The (in)justice of Clean Air Zones

Parkhurst, Graham

Abstract

The paper considers the historic context of policy failure in respect of reducing the noxious emissions from road transport. It then turns to consider the policy debate around the fairness of Clean Air Zone (CAZ) proposals for UK cities and towns which fail to meet statutory air quality objectives. A key issue is the arbitrary nature in which 'clean' and 'dirty' vehicle types are identified, particularly given that this contrasts with the real-world derived values applied in official modelling procedures for predicting the effects of CAZs. It is concluded that in the context of ongoing uncertainties about whether 'safe' levels of air pollution exist, together with the effectiveness of area-wide restrictions, then more radical traffic restraint measures are to be preferred.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Universities' Transport Study Group Conference
• Start Date: Jul 8, 2019
• End Date: Jul 10, 2019
• Deposit Date: Oct 14, 2020
• Keywords: Clean Air Zones; justice; fairness; road transport noxious emissions
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/6777333