Motorists will not have to pay a Clean Air Zone toll to drive their own private cars in Newcastle City Centre when the fee is introduced in 2023.
The toll to drive in Newcastle city centre and bridges over the Tyne will apply to taxis, including private hire vehicles, vans, minibuses, buses, coaches and HGVs that do not meet an emissions standard. In general, that means older commercial vehicles will be subject to the charge.
Newcastle and Gateshead's councils could have introduced the charge for privately owned cars - as Birmingham has done - but chose not to following a consultation.
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"In our case, the Clean Air Zone we are introducing does not include private cars because modelling information of future pollution levels shows that we can achieve compliance with the legal limits without having to take this additional step, which helps to reduce the regional economic impact of the CAZ," reads the boroughs' Breathe Clean Air website.
The councils decided that charging drivers of private cars a fee to cross the Tyne or drive in Newcastle city centre would be too hard a hit on the pockets of people living and working in the North East.
"Consultation feedback on proposals to include private cars in the original plans included many concerns about the financial impact this would have on individuals, particularly those on lower incomes," they say.
That could change in the future though. Both Newcastle's and Gateshead's councils says there is a chance car drivers could be subject to the charge eventually, although that could take some years.
"Although we are not charging private cars entering the Clean Air Zone initially it is possible that this could change in the future," reads the Clean Air Zone website.
"This will depend on the impact of the clean air measures on pollution levels and other issues, including whether further action is needed on climate change.
"Any decision to charge cars in future would be subject to further public consultation."
In the meantime, the councils encourage drivers to leave their cars at home when possible and take public transport. Doing that may allow pollution levels to remain low enough that a charge for car drivers will not be introduced.
"If you drive a car you will not be charged to enter the Clean Air Zone in Newcastle," reads the Clean Air Zone site.
"However, if you do normally drive we’re encouraging you to make the change to more active and sustainable forms of transport help towards making our area a cleaner, healthier place to be.
"We’re making a number of changes to our transport networks to make it easier for more people to choose to walk, cycle or get the bus or Metro.
"We know that you’ll still need to use the car for some journeys but if everyone made the switch just once a week it would have a huge impact on air pollution."
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