Clean Air Zones Collaborative industry insight by
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Contents 4 Introduction 6 Vehicle emissions and the impact on public health 8 The legal and political background 10 Clean Air Zone implementation 12 Fleets operating in CAZs have experienced a moderate or big impact 14 Preparing for the future 16 What could be done better? 20 Conclusion 21 Athlon guidance
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Introduction At Athlon, we know mobility. By working with us, you’re taking one step closer to a more sustainable future. Athlon is drenched in knowledge and experience, with a legacy of over 100 years, dedicated to shaping the future of mobility. Our teams work to guide, support and deliver the best fleet and mobility solutions for you. With our vast local and international expertise, we are able to offer a range of effective leasing solutions, management and consultancy. Clean air zones (CAZs) are gradually being introduced across the whole of the UK, at Athlon we believe it is important to understand where and how these zones operate and the implications for your fleet procurement and operations. To find out more we surveyed fleet managers from across the UK to help understand the impacts that CAZs have had on their fleets; where the challenges lie and what more could be done to simplify the rollout. The results were mixed. And, not surprisingly, the fleets that already have vehicles operating in CAZs reported a big impact on their operations. This whitepaper explores these issues in more detail.
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Vehicle emissions and the impact on public health There is little doubt that poor air quality in towns and cities has created a health emergency and our respondents overwhelmingly agreed that this needs to be addressed. According to the Government Clean Air Strategy 2019 “Air quality is the largest environmental health risk in the UK. It shortens lives and contributes to chronic illness”. Pollutants in the air that have been traced to vehicles can lead to respiratory infections, decreased lung function and heart problems, and can worsen symptoms of asthma. Sadly, in 2020 a coroner made legal history by attributing air pollution to the cause of death of 9 year old Ella KissiDebrah’s from acute respiratory failure. But she is not alone;
in 2016 a report from the Royal College of Physicians estimated that 40,000 lives per year were cut short by air pollution. Whilst there is consensus that air quality needs to be addressed, 40% of our survey respondents did not agree that clean air zones are the best solution; they cited other measures such as improving public transport, addressing congestion and improving the EV charging network as more likely to have a bigger impact on air quality.
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The legal and political background
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In 2017 the UK Government ordered over 60 local authorities to come up with proposals to tackle the illegal levels of pollution in their areas. Despite this in 2019 75% of UK air quality reporting zones were still charting illegal levels of air pollution. Progress in improving air quality remains slow, and Covid19 has further delayed action; however clean air zones are proving to be a popular tool for reducing pollution. 2021 saw the launch of clean air zones in London (expanded to include inner London), Bath, Birmingham and Portsmouth. Oxford launched a zero emission zone on 28th February 2022. Bristol,
Bradford, Newcastle, Sheffield, Dundee, Edinburgh and Aberdeen and Glasgow are all planning to launch clean air zones in 2022, with many more towns and cities to follow in 2023 onwards. Greater Manchester was due to launch its CAZ in the spring but has once again delayed the implementation for wider review of the clean air plan.
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Clean Air Zone Implementation CAZs are designed to deter the most polluting vehicles from entering the most polluted parts of towns and cities by setting minimum emission standards – those vehicles that do not meet these standards are discouraged from entering the zone by otherwise having to pay a charge.
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There are 4 types of clean air zones, Class A to D
Class
Vehicle Type
A
Buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles
B
Buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles plus heavy goods vehicles
C
Buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles, heavy goods vehicles plus vans and minibuses
D
Buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles, heavy goods vehicles, vans and minibuses plus cars (and motorcycles if the local authority determines)
Each authority is able to determine which Class of CAZ applies. Bath is operating a Class C zone, Portsmouth Class B, Birmingham and London are operating Class D. Not surprisingly 60% of survey respondents found that the current requirements for the CAZs are moderately or very complicated. And this complexity is only going
to increase as the number of CAZs is set to rise to 13 by the end of 2022 Each vehicle type has a minimum emission standard. To avoid being charged in a clean air zone the vehicles must meet the following standard:
Vehicle Type
Clean Air Zone Minimum Standard
Buses, coaches, heavy goods vehicles
Euro VI
Vans, minibuses, taxis, private hire vehicles, cars
Euro 6 (Diesel) and Euro 4 (petrol)
Motorcycles
Euro 3
Vehicles that fall below the minimum standard are deemed non-compliant and are required to pay a daily charge when entering a clean air zone. Given this fragmented picture it is not wholly surprising that half of our respondents were not confident that they were aware of all the CAZs.
At Athlon UK, we supply a full multi-marque range of MHV, HEV, PHEV, BEV as well as Euro 6 petrol and diesel cars and light commercial vehicles. Less than 0.01% of our total portfolio are still running Euro 5 vehicles and we are actively working with these customers to replace these vehicles as and when they reach their contract end date. In addition to our mission to supply and generate cleaner, greener mobility solutions and vehicle advocation we would always actively consult with our customers about vehicle usage and total cost of ownership meaning that CAZ and ULEZ utilisation would drive both an environmental and ethical conversation but also transparency around cost efficiency.
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Fleets operating in CAZs have experienced a moderate or big impact The full impact of the clean air zones is not being felt yet. Just under half of the fleets surveyed are not operating vehicles in any of the CAZs; unsurprisingly these fleets mostly report little impact, or agree that it is too soon to say what impact they will have.
