Oxford will ban petrol and diesel cars from its city centre from 2020 onwards in the latest round of air quality plans.
It’ll be the first city in the UK to introduce such a ban, going further than London’s Congestion Charge and upcoming T-Charge for high-polluting diesel cars. Oxford City Council also declared that it would be the first zone of its type in the world.
The ban will reduce nitrogen dioxide levels in the city’s worst pollution blackspot, George Street, by 74%, returning it to natural levels of pollution.
The idea hasn’t yet been given the green light and will face a six-week public consultation. Traditionally, though, Oxford is an environmentally aware city, so the proposal is expected to face less opposition than the capital’s upcoming T-Charge.
Oxford’s zero emission zone will also evolve every five years. After the initial launch, the city will extend the area in 2025 and 2030; in 2035, non-zero-emission HGVs will also be banned from the area.
Oxford city councillor John Tanner said: “Everyone who uses Oxford centre has the right to breathe clean air. I would urge everyone who uses Oxford city centre to take part in the consultation. We need to know, in detail, what people’s needs are so that we can plan a zero emission zone that minimises impact on business and residents while maximising impact on the city’s health.”
Local bus operators have expressed support for the scheme, with Stagecoach and the Oxford Bus Company having invested heavily in electrified buses recently.
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Good luck with that, I'm sure it looked good on the flipchart.
So it's confirmed, Oxford will be pure 'Pony (& Trap)'.
Presumably the council have considered the total loss of commerce brought in by casual day trippers in their cars. I wonder if Cambridge will follow suit or is gleefully anticipating an upsurge in the same kind of visitors.
Not exactly a regular visitor myself and doubt I would add much ( if anything) culturally, commercially or aesthetically to aforementioned venues but I will now go out of my way to avoid visiting Oxford either, before or after, 2020. I sincerely hope residents and business owners will be exempt from the ban too - I can't imagine the stress suddenly imposed on residents (ordinary hard working people/families) who've bought a new car recently!
This is all just a proposal
@mini2
What about hybrids?
Would these proposals extend to hybrid models? I’d love to know what the council are planning to do for all the drivers who live in terraced streets. Will they be offered on-street charging to encourage them to move across to EVs? Whilst remembering that there’s still pretty limited choice. If this happened in Manchester with such little notice (this is less than 3 years) then I would be both fuming and panicking. Yes we need to tackle air pollution but not in such a panic, and with more solutions than just outright banning these vehicles - many of which will be very young. Public transport isn’t the solution for many people, either.