Manchester to deliver new Clean Air Zone plan 'as soon as possible' as drivers prepare for changes

The preferred plan from the Greater Manchester authority would see vehicles free to drive on the road inside the city region, as well as extra investment for new buses and funds to help taxi drivers upgrade their vehicles.

New modelling shows the plan would meet a legal requirement to improve air quality by 2026, rather than 2025, as stated in the previous submission to the Government last year.

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An alternative plan which would see vehicles charged to drive inside the centre of Manchester and Salford would not meet the legal deadline to cut emissions.

The proposed Clean Air Zone would have been around 493 square miles and included Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.

The push for better air quality across Greater Manchester has been backed by investment in electric buses as part of the Bee Network.

Air quality monitoring data shows that air pollution has fallen compared to 2022 and is "significantly lower" than levels recorded before the pandemic in 2019.

Prior to the franchising of the Bee Network, less than one per cent of vehicles were electric. This has since risen to more than 10 per cent where buses are under local control.

This will rise further to 15 per cent following the completion of bus franchising in January when around seven in 10 fleet vehicles will be less than 12 months old on average.

Commenting on the new update, Councillor Eamonn O'Brien, Bury Council Leader and Clean Air lead for Greater Manchester, said poor air quality was having a huge impact on all residents.

He added: "We have a longstanding commitment to cleaning up our air and Greater Manchester has carried out a tremendous amount of work to get us to a place where we are seeing air quality improvements.

"Given some of the changes that have occurred in the last nine months, there was a need to adapt and update our proposals for an investment-led, non-charging GM Clean Air Plan.

"We’re now in a position where that work has been done and, subject to approvals, we can submit our updated plan to the new Government as soon as possible and await their decision."

Plans would see the use of £51.1million for 40 new zero emission buses, as well as funding for depot electrification in Manchester and Bolton.

A further 77 new Euro VI clean air compliant buses will also be rolled out - 13 more than originally planned.

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In total, £86.7million is available to Greater Manchester. The remaining £30million will be made available to help owners of eligible hackney carriages and private hire vehicles will be able to upgrade to cleaner vehicles.

A further £5million will be used to better manage traffic flow with local traffic measures. It aims to bring nitrogen dioxide within legal limits onk Regent Road and Quay Street.