Bristol City Council is aiming for the fastest improvement in air quality to meet legal nitrogen dioxide (NO2) targets in a bold plan with more aggressive measures than those used in London. In what would be a landmark ruling, Bristol could be the first UK city to ban all diesel private passenger cars.
The council’s proposals also recommend a charging Clean Air Zone (CAZ) for non-compliant commercial vehicles and if the government approves the plans and changes the law to put a diesel car ban in place, both reforms could come into effect March 2021.
Up in the air
Bristol City Council (who have received £1.65million from the government to fund how they would tackle the city’s air pollution) have spent £1million and missed two earlier deadlines resulting in the government threatening legal action and granting an extension while ordering them to produce a plan.
Earlier in the year, the council proposed two ways to get NO2 levels down to the European Union target. Their first option proposed a ban on all diesel vehicles from the city centre between the hours of 7 am and 3 pm, while the second was to introduce a clean air charging zone akin to the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in London only for commercial vehicles, with fees of up to £100 a day.
The council left the plans open for the public vote, over six weeks throughout the summer, with the most popular of the two options to go to the Bristol City Council’s Cabinet. They received over 5,000 responses with 3,414 respondents saying they thought a CAZ would be a good way to improve air quality and 66% of people were ‘very concerned’ about the health impacts of air pollution.
In many parts of the city, air pollutants exceed legal and safe European and World Health Organisation limits and need reducing as a matter of urgency to lessen the impact on health, but the council forecast they wouldn’t meet legal limits until 2028 and so are proposing a third, hybrid plan, which combines both options and which they’ve estimated will hit the city’s NO2 legal target by 2025.
A modest proposal?
Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, acknowledging the proposals were ambitious, feels they prove the council’s dedication to tackling air quality so they meet legal limits within the shortest time, without ‘disproportionally affecting citizens on lower incomes’ which he says will happen with a ‘blanket approach’ to charging vehicles.
‘Protecting the most vulnerable people from pollution is central to these plans, and we have ensured that all impacts have been carefully considered.
‘If approved, mitigation measures will support those most affected, especially those living in the most deprived communities’, said the mayor.
Nicholas Lyes, Head of Roads Policy for the RAC, says that while the motoring organisation recognises that Bristol must improve the city’s pollution, the impact of the proposals on diesel owners would be ‘unprecedented’.
‘Major routes into, out of, and even around the city—like Temple Way and Brunel Way—would become out of bounds, with diesel vehicles forced onto other roads, which risks causing congestion problems where they don’t exist at the moment.
‘Bristol has bold plans to improve its public transport system, but major improvements like its mooted rapid transit system or even more park and ride sites are still many years from becoming a reality,’ he added.
Mr Lyes said that many motorists must use their cars for journeys because of a lack of economical and reliable alternatives and that not everybody can afford the penalty of an early exit from their car finance packages.
The council also propose a scrappage scheme, but Mr Lyes said it could be very expensive for owners of older cars to switch to something different and that the RAC worries the scrappage scheme wouldn’t get drivers into cleaner cars because they’re too expensive.
Mixed feelings
Bristol is my closest city. It was my place of work (and partying) for eight wonderful years and I almost moved there. This story is therefore close to my heart, and I wanted to see what the locals had to say on the matter.
Responses from residents online are mixed. Somebody wrote that the latest diesel cars are cleaner than petrol engines and so the council’s plans are ‘complete overkill and wrong’. Another claimed most people rely on their cars because public transport isn’t affordable or reliable and clean cars cost more than most can afford.
Others are happy with the proposals, congratulating Bristol and telling them to ‘ban all cars, get the lazy gits on the buses.’
Somebody else claimed he had reduced his asthma treatment by half and no longer needed to remove ‘black sludge’ from his windscreen each day after moving from Hotwells to Lawrence Weston and the impact on health from poor air quality is something we can’t dispute.
According to a King’s College London and UK100 report, higher pollution days in the city cause four more cardiac arrests and an additional 18 hospital admissions for asthma or strokes amongst children and adults. We know air pollution can cause permanent lung damage in babies and young children and the worsening of lung and heart disease in older people. In fact, it leads to about 300 premature deaths for Bristol residents each year.
