Bradford Clean Air Zone

Plans were developed in the late 2010s for several Yorkshire cities to have "clean air zones" (CAZ) – Bradford, Leeds, Sheffield, and whilst Leeds postponed their plans, Bradford Council have pressed ahead with theirs, which gained approval in March 2021 for a launch in January of the following year.^[1][2] Sheffield's CAZ started operating in February 2023 and the proposed scheme in Leeds was halted due drops in projected levels of nitrogen dioxide as the ciy's investment in low pollution schemes showed considerable benefits. At this time there was also fall in nitrogen dioxide levels, this fall was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, which resulted in less traffic on the region's roads.^[3] The maximum legal limit of nitrogen dioxide pollution in the United Kingdom is 40 micrograms (0.00062 gr) per cubic metre. In the City of Bradford district, levels have been found to be 45.3 micrograms (0.000699 gr) on Queens Road (Canal Road), 48.8 micrograms (0.000753 gr) on Market Street in the city centre, and as high as 50.6 micrograms (0.000781 gr) on Shipley Airedale Road (in Bradford).^[4] The programme is to help combat pollution within the city (and wider district) which has been ordered, by ministerial direction, to reduce pollution levels being beyond legal limits for air quality.^[5][6] The area within the zone around Bradford City Centre follows the line of the A6177 city ring road.^[5] The northern section includes Canal Road and the A650 road to the Bingley bypass, including Saltaire and most of Shipley up to the Fox Corner Junction in Shipley.^[7][8][9]

It was revealed in 2021, that Bradford Council had been given £39.3 million of UK Government money to implement the scheme and to allow grants to be awarded to users such as taxi firms, minibus and bus firms, and hauliers, allowing them to adapt existing vehicles to greener emission status, or to procure new vehicles entirely.^[10] By September 2022, 87% of taxis in the city were compliant with the new clean air zone, 370 buses had been upgraded for compliance, and 33 new electric buses had been procured to work routes in and out of the city centre.^[11][12]

Locally, Bradford Council have presented the clean air zone programme under the title of "Breathe better Bradford" (stylized as breathe better BRADFORD).^[13] The health and economic impacts of the CAZ is being assessed by researchers at the Bradford Institute for Health Research ('Born in Bradford'), the University of Leeds and University of York.^[14] The scheme was welcomed by campaigners for cleaner air, with one group, Asthma and Lung UK stating that Bradford had the worst hospitalisation rate in Yorkshire of children with breathing difficulties.^[15] However, some protested a tax on vehicles entering the city, stating that the cost would "cripple small businesses particularly at a time when people are struggling with the cost of living crisis."^[16] The director of the Bradford Institute for Health Research pointed out that "..almost half the schools in Bradford will be in the Clean Air Zone, and so our children will be shielded from the toxic effects of traffic-related air pollution."^[17]

Initially set to be launched in January 2022, the project was delayed, and went live on 26 September 2022.^[11][18][19] The delays to the rollout were criticised by some taxi firms, who said that drivers had been forced to take out extensive short-term loans so that they could upgrade their cars for the deadline in January, only for the scheme to be pushed back to spring 2022.^[20]

A report issued in November 2024, stated that the reduced emissions had led to over 700 fewer GP appointments per month in the first year of the air zone's operation. This was estimated to have saved the local NHS over £30,000 per month.^[27]