Bristol City Council has announced it will introduce a category D clear air zone (CAZ) to reduce the city’s air pollution and meet legal limits.
According to the council, it had previously hoped that social distancing measures and schemes to encourage walking and cycle would remove the need for a CAZ.
In August, CiTTi reported that the council was looking for an alternative option to a CAZ, however mayor of Bristol Marvin Rees has now confirmed that a charging scheme will go ahead.
It is expected that the CAZ will cover a small area of central Bristol, with the most polluting commercial vehicles and private cars required to pay to enter the area.
Rees said: “The evidence that has come through the modelling suggests we are going to be implementing a small-area CAZ.
“This is in line with our moral responsibility to deliver clean air in the shortest possible time but also that’s going to be tested legally because the legal requirement is to get to compliance in the shortest possible time.”
The council has yet to disclose how much drivers will be charged.