Council data shows that 40% of Bristol’s NO2 pollution comes from diesel cars, while diesel buses and coaches produce 23%, and 22% of emissions come from diesel vans. While the mayor is under a legal obligation to produce a clean air plan to protect the people of Bristol, we have to ask—will the proposals just move air pollution to the outer suburbs? And what about the impact on the poorest and most disadvantaged in the city?
One thing on which I think we can agree is that we need the government to change our transport system to one that fulfils the present and future needs of both our society and our planet, or in common parlance, one that is ‘shipshape and Bristol fashion’.
The Outline Business Case (OBC) went to a cabinet meeting yesterday (Tuesday 5th November). If approved, the proposals go to the Joint Air Quality Unit (JAQU) before a final plan submission to government next year. The deadline for implementation is March 2021.
What do you think of Bristol City council’s proposals? How could the council improve upon their plans? Will the proposed ban affect you? Tell us in the comments.
“Cycling Bristol” by Tejvan Pettinger is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
So its only cars that are affected eh? The financial opportunity to make money from Lorries, vans, public transport and taxis is too much to give up, even though they are the biggest polluters. Please don’t ever try and convince people that this for the planet – it is money grabbing opportunism.
Cars are the most numerous vehicles and are more often used inefficiently or unnecessarily. This is a bold first stage from a progressive city council that puts the health of its citizens and the cleanliness of it’s air, before the convenience of its drivers.
@ Anthony keep telling yourself that
Just go into Bristol and see the roads clogged with polluting diesel buses.
Progressive? Mmm. So they got given 1.65m, missed two deadlines and only got a plan together when their own government threatened to sue them for being so useless.? Still it’s a step in the right direction. Let’s see if they can implement it in the next twenty years.
Progressive more like dick turpin
I love how people use the word “progressive” when what they mean is “penalise those who work and hand it to those who don’t”
But the area is too wide – and of course the usual selfish attitude of those who assume everyone who lives in Bristol works there – many NEED their cars as they work in out of the way places – try working in an office on an industrial estate outside Chippenham or Cardiff? he has trapped the entire population of S Bristol so it needs to be reduced in size to stay the city side of the river and not include Ashton Gate interchange – then people wont mind
SUV’s are actually the biggest polluters. Plenty of 3 or 4 litre Audi/BMW etc SUV’s around. Average van is 2 litre, even trucks are rarely 4 litre….
SUVs are the biggest polluters? Most have adblue and particulate filters now, and since 2005 bmw 3ltr diesel has had a particulate filters, they work really well, I can run my fingers in the exhaust pipe and its clean. As for trucks are rarely 4 litre, we on the yank term of truck? As in pick up? Because my 44 ton hgv is 16.9ltr turbo. Most are at least 12ltr, with 7.5 ton wagon being around your 4 to 5 ltr. Thing is, they all have adblue, cat converters an particle filters to euro 6. Better then most cars on the road.
Well my 3lt Audi is less polluting than the previous 2lt car I had before, go figure.
I have an SUV; two-litre diesel engine. Previous version of this model had a 3-litre diesel. My three-year old model is fully compliant with London’s ULEZ standards – i.e if I was really mad, I could take it into London. It is less polluting AND more efficient than my previous car, a Volvo V70 estate – and consequently, I now pay a lower rate of Road Tax. Funny though, it is also a Volvo – the XC90 and on previous reliability, it should last me another 15 years. I don’t see any real need to switch to the more expensive (+£8000) hybrid T8 version, because Bristol City will not have got itself organised to provide an efficient Mass Transit System by then and will be a wasteland of empty shops, industrial estates, etc -because the business will have gone elsewhere.
Any serious solution for City transport must include as a first priority, the investment in an efficient Mass Transport Railway, Tramway, etc. Go to Dubai and travel on the superb totally automated, driverless, almost staff free, elevated monorail (built by the French with Turkish steel); or on their automated tramway; Not convinced, try the vastly more comprehensive Mass Transit Railway in Vancouver City, CA – that extends way out to the suburbs.
Punishing the motorist will only have serious adverse economic effects for Bristol, or any other backward thinking metropolis.
