Yunex Traffic has been awarded a contract to design and install a clean air zone (CAZ) automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) camera monitoring and enforcement solution across Newcastle city centre.
The introduction of the system follows a consultation undertaken by Newcastle and Gateshead councils with residents, businesses, workers and students and forms part of a package of measures to be introduced to improve air quality.
Yunex Traffic said it will work with the councils, the UK Department for Transport’s Joint Air Quality Unit and other programme partners to develop a “robust and reliable system that will improve air quality across the city centre”.
The scheme is designed to discourage drivers of the most polluting buses, coaches, taxis and goods vehicles from entering and encourage them to upgrade to cleaner, low- or zero-emission vehicles. Private cars will be exempt.
In a joint statement, the leaders of Newcastle and Gateshead councils, Cllr Nick Forbes and Cllr Martin Gannon, said: “Together, we are committed to creating a cleaner and healthier environment for everybody in our communities.
“Air pollution is linked to serious health conditions, including heart disease, cancer and breathing problems – with older people, children and those with existing long-term health issues more likely to be affected.
“The clean air zone that we are putting in place to reduce the numbers of high-polluting vehicles on our roads is one of a number of steps we are taking to improve our air quality and protect people’s health.”
Yunex Traffic will install 36 Sicore II ANPR cameras at 29 permanent locations across Newcastle city centre.
The cameras will identify and register every vehicle that enters the zone, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with the information captured then interfaced with the UK government’s national CAZ database for vehicle checking and payment.
The Newcastle contract is the latest win for Yunex Traffic following similar awards in London, Birmingham and Portsmouth.
“Building on our extensive experience with similar schemes both in the UK and internationally, we are delighted to now also be working with the team in Newcastle and Gateshead to develop and deliver a clean air zone solution to meet the area’s specific needs,” said Wilke Reints, managing director of intelligent traffic systems, Siemens Mobility.
