Minutes:
In a change to the agenda James Ashton, Transport Strategy Manager for Nottingham City Council gave a presentation on Tackling Roadside Nitrogen Dioxide emissions in Nottingham. The following points were highlighted:
(a) In 2008 a EU directive was passed that stated the amount of acceptable Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) in the air are 40micrograms per cm cubed;
(b) High levels of NO2 have been linked to a number of health conditions mainly respiratory conditions but also dementia and diabetes;
(c) Nottingham City was identified as one of 5 cities with high levels of NO2 with the main problems being focused on the city centre. In 2017 the Government challenged Nottingham City to reduce the levels of NO2in the air;
(d) Air quality analysis established that the main hotspot for NO2in Nottingham City Centre was Upper Parliament Street, a street with a large number of busses and taxis and tall buildings, all contributing to the raised levels;
(e) A number of measures were implemented to improve the air quality, these included retrofitting all older busses with technology to reduce emissions, investing in clean technology for new busses, replacement of the oldest with the greener gas busses. Nottingham’s bus fleet is now considered one of the cleanest in the country;
(f) Other measures in place to reduce emissions include the Taxi strategy which aims to replace all taxis with electric vehicles by 2025 and to and improved cycling and pedestrian routes;
(g) DEFRA have provided extra grant money to a ultra low emissions vehicle (ULEV) demonstration. 3 taxis have been purchased and are loaned out to licenced taxi drivers to demonstrate the efficiency and to dispel the myths and misconceptions around the vehicles;
(h) There have also been small grants to improve cycling, mainly on routes at the north end of the Ring Road, and to improve fleet vehicles, such as road sweepers;
(i) Nottingham City Council has also recently introduced a no idling rule. This is currently in the bedding in stage and the focus is on awareness rather than enforcement at present, but the focus of enforcement will be around schools and other hotspots;
(j) These changes to the bus fleet and taxis has reduced the amount of NO2 in the Upper Parliament Street area from over 40micrograms to around 30micrograms per cm cubed. These figures have been calculated by both real-time analysis and transport modelling;
(k) Nottingham City along with the rest of the D2N2 area are aiming to reduce emissions further, encouraging low emission vehicles, electric buses, accessible charging points across the city etc.
(l) There is more work to be done on taxis and on HGV’s entering the city for delivery purposes. There are a number of options to tackle emissions from HGV’s including permit schemes, all options are being assessed;
(m)The planning authority is linked in to the transport strategy and pushes for contributions from developers towards pedestrian and cycle improvement projects and infrastructure as well as public transport projects
(n) Car free zones, as being trialled in a number of other cities is an option that could be considered, however Nottingham’s focus is to provide sustainable and clean alternatives to private vehicles and car free zones have been seen to push pollution levels outside the zone higher, just moving the problem from one area to another;
(o) Car free zones can be expensive to implement and can be difficult for people to accept. A culture change is needed shifting peoples focus from private vehicle to public transport. Work is being done with large employers within the city to encourage flexible working to allow use of public transport and to incentivise use of public transport;
The Forum thanked John for his attendance and for the informative and interesting presentation.