You have to admit it does make sense to *not* ban commercial and public transport vehicles! How would you propose to resupply all the shops and offices? How would you get everyone in and out? Read the report from the link.
The plan is to have a clean air zone. *Non-compliant* commercial vehicles such as buses, coaches, taxis, Private Hire Vehicles (PHV), HGVs and LGVs would pay a daily pollution charge – the charge will persuade operators in the area to switch to less pollutiing vehicles but would not bring the economy to a halt in the meantime. Most buses and taxis in Bristol are compliant so will not be affected. ‘Compliant’ means Euro VI or better.
It’s not money-grabbing, it’s a common-sense compromise. I used to work in central Bristol but gave up and got another job in Wiltshire because I was spending too much time stuck in traffic or on delayed and overcrowded trains. The traffic management in the city is abysmal, and the geography doesn’t allow for much improvement, so getting more cars off the road has to be the way forward. But it will only be temporary, because those who have to have a car will switch to petrol, EV or PHEV over the next few years.
It “IS” money grabbing…..
no it wont – they will probably cut services and those that remain will charge those to use it higher charges. I dont know what the cost of a compliant bus is, but if im an operator with a perfectly clean serviceable vehicle and some numpty says i cant use it anymore I will chop that route and take my business elsewhere – there is no sentiment in business and these idealistic labour types need to wake up to this fact..
Make no mistake, this is nothing but a smokescreen to bring in general road charging by conning the public. It doesn’t have a prayer of getting parliamentary approval so the Mayor will say the government have left him no choice but to bring in a congestion charge. Why the hell would he miss the opportunity to get every motorist. George Ferguson delayed implementing it before his chance to get re-elected but was given the boot – the mayor knows this will happen to him so is trying to sell it in a different way.
Won’t be going there then.
There are other cities!!!
Or the airport
For all those parents of very sick children who rely on their diesel (often specialist vehicles) to visit Bristol Children’s Hospital and who travel considerable distances to see their Consultants and Doctors this could be a disaster.
Yes, I live in Knowle & am secondary carer for my mother who lives in clifton I am a gardener with a diesel van do you want to charge me £9 every time I have to help support my sister there should be some form of dispensation for this situation. Scrappage scheme is totally unrealistic.
The vast majority of disabled accessible vehicles are diesel powered. Are they going to be banned also?
report clearly states ‘mitigation for the vulnerable’
What is there to down vote Mark’s comment for? He made a factual statement.
You’ll be OK. The normal ‘progressive’ principles of hypocrisy and double-standards will be applied.
Maybe Bristol Council should’ve used the £1.65M to set up a compensation scheme to help fund replacement purchases for diesels bought in good faith.
I stupidly moved to a town centre to try and make a little money, but I would never impose my desires for rural environment on them, it was my fault not theirs.
For fellow asthmatics (a condition made worse with a collapsed lung too), cut open a Henry hoover HEPA vacuum bag and place it over the sponge filter on your air conditioner, I haven’t had an attack since.
So the government spent millions promoting diesel as the vehicle of choice a few years ago and I therefore purchased 2 – 1 for me & 1 for my wife as I work shifts and she worked miles away for the NHS – I now am being told that the £45k I spent changing my vehicles is basically money down the drain and as I’m still paying one of them off – how can I afford to change both again to be “governmental compliant’” – give us a fighting chance for Christ’s sake – we’re not all on ridiculous governmental salaries with 2 jobs and an expenses account……..😡😡😡
if you are borrowing 45k for new vehicles you are insane, lease them for heavens sake. Also if you can borrow 45k you must have a good joint income, so sell them and lease a couple of petrols. Its really not hard..
The other options may not be viable for this couple. I too have just purchased a diesel as I drive 120 miles a day., and don’t have off street parking so can not charge an electric vehicle let alone afford to buy one, and I did look before I bought this car in March.
umm who’s going to buy his diesel cars then if there this ridiculous ban! It’s not a viable option. I also have a diesel car i’m still paying for and can’t afford to buy a new one!
yes Lease them.. hand over your hard earned cash every month and in a couple of years time you find your drives is empty as the cars gone back and your wallet is empty also…. Great idea!
