Bath and Birmingham have announced the ‘go live’ dates for the introduction of their Clean Air Zones and both Bristol and Manchester have launched local consultations.
Bath goes live on 15 March 2021. The city will introduce a CAZ C, which means there will be no charge for uncompliant private cars or motorcycles. The charges for HGV will be £100 per day and vans/LGVs will be £9 per day.
Birmingham goes live on 1 June 2021. The city will introduce a CAZ D, which means that all uncompliant vehicles will be charged to enter the zone. Charges for HGVs will be £50 day and cars and LGVs £8 per day.
Both cities’ schemes will have financial assistance programmes to support smaller businesses with the cost of upgrading their vehicles.
Leeds has reached compliance earlier than expected and JAQU has reviewed the data and confirmed they no longer are required to introduce a CAZ B. The council will continue to work with JAQU to ensure that improvements are maintained.
Bristol’s consultation, which closes on 22 November, is proposing either a small CAZ D (all vehicles) or medium CAZ C (all except private cars).
Manchester’s consultation, which closes on 3 December, is proposing a CAZ C.
All CAZs will run all year round with charges applying from midnight to midnight – if entry/exit goes beyond midnight this will incur two daily charges.
If entering CAZs the driver/company responsible for the vehicle will have six days to pay after entry otherwise they will receive a Penalty Charge Notice. Payment can also be made seven days ahead of entry.
The minimum vehicle standard for a CAZ is Euro VI for buses, coaches and HGVs and Euro 6 (diesel) and Euro 4 (petrol) for vans, minibuses, taxis, private hire and cars.
The Government has a vehicle checker to see if a vehicle will be charged to enter a CAZ. The BVRLA has been involved in testing the payment portal and bulk vehicle checker – if you’d like more info contact [email protected].
