Work has begun to get Birmingham city centre ready for the introduction of its clean air zone (CAZ), which comes into force on 01 June.
Siemens Mobility has completed the installation of 67 Sicore II ANPR cameras that will be used to implement the zone, which will include the city centre area inside the inner ring road – A4540 Middleway.
Wilke Reints, managing director, intelligent traffic systems for Siemens Mobility, said: “Although air quality in our towns and cities improved dramatically during the first national lockdown, since restrictions began to ease in May, we have seen a steady increase in the number of vehicles on our roads and a corresponding reduction in air quality levels.
“Most cities are now reporting air quality levels at least comparable to, if not worse than, pre-lockdown levels.
“As a result, local authorities such as Birmingham are forging ahead with clean air zone plans to drive improvements in local air quality and deliver wide-ranging environmental and health benefits.”
In December 2020, Siemens provided Birmingham City Council with the minimum viable product (MVP) version of the system – essentially a Beta version of the final CAZ solution enabling the council to carry out thorough testing in advance of implementation.
According to Siemens, the CAZ solution has been designed to deter the most polluting vehicles from entering the zone. Covering all Class D vehicles, which includes buses, coaches, taxis, private hire vehicles, light and heavy goods vehicles and cars, albeit with certain exemptions.
Councillor Waseem Zaffar, cabinet member for transport and environment at Birmingham City Council, said: “Poor air quality remains a public health risk and a clean air zone provides the city with an effective tool for tackling this issue in the shortest possible time.
“We are pleased with the work our partners at Siemens Mobility has done to develop the technology that will enable the zone to operate. This plays a huge part in the preparation for Birmingham’s clean air zone.
“I would urge drivers who come into the city to ensure they are aware of all of the changes.”