“Secured Loans of £45000 | 2.9% APR – Homeowners”. Advertised today. And you have 2 cars at the end of it…
OR pay at least £200 a month for 3 years, no cars at the end, ripped off for every tiny stone chip at end of lease and charged excessive (IMO) rates for any additional mileage. Insane eh? I know which route I’d take…
Craig, everyone has known diesel is a killer since 2016. Life isn’t perfect. It’s time to stop moaning and get a cleaner vehicle even if you lose a few quid, which let’s face it is what happens when you buy any vehicle, let alone a diesel.
Absolute nonsense. The latest diesels pollute less than petrol and do not destroy the ozone layer with CO2.
So diesel, I assume you mean diesel exhaust fumes in your ‘eyes’ are lethal. Can you tell me why I am still alive after nearly 40 years working in a motor vehicle workshop environment? I didn’t notice any of my colleagues keeling over either.
Timg, go stick your gob around a petrol exhaust pipe, then come back an tell me about KILLER diesel. I love the nobs like you who don’t look at their own pollution but try an deride others for theirs. Why don’t you come up with a new better way to power a vehicle then? No, to easy to tell others what to do instead.
Apart from the other comments diesel produce less CO2. So you have a choice kill a few people with NO2 or kill the planet with CO2. Oh but if you kill the planet what happens to the people? Even with an electric car, which are so called green, you have to produce the ‘fuel’ at the power station which produces CO 2 etc. Then you have to recycle the batteries at the end of life which this country is not ready to do yet. Yet again no forward thinking and no good public transport. It’s all about the money.
You have been bamboozled by bs
Exactly. I have had diesels for my previous 7 cars because of the hype but slowly the cost of diesel went above that of petrol when the government cottoned on that more and more people were buying diesels. The £30 tax I paid on my previous 4 cars was too good to be true when manufacturers started producing so many cars that fell into this or the lower band the government realised that were losing out so they scrapped that. The result, my current car is a 2ltr Petrol, if I am going to have to pay £140 tax for a newer version of my old diesel I may as well enjoy myself and get a car that probably gives out more emissions as there is just no incentive anymore.
God knows what scheme they will come up with to keep bleeding the Cash Cow Motorist when we are all driving electric cars.
I agree, I bought a zero RFL car with low emissions. Most petrol cars spew out more poison than my little motor. I am not inclined to buy another as the compulsory RFL is now high on 16+ plated cars. I use my car daily for work. This infuriates me, as I bought for the best at the time. My Ibiza gives me 65mpg round town and have done 103mpg on a long journey.
Does anyone in government local & national really look at the current standards for diesel cars? The emissions fron petrol cars is now virtually identical re NOX and we musn’t mention the additional CO2 we have been pumping into the atmosphere from the increased use of petrol cars.
They are on paper Mike, latest diesels are super clean. However on real roads with hills etc they are still filthy compared to petrol. You and I both know that a brand new 3 litre diesel car under full power going uphill kicks out a cloud of particles whilst the petrol exhaust remains clear.
Don’t believe the engine makers hype. They are crapp_ng themselves as the end of their businesses are looming
Well said I completely agree
Modern diesel cars have cleaner emissions with all the filters etc on them and omit less CO2 than petrol. CO2 levels have apparently gone up after people have started switching to petrol after the demonising of diesels.
Older busses and lorries are the worse so government and local authorities should tackle them first, but that would be bad for businesses and no government or local authority would advocate not using busses.
Yes but they don’t care they just want to screw cash out of us
After about 60000 mile petrol get worse with nox
Are they going to ban the buses & lorry’s & trains & ships that run on same fuels bringing essential food and other requirements into Bristol city and docks ???? And what will happen to fuel stations selling the fuel ??? It doesn’t affect me directly .but thay obviously haven’t thought about it properly and the long term affects it could have on residents and businesses if thay have to pay extra for services and goods it hasn’t done London any good at all
It’s Bristol this Mayor never thinks anything through been a problem here since they introduced a Mayor
Funnily enough we have an muppet, sorry Mayor here in Manchester… When we held a vote on an elected Mayor the people said no… But then their was a consulatation with elements of Greater Manchester (and we cant find out who was coinsulted) and lo and behold we pay £100k per year for a Mayor we didnt want, his numberous deputiesthat cost us more, we apperently have chris boardman spending money like water being our cycling Tzar and it came to light we also have a “Night Tzar” apparently controlling the “Night Life” in Manchester…. we pay a fortune to keep them and thier advisors and admin teams in office.
