Brixton Road will become a Low Bus Emission Zone (LEBZ), it was announced yesterday (12 December) by Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.
The new LEBZ, running from Brixton Hill via Stockwell Road and Streatham High Road to Streatham Place, carries 130,000 passengers a day on 450 buses.
It is the second of 12 new Low Emission Bus Zones to be introduced in heavily polluted areas. The first zone launched on Putney High Street in March 2017. Already, after less than six months, the Putney route has seen a 90 per cent reduction in hourly pollution level breaches and early analysis suggests a 40 per cent reduction in annual NO2 concentrations at Putney High Street.
The polluted Brixton to Streatham route exceeded hourly legal levels of nitrogen dioxide on 539 occasions in 2016 and breached annual legal pollution limits by5 January this year. Under EU rules, the limit should not be exceeded more than 18 times in a year.
London’s filthy airmakes chronic illnesses worse, shortens life expectancyand candamage lung development. The Mayor recently revealed World Health Organisation (WHO) data that showed that all Londoners live in areas exceeding legal limits for toxic PM2.5 particles.
The Mayor says: “To tackle this lethal air we need a dramatic reduction in harmful emissions from polluting buses and older more polluting vehicles. I am committed to making our bus fleet the greenest in the world and today I’ve continued to deliver on that pledge by launching the second of my Low Emission Bus Zones in Brixton.
“I have tasked TfL with transforming the public transport network, which includes removing or retrofitting the oldest, dirtiest buses on our streets to cut harmful emissions. We’ve already seen a massive improvement in air quality along the Putney route. I’m confident that will be replicated here in Brixton and along the 10 other routes where we are introducing Low Emission Bus Zones.
“I’m working relentlessly to do everything in my power to clean up London’s air. Now, the Government needs to help tackle the challenge we face. Rather than preventing the capital from accessing the new National Clean Air Fund, ministers should be delivering a vehicle scrappage fund to get the filthiest cars off our roads. Londoners are living through a public health crisis and need a government which will take action on the toxic air we breathe.”
Ten more Low Emission Bus Zones will follow Brixton and Putney. The remaining zones will be delivered by 2020, fulfilling the Mayor’s manifesto commitment.
