Bristol City Council secures £42m for Clean Air Zone

Bristol City Council has announced it has secured funding to establish a Clean Air Zone (CAZ), which will launch next summer.

This will enable Bristol to meet clean air targets in 2023 with £42 million of government funding available for greener transport initiatives, for example electric bike loans, free bus tickets, and upgrades to cleaner vehicles.

Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees said: “This is a real win for the city. We are introducing one of the most wide-ranging clean air zones in the UK which will see us not only reduce air pollution but also help people change how they travel, delivering a cleaner, greener and healthier city for years to come.

“We are tackling a climate emergency, but we also have people facing financial crisis. We can’t look at these two things in isolation. We have taken our time to find a way to clean up our air while not adding huge financial strain to people that live and work in our city.”

The council will be helping individuals and businesses switch to cleaner ways of travelling. £5.9 million will be spent on helping people switch to public transport and make more journeys by walking or cycling with free bus tickets, free electric bike loans and cycle training.
    
A £2 million freight consolidation project will be set up to help businesses switch to greener ways of transporting goods and meet the council’s target of 95 per cent of all city centre deliveries made by zero-emission vehicles within 10 years.

£2.1 million of funding has been allocated to help local bus and coach companies and £32 million will be spent on businesses to upgrade HGVs, LGVs, taxis and private hire vehicles. £1.8 million of loans and grants will be available to help people on low incomes, or those traveling to work/study in the zone, that need to upgrade their vehicles to meet the zone’s emission standards.