And dont mention their expenses…
We are now being charge £10 each on council tax to supply free bus passes for 17 & 18 year olds… Someone tell me why 17 & 18 year olds cant put down the phones and go work for the money for a bus pass…
None of your comments matter, what matters is what happens if we don’t do this. As for ships, hybrid ships have been around since the 90’s. Type 23 frigate is a good example.
That will be the type 23s mostly locked up in Portsmouth because…. They dont work????
Ah. So all the freight shipping to/from Bristol is going to be by Navy warships?
Complete nonsense. The United Kingdom, the only place on earth that continually strives to make life difficult for it’s already overburdened citizens. The French people would never put up with crap like this and it’s time that the British people stood up for themselves against these useless idiots in council and government. Funny how new policies always seem to come down to money. The wealthy won’t be affected. As usual. But ordinary working folk will. If you have no alternative then you have another drain on the family finances and you can bet there won’t be any pay increase to help you out. Get the thinking caps on Bristol and come up with some ideas that don’t come down to charging individuals. Plants and trees can help and I’m sure there are other solutions too, but they don’t raise revenue, do they!
Oh what a shame , looks like we’re starting a list of cities to avoid in our ‘dirty Euro 6 compliant diesels ‘
Never mind , their loss is another cities financial gain !
Don’t the idiots that make these brilliant ideas realise that modern diesels are as clean if not cleaner than a lot of petrol powered vehicles!
At it’s Mot in June my dirty diesel had practically zero emissions!
They are on paper Ian, latest diesels are super clean. However on real roads with hills etc they are still filthy compared to petrol. You and I both know that a brand new 3 litre diesel car under full power going uphill kicks out a cloud of particles whilst the petrol exhaust remains clear.
Don’t believe the engine makers hype. They are crapp_ng themselves as the end of their businesses are looming
This is exactly right. What I think we’re seeing is the greed for an opportunity to raise revenue from those of us who can take no steps to avoid additional cost. The trouble with a total ban is it is disproportionate, doesn’t take into account the dirty petrol engines or recent diesels which as you say are often cleaner than petrol engines. My diesel, like yours had trouble to register emissions on the test machine so much so that they run the test twice to try to get a reading. My highest reading was 0.00. It could hardly be lower. So, the question has to be why are drivers going to be penalised irrespective of their actual emissions. My car is a 2011 Euro 5 diesel which is producing less emissions than some Euro 6 cars. We expect intelligent policy making. Then look at other cases that make it impossible for disabled people. Take the case of an MS sufferer with Blue Badge, who cannot use public transport. What is the solution for them?
Lets have sensible approach to decarbonising. Lets make viable options available to everyone before taking the opportunity to raise revenue. I can see at least two lines of legal challenge. One of them is the failure to account for income. To make a charge of £10 to a person with a £50 per week disposable income after their rent is paid is disproportionate and unfair. It has the effect of restricting their access.
Ian, your comment over the MOT test is more than misunderstood. The test for diesels measures the density of soot particles. There is no measurement of exhaust gases for diesel-engined vehicles.
Protest and bring the city to a standstill. Worked for extinction rebellion, and apparently, it’s not even illegal, as they got away with it, so it must be ok for car owners to protest too.
Count me in
Thank God I don’t live in Bristol 😐
I live in Bristol it has the worst public transport anywhere in the country When I lived in Manchester I never needed a car I could go anywhere on public transport which was cheap and efficient In Bristol I cannot even get a bus to the local supermarket if I want to go to town it’s an hour’s wait Bristol has to get its public transport in order FIRST When I worked in town people were often late for work due to the buses being so unreliable Worst city I have ever lived in for transport I wish financially I could leave
get an electric bike or similar or maybe, and here’s a cracking idea BUY A ELECTRIC OR PETROL CAR……
Will buying electric/petrol cars reduce congestion?
