Emissions control: profile of the Oxford ZEZ

Oxford is set to become the first UK city to have a zero emission zone (ZEZ). The proposals from Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council will set in motion a journey to zero transport emissions in the city by 2035, as they move to tackle Oxford’s toxic air pollution. From this year onwards, a ZEZ will apply to some vehicles and journey types, with restrictions increased gradually to all vehicles in the following years to create a largely transport emissions-free city centre by 2035.

HGVs will be a primary target for the new ZEZ constraints. “HGVs contribute 17% of emissions in the city centre, while they only account for 5% of vehicle kilometres undertaken there,” states Oxford City Council. “So, while they only make up a small percentage of the traffic movements, their emissions are high.”

That said, the crackdown on emissions will begin with a ‘softly, softly’ approach. What is being proposed initially is a zero emission ‘Red Zone’ (from 1 December this year) operating from 7am to 7pm, with all non-compliant vehicles being charged a one-off £10 fee during these hours (rising to £20 in November 2024), rather than being banned completely. This will allow them to travel in and out of the city as often as required on that particular day. All zero-emission vehicles will be exempt. After 7pm, non-zero emission vehicles, including all petrol- and diesel-powered HGVs (and vans), will be able to drive in and out of the city, free of charge.

It has been suggested that HGVs might be queuing up to enter the city after 7pm, when they will pay nothing and yet be emitting the same levels of pollutants. A city council spokesperson responds: “This is the time when the footfall is quite low in the city, so the impact will be far lower. Also, the hope is that companies operating non-zero emission vehicles will be encouraged to move to low emission and zero emission vehicles over time, and certainly by the 2035 deadline.”

EARLY CONCERNS ALLAYED

As there are very few options for full-electric lorries in the UK, some operators had feared that the Oxford ZEZ might have forced them to transfer loads to full-electric vans to deliver into retailers across the city. However, under the current proposals (yet to be ratified), they can pay the fee and it will be “more or less business as usual” – as one operator put it – “at least in the shorter term”.

Things get more challenging when the council’s designated ‘Green Zone’ is introduced in 2021/22. Under the existing proposals, that would mean daily charges for high-emission vehicles and a discounted daily charge for low emission vehicles. They are defined as Euro VI for diesel, Euro IV for petrol.

Once both zones are in force, and with 2035 in the offing, the pressure on the transport sector to ‘come clean’ will start to deepen. One leading third party logistics provider who did not wish to be named says: “We use a mix of petrol and diesel HGVs and all-electric vans when delivering into Oxford, and will continue to do so. What has been announced in the councils’ proposals so far is more evolution than revolution and that we can cope with for now, although we are looking at introducing e-trucks in the longer term.”

BUSES EXEMPTED

Oxford is far from unique in its clampdown on emissions, of course. By 2021, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and York, among many others, all plan to introduce low emission zones (see also pp19-20).

City of York Council has recently awarded more than £1.6m to five bus companies to upgrade their vehicles to Euro VI to coincide with its introduction of a clean air zone (CAZ). Not surprisingly, there are strings attached; buses fitted with the equipment required to reduce emissions must operate on routes serving York’s CAZ for at least five years.

The area also welcomed 21 new Optare double-deck, zero-emission, fully electric buses late last year, each with a 99-passenger capacity and a range of 150 miles-plus from one overnight charge.

Similarly, Oxford Council is working with bus companies operating in the city centre to move towards zero emission fleets – by 2035 at the latest, but by 2030, if possible – and so these operators will not be subject to charges.

One other area where significant strides are being taken within the city towards zero emissions relates to its waste services collection. This is carried out by the city council-owned Oxford Direct Services. “We operate a mixed fleet of electric, petrol and diesel at present,” says a council spokeswoman, “but we are aiming to have at least 25% of those vehicles fully electric by 2023.”

Third parties may be able to help. Barney Goffer, UK product manager at Teletrac Navman, says: “We certainly see the use of technology, in the form of telematics and dynamic planning and routing, playing a key role in supporting the HGV sector.”

He adds: “Haulage has been proactive in its approach to the clean air programmes around the UK, investing in new technology that supports safe and fuel-efficient driving, such as telematics systems, and also in new vehicles to meet the reduced emission targets – the latter being a significant and long-term investment,” he points out.

“The industry is faced with further pressures to electrify its fleets, but these technology capabilities are in their infancy when it comes to HGVs.” He says a scrappage scheme might help hauliers to meet emission targets.

BOX London update

Mayor Sadiq Khan has committed to making all buses within the M25 zero-emission by 2037 at the latest. Contributing to this is the electric vehicle partnership established by BYD Europe and Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL), which has delivered 11 full-electric BYD ADL Enviro200EV electric buses to Go-Ahead London (pictured).

TfL is also investing £12 million in 20 new hydrogen double-deck buses, built by Wrightbus in Northern Ireland, with more than £5 million in funding being provided by European bodies and £1 million from the Office for Low Emission Vehicles. The ULEZ introduced in Central London aims to reduce pollution levels by up to 45%.