A Class C Clean Air Zone in Bradford should be operational “by January 2022” if plans are approved as recommended by members of the Bradford City Council (BCC) Executive on 2 March.
Coaches and buses that do not meet Euro VI standards will incur a daily charge of £50 to enter the Bradford CAZ under the proposals. The Zone is bounded largely by the city’s outer ring road, except for a further section to the north of the city centre towards Shipley. Cars will not be subject to charges.
BCC’s full business case for the Bradford CAZ was submitted to the Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU) in December 2020. JAQU has recommended a provisional funding award to ministers. That proposed money includes £1.63m to retrofit 102 buses and £1.66m to upgrade 104 coaches to achieve Euro VI compliance. Those figures are based on each vehicle receiving a grant of £16,000, BCC’s Clean Air Plan document shows.
The £1.63m for buses is in addition to £3.96m from the Clean Bus Technology Fund to upgrade 217 other vehicles, work which has already begun.
As part of the CAZ work, a consultation between February and April 2020 showed that 85% of the public in Bradford would like to see the introduction of zero-emission bus routes to support the Clean Air Zone.
Seven coach operators also replied to a part of the consultation that was specific to their sector. That sample size was too small for BCC to draw a robust conclusion, but six of those respondents said that at least a quarter of their fleet at that time would be charged to enter the Bradford CAZ. The seventh operator said it did not know what proportion of its fleet would be subject to charges.