You obviously haven’t considered the many cases outlined where some people simply cannot afford an EV or it doesn’t meet their various needs, range, disabled utility car etc, nor can everybody use public transport even if a reliable network is available. The old electric tramways used to fulfil all the requirements but successive councils removed them from many places
I take it you have an electric car, bike, scooter then and that you’re vegan, don’t heat your home with fossil fuel, use purely renewable energy sources………
Glasshouses and stones spring to mind when reading most of the comments like this.
Best stick to living in cities Moira. Don’t move to Cornwall, its an 18 mile round trip to my nearest supermarket, although there are 3 buses a day which take you close. By close, I mean a 15 min walk there and 15 min walk back with all your shopping and then if you time it wrong about 2hr wait for the returning bus. So, here in the ‘sticks’ us yokels are forced to use whatever vehicle we have to hand.
Wow, I’m Manchester born and bred – I can only assume you lived on the Oxford Road corridor or the 192 route, the rest of the conurbation has very poor bus services – mostly because of the horrendous congestion.
Im born and bred in manchester and the cause of the congestion is the council who have used any method whatsoever to reduce the road capacity, stupid 50 yard bus lanes, changes in traffic light options, stupid traffic islands, pelican crossings every 50 yards the list is endless…. like Manchester City Councils ability to spend other people money and raise more and more taxes.
I agree with Moira. Bristol public transport needs significant improvement. They should be expanding bus routes, improving frequency, and investing in electric powered buses. Service pales in comparison to other cities where I’ve lived.
How will the city centre shops cope with no customers during the day? Not sure this is well thought out the park and ride at Ashton gate changed and no longer goes near the big office blocks but the council said it does go past the SS Great Britain !! This city does not have a good history of delivering well thought out plans
Maddnessssss shear maddnesssss
The whole Country is run by people who ain’t got a clue!!!!!
Bristol is run by people who only ride bikes
What a load of rubbish.New euro 6 deisel engines are at least 20 present cleaner than any petrol engine.
They are on paper Simon, latest diesels are super clean. However on real roads with hills etc they are still filthy compared to petrol. You and I both know that a brand new 3 litre diesel car under full power going uphill kicks out a cloud of particles whilst the petrol exhaust remains clear.
Don’t believe the engine makers hype. They are crapp_ng themselves as the end of their businesses are looming
Next they’ll be charging / fining , for farting
They will not solve the problem until they get rid of all the diesel buses.
Disabled drivers with motabilty diesel cars would suffer
Let me throw this in, have a 2014 diesel auto which is 0 VED 0 congestion charge London and does 650 on a full tank. Why should I change my car , What are the incentives for me to change. I only see a huge expense my car is a better for the environment than most new petrol vehicles. I had thought of going down the line of a hybrid unfortunately beyond my means. Guess I wont visit Bristol.
I wont guess.. I definately will not go to Bristol…. ever!
ALL Diesel cars!!! What about those of us who have bought the latest CLEAN diesels with an adblue tank? Why tar all diesel drivers with the same brush?
Because they want your MONEY!!!!
Even an old diesel is fine if it has an adblue. (The adblue doesn’t ask where the NOx is coming from; it just gets rid of it.)
Absolutely ridiculous how would the people who work to make ends meet and dame hard really be able to do a scrapage scheme.
I go to Bristol with my wife regularly, we are both over 70, and enjoy the walk around the river front. Every time I visit, if standing outside Primark in Broadmead, I always see taxi’s and buses blowing out black smoke but very few cars do the same, so the question is are the bus companies going to be charged?
The car driver is always the whipping post for politicians to hang their hats on, but governments are to blame for enticing us into diesels in the first place. I appreciate something has to be done to cut emissions but start with the most polluting vehicles first and work back from there. If there was any REAL political will throughout the world the first thing to be tackled would be the cutting down of the rainforest, that will not happen though as to many people at the top are making money out of it.
What are the proposals for disabled drivers using diesel cars
And the disabled need special dispensation because?
The disabled already get a LOT of things for free.
Why not just claim something else?
Join the discussion…ok Righteous one…..it must be absolutely marvellous to be disabled. Free?….I think not. My Motability car costs me £62 per week before fuel is added. Nothing in this world is free.
John are you paying for a premium car above the basic Mobility allowance?
