Pre-Euro VI coaches that are accessible to wheelchair users are eligible for an exemption to the Sheffield Clean Air Zone (CAZ) in what is thought to be a first for an emission control zone in the UK.
Sheffield’s CAZ will go live on 27 February 2023. It will bring a £50 daily charge for coaches and buses that are not compliant with Euro VI or better or subject to an exemption. Sheffield City Council (SCC) is yet to clarify whether compliance with PSVAR will be required to obtain the accessible coach exemption, but it is thought that it will not be.
PSVAR or not for Sheffield CAZ accessible exemption?
Wording on the SCC website makes no mention that a PSV accessibility certificate will need to be submitted with the application. Instead, it states that necessary evidence is the V5 certificate and photographs of the front, back and sides of the vehicle and of the lift and wheelchair anchor points.
Also not yet clarified by SCC at the time of writing is whether the exemption for accessible coaches will apply regardless of the operator’s location. It is understood – but not confirmed – that eligibility will come with no geographic restrictions. The exemption must be applied for. Once granted it is valid for 12 months and can be renewed at that point.
A further Sheffield CAZ exemption offered to the coach sector covers vehicles that are contracted with schools for educational trips. Each day that an operator enters the CAZ must be applied for separately, but there is no limit to the number of such exemptions they may be granted.
As in other CAZs, grant funding is available to local coach operators to upgrade or replace non-compliant vehicles, subject to conditions. Support for non-compliant buses used on commercial and tendered routes is being handled directly with operators via a separate scheme.
Engagement with local authority key to coach concessions
Work to obtain the targeted exemptions to the Sheffield CAZ for coaches came via strong engagement with SCC by local operators and their representatives, says Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) Regional Manager (North of England) Andrew McGuinness.
He notes that the local authority has been receptive to the views of the industry during the process of defining an approach to exemptions.
“Prior to the pandemic many coach operators in and around Sheffield had become worried by the prospect of a CAZ and so an informal group was established,” Mr McGuinness adds.
“It grew to 20 members and led to SCC engaging with them and asking about the CAZ’s impact on their businesses.”
Highlighted during that was how some operators had already invested to comply with accessibility requirements. He says that CPT is “very pleased” with adoption of an exemption for accessible coaches and hopes that such a mechanism can be put across in any further work with other local authorities that seek to introduce emission control zones.
As an indication of that potential, Mr McGuinness notes that the exemption for coaches on educational trips was first accepted as part of the stillborn Leeds CAZ in view of concerns around charges impacting the viability of school outings.
Applications for exemptions and grant support are open on the SCC website.
