Birmingham Clean Air Zone plans put into action

 
Local councils in Birmingham proposed a plan to the Government for a Clean Air Zone throughout the city of Birmingham, this is one of many recent proposals approved by the government to reduce pollution levels across the country in an effort to meet the national standard set by the Supreme Court.

With these plans in place, many car drivers with a vehicle that fails to meet the standard will need to pay £8 per day to access the city’s roads. More importantly, HGV drivers with trucks that don’t meet the criteria will need to pay £50 per day when travelling through the streets of Birmingham.

Birmingham City Council are aiming to have the plans put into action by January 2020, with the charge applying no matter what time or day of the year a driver is set to travel through the city of Birmingham.
LGVs will fit under the same criteria as cars, taxis and private hire cars, and will face a charge of £8 per day, unlike the £50 cost that will be put in place for HGVs. Any diesel vehicles manufactured before 2015 will face charges for accessing the city.

For locals as well as commuters, the City Council has stated they will be offering many beneficial schemes as a means of convincing them that the Clean Air Zone won’t have an impact on their daily journeys. With other incentives like public transport tickets and funds to contribute towards a new vehicle that meets the standard set. Anyone earning less than £30,000 won’t need to pay any of the charges until January 2021.

Any vehicle registered with disabled tax class will be excluded entirely, with cases such as ambulances, police and other emergency services avoiding any charges. GP office transport, as well as care homes and other services will be exempt from the charge until 2022.

This is one of many cities to recently add Clean Air Zone plans, which could become problematic for HGV drivers looking to save costs if they have an older vehicle. Drivers completing a delivery from locations like London to Birmingham would most likely face more than a single charge to gain access to cities and other locations.

 Not to mention, these charges occur on a daily basis which would make costs even higher, this could have a significant impact on the activity of smaller businesses within these cities and the management of trade in the areas who have plans or have already applied Clean Air Zone charges.

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