Leaders at Bath & North East Somerset Council are thanking residents and businesses for supporting Bath’s Clean Air Zone on the anniversary of its launch.

On 15th March 2021, Bath launched the first charging clean air zone outside of London to urgently drive down high levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution in the city centre. One year on, the Council says there is every indication that the class C zone, which does not charge cars, is working well.

More than 90% of HGVs, coaches, buses and taxis entering the zone are now compliant. Van compliance rates have also improved, rising from 60% during the first month of the zone’s operation to more than 80%.

Around 41,000 unique vehicles travel in the zone every day. Most are private cars, but around 5,300 (13 percent) are buses, taxis, vans or HGVs that only pay in the zone if they don’t comply with emission charges. An even smaller percentage have to pay, and this figure has halved since launch from 4.5 percent of all vehicles having to pay, to just 1.5 percent (just over 600 vehicles) by February 2022.

The annual report on Bath’s CAZ will not be published until July 2022 following analysis of the results by central government. However, available data from the first half of the year suggests that NO2 pollution across Bath fell by 14% compared with the same period in 2019.

Since launch, the zone has generated £5.3 million in revenue which continues to cover initial investment and future operating costs. Once these are sufficiently funded, any surplus income would be allocated to support sustainable transport initiatives.