Motorists in Bristol should ‘prepare for the inevitable expansion’ of the city’s new Clean Air Zone, and it is ‘only a matter of time’ before the area is enlarged.
That was the view of Hugo Griffiths, the consumer editor at carwow - an online vehicle marketplace - who said people in Bristol should ‘look to London’ to see what will eventually happen to the Clean Air Zone in the city.
The CAZ began a week ago on November 28 and covers a wide geographic area from the Cumberland Basin to Temple Meads and Cabot Circus, and stretches either side of the city centre into Ashton Gate, Southville and Totterdown in the south and the Portway, the Clifton Triangle and the Bearpit on the north side of the river.
Read next: Bristol Clean Air Zone covers Portway and Cumberland Basin to 'encourage change'
Bristol City Council said there are no plans to expand the Clean Air Zone - the zone has only just started being enforced after years of controversy and delays - but according to Hugo Griffiths it will be ‘only a matter of time’ before that area expands.
Mr Griffiths, unsurprisingly for a man whose company is a car sales site, is urging people to start preparing to change up their vehicles if they don’t comply with the Clean Air Zone criteria.
“While the introduction of Bristol’s Clean Air Zone has noble intentions, with 29 per cent of those who regularly enter the zone driving non-compliant vehicles, it’s clear that thousands of people will be faced with either having to upgrade their cars, lorries and vans, or pay £9 to £100 for the privilege of driving in their own city,” he said. “True, there’s a £1.8m fund to help people upgrade their cars, and a £42m pot for businesses to buy cleaner trucks and taxis with, but one way or another those with non-compliant vehicles will be faced with significant bills, which will only sting more thanks to the cost-of-living crisis.
“The city’s CAZ currently occupies a small, central area, but Bristolians who want a picture of the future should look to London, where the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) has already gone through one expansion, with a further, massive growth coming in 2023 to encompass the entire city. It would therefore be prudent for anyone living in the areas surrounding Bristol to consider changing their non-compliant car now if possible, rather than wait for the zone’s almost inevitable expansion in years to come.” he added.
One of the criticisms of the Clean Air Zone has been that some of the areas with the city’s worst air quality - including places either side of the M32 like Easton, Lawrence Hill, St Pauls and Barton Hill, and areas on the main roads in to the city from the south, including Bedminster, Totterdown and Brislington - are outside the Clean Air Zone and are expected to see air quality get worse because drivers of the most polluting vehicles will drive around the zone to avoid having to pay.
On Sunday, Bristol City Council used social media to remind drivers that if they have driven into the CAZ over the past week since the zone became operational on Monday, they should check if they have to pay, and pay the charge - drivers have six days after their journey to pay without being fined.
Read next:
- Where the borders for the scheme will fall street by street
- When will the CAZ charges operate
- Clean Air Zone start date finally announced
- Clean Air Zone fee and how people will be charged
- Bristol Clean Air Zone timeline: the story so far as start date finally announced
- Thousands of drivers 'caught' in Clean Air Zone every day in council test
- Camera error sends Clean Air Zone warning letters to drivers who've never been to Bristol
- Clean Air Zone and underground metro will make cycling safer claim council chiefs
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