The Birmingham Clean Air Zone is open
Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) was implemented on 1 June to reduce vehicle emissions in the city. And after a two-week initial trial period the charging system went live on 14 June. Following the City of Bath, which opened a CAZ in March, Birmingham is the second city in the UK to introduce a Clean Air Zone.
The Birmingham CAZ is a Class D zone, which means that here are no charges for compliant vehicles (pre-Euro 6 (VI) diesel or pre-Euro 4 petrol). But older cars, vans and trucks are subject to a daily rate if they don’t meet the minimum vehicle standards. Charges for cars, taxis and LGV’s is £8 per day and for coaches, buses and HGV’s it’s £50 per day. Drivers have a payment window of 13 days giving them the opportunity to pay six days before, on the day or six days after the day of their visit. It’s up to the driver of the vehicle to ensure that the fee has been paid within this period to avoid any penalty notices.
The CAZ is in operation 24 hours a day, every day of the week including weekends and bank holidays. It includes all roads within Birmingham City’s inner A4540 Middleway Ring Road, but Middleway itself is excluded from the zone.
Clean Air Zones (CAZ) – where are they in the UK?
Clean Air Zones (CAZ) are part of the government’s plan to tackle poor air quality in cities where levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are over the safe limits. Recommendations have been made to several councils where air pollution is deemed too high and more new clean air zones are planned to go live soon around the UK.
Both Bath and Birmingham introduced their Clean Air Zones this year. Other councils in England currently proposing or expected to launch a Clean Air or Low Emission zone include Oxford, Bristol, Bradford, Portsmouth, Greater Manchester, Liverpool, Leicester, Sheffield, Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside. In Scotland, Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow are planning to introduce their Low Emission Zones next year in 2022. London has operated a congestion charging zone since 2003 and the current Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) was introduced in 2019. This zone will be extended on 25 October 2021 to include all boroughs within the North and South Circular ring roads.
CAZ – is my vehicle compliant?
Vehicle compliancy and charging can vary from city to city depending on what category CAZ is in operation. Before you visit an area with a clean air zone, it’s worth checking if your vehicle is compatible or not. You can do this easily online using the Government vehicle checker.
Are you thinking of going green?
Do you live or work in a city with a Clean Air Zone? And your vehicle doesn’t meet the emission standards? Then this could be the time for you to go green and swap your old banger for a new vehicle with low or zero emission. UK Carline has a huge range of hybrid and fully electric vehicle lease deals. Check out our latest green car and van leasing offers today!
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