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Impact on fleet operations
Too soon to say
Little Impact
Moderate Impact
Big Impact
Not operating vehicles in a CAZ Currently operating vehicles in a CAZ
In contrast fleets already operating vehicles in a clean air zone are more likely to report a moderate or big impact. Moreover, ALL of the fleets that have more than 35% of their vehicles operating within a CAZ describe the impact on their fleet as big or moderate. As the number of CAZs increases over the next few years, more and more fleets are going to feel the impact. We asked our respondents what the main impact was on their fleets. The results were split;
40% of fleets cited a financial impact 40% of fleets cited an operational impact 23% saw an impact on time management A few respondents reported fully compliant fleets, or had already accelerated their replacement programme to ensure compliance.
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Preparing for the future With the number of clean air zones set to triple by the end of 2022, it is concerning that 60% of our survey respondents were unsure of the future CAZ implementations. The positive news is that two thirds of our respondents have a strategy/policy in place for monitoring and managing vehicles in clean air zones. And 73% agreed that the introduction of CAZ’s will influence their procurement strategy.
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What could be done better?
Greater Standardisation The biggest improvement our fleet managers would like to see is more standardisation – 70% of our respondents wanted to see a single standardised
criteria for all CAZs across the country. Of the five existing CAZ’s that are variations in both Class and Charges:
Class
Charge for noncompliant Cars & Vans per day
Charge for non-compliant Taxis/Private Hire Vehicles per day
Charge for non-compliant Buses & HGVs per day
London
D
£12.50
£15
£100
Birmingham
D
£8
£8
£50
Bath
C
n/a
£9
£100
Portsmouth
B
n/a
£10
£50
Oxford
ZEZ 7am-7pm
£2-£10
Discounts available Taxis n/a
£10 Buses n/a
It is difficult to expect businesses with non-compliant vehicles whose drivers routinely travel long distances to know where the clean air zones are, what class of clean air zone they are entering, how much they need to pay and whether or not it applies to them.
A single, standardised definition of clean air zone and associated charges would significantly reduce the complexity.
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Automated payments Although the clean air zones operate using ANPR cameras the onus is on the business or individual to manually declare the journey. You will not receive a notification or a reminder to inform you that you have driven through the zone in a non-compliant vehicle.
Businesses are able to create a free business account to check compliance for multiple vehicles, pay charges via card or bank account, view payment history and add up to 10 users to manage your account, however this process is still manual.
For Bath, Birmingham, Portsmouth and Oxford it is possible to make payment online (6 days before travel or no more than 6 days after travel) at the gov.uk/clear-airzones website. Online payments for London are processed separately by Transport for London.
50% of our respondents wanted to see either automated payments, invoicing and/or alerts that a CAZ had been entered.
If you do not pay within 6 days of travelling you will be issued with a £120 Penalty Charge Notice. This will be reduced to £60 if paid within 14 days.
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More Financial Support 60% of our respondents would like to see more financial support to retrofit or replace non-compliant vehicles. There is currently no funding for LCV or Car fleets impacted by CAZs. Although some Government funding is available, this money is allocated to the local authority. Each local authority is responsible for determining where and how this funding is allocated as well as eligibility criteria. Bath funding for businesses is now fully allocated. Portsmouth offers £16k contribution to retrofit or upgrade HGVs, plus support for taxi drivers. Birmingham has multiple funding streams that include an HDV fund for SMEs, funding Taxis and Private hire vehicles, and support for people who commute into the CAZ.
Improved Communication The communication surrounding the introduction of clean air zones is equally complicated. The government has deferred the responsibility for the implementation of the CAZs to the local authorities. Which means that each local authority must consult, plan and communicate the introduction of the CAZ. On the whole the majority of our respondents felt that the communication of the CAZs had been handled reasonably or very well. However, 20% described the communication as poor; so there is room for improvement. It is fair to say that, by decentralising the rollout, CAZ information is fragmented. Which makes keeping abreast of the existing and planned zones more onerous for fleet managers. Our survey showed that 67% of respondents use three or more sources of information. Many local authorities provide the latest information on their CAZ activities and plans, but with the number of CAZs set to increase from 5 to 13 by the end of this year keeping track of CAZ activities nationwide is no easy task. There is a strong need for a single, overarching and co-ordinated source of information.
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Co-ordinated launch dates 25% of our respondents would prefer to see better co-ordination of launch dates; ideally a single annual launch date (for example 1st January or 1st March). This would streamline staff training and communication and reduce the need for continuous monitoring of up and coming launches.
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Conclusion We recognise the importance of improving air quality; and the introduction of clean air zones is an important tool to achieving this. However, we need to be sure that fleets are able to adapt to these changes with minimal impact on cost, operations and time management. That is not the case today. Fleet operators that took part in the research identified numerous opportunities for improvement, that would benefit all road transport users. And they call on central and local government to consider a revised approach that demonstrates: simplification, co-ordination and automation.
Thank you to the businesses who contributed to this white paper
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Athlon guidance With 2030 fast approaching and the Government stepping up its drive to reduce vehicle emissions across the UK, there is no better time to consider making the switch to electric. We understand that there is a lot of information available around the benefits and considerations when it comes to electric vehicles – that‘s why Athlon UK has created a series of guides to help decide what the best journey is for you, summarising the need-to-know information whilst providing the detail in the key areas. Athlon UK Guide Series 2021
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