the game when it comes to charging infrastructure. We’ll be looking at this in more depth next month – and our experiences suggest there is a very long way to go in terms of charge point installations, and not a lot of time, as EV adoption is gathering pace faster than the chargers are going in. Chargers cost money – and local councils don’t have a lot of that.

Meanwhile, how about looking beyond the motorist as a way of cleaning up the air? Why not regulate the construction industry, one of the filthiest polluters. And let’s regulate domestic and commercial wood-burning ovens, and other high-emissions devices that aren’t as irreplaceable as the car.

Mark Bursa Editor