Your comment has nothing to do with the proposed measures to tackle pollution. Leave disabled people alone, some have to use a higher cost vehicle because they are wheelchair users and need specially adapted larger vehicles with hoists to get in and out, also special fittings for clutch , brakes and throttle controls. Of course they don’t want to be disabled either.
It would be nice if posters on topic could come up with ideas on solving problems instead of hitting out at easy targets.
I think the point being made is many mota bility vehicles are diesel so unless they are all replaced its another burden on disabled. Obviously you are not disabled yourself or perhaps you would have more idea about a subject you have little or no ieea.
Well oh Righteous one, I challenge you to walk a mile in my shoes. Oh wait! I’m lucky if I can walk a few feet. So before you start slagging off ALL the disabled, yes, even those with invisible disabilities, consider how you would manage if you had just one disability. Oh and what pray do I get for nothing?
They propse you pay… to them your hard earned money is as good as anyone elsaes.
This is a glimpse of our unavoidable future. Anyone saying its a bad idea is thinking of themselves only. This is about children’s health, its about the longevity of the human race NOT THE PLANET.
Comments like “new diesels are cleaner than petrol” are not true. In the real world (not a testing station) all diesels are filthy.
They mention mitigation, no doubt for this living in the city centre with a diesel car.
Still, they all have plenty of time to buy a petrol car.
In Bejing the ruling party simply said “all taxis to be full electric in two years” and next year it will be complete.
This is a strong decision and we need to do the same here.
I think the whole of the UK should adopt this, not just for taxis but for all small commercials that use the city centre as well.
Sure many will disagree, but it is a fact that eventually it has to happen.
If it’s just for the human race, then why must we be charged through the arse for it?
How about all the new coal fired power stations in China of course they’re really clean. Last count was 120 new power stations, coal fired. So electric vehicles using dirty electricity. Very clever, but stupid idea.
I’ve just bought a new diesel that fulfils the tough new RDE2 emissions standard and gets better fuel consumption than a petrol car so am REALLY against this blanket ban on diesels, which simply appears to be ill-informed.
It will give me a headache getting to work every day – I live in Bristol and need to get out to the M4. Not all of us have an option to travel on public transport!
Bold idea, poorly thought out, is there a good transport system in place, is there enough charging points, who going to pay for everyone to change over to electric vehicles after a previous government pushed us into diesels, a we were pushed into diesels perhaps the government should buy our diesels off us and replace them will EV’s. What was the last comment, 250000+ EV/hybrids, 22000 charging points, something like that. we have 3 charging points in a 8 mile radius.
Yep I’m happy for the government to buy my diesel which I got because they were being promoted as better than petrol. Just a minute where does all that electricity come from?
Let’s not talk about the airport too. It’s expected to expand massively-but how are you going to get to it !! All routes via Bristol will put you inside the zone !!
Another example of piss poor planing
UK will need 25,000,000 charging points. Where will all the electricity come from…wind farms..never. ..power stations…how many more will the country need. ..pluck a number …8.. How long to get them up and working…many years. Currently one of the biggest polluters ..Power stations.At my latest MOT the tester couldn’t believe how clean my 3 litre diesel was..and that wasn’t the outside and inside of the vehicle. As previous stated petrol cars have increased the amount of CO2 since the government told everyone to change their cars.
The government itself is to blame for everyone abandoning public transport and moving to the car in their thousands!
In my area, and I bet it’s the same story in your area. ( for those that remember and experienced it ) when all the buses were run under the national bus company it was efficient and cheap!
Then the Torie government at the time decided to put the national bus company back into private hands to supposedly make it cheaper and more efficient! THIS IS CODE FOR SELLING OFF A PROFITABLE COMPANY TO THE RICH! as per bt, gas, electricity board, etc etc, WELL we know how that went don’t we? Anyway
The company’s created all wanted to run the most profitable route’s and so you had lot’s, in fact too many buses run by different companies turn up at the same time, jostling for passengers!
The less profitable routes that used to be subsidised by the more profitable routes, under the national bus company were now being ignored completely by every company!
So, we all had to go and buy a car!
No government can change the fact that it rains so much in Britain that public transport is not a viable option
A poorley conceived late plan, how can you block a route from the A370 to the A4 portway for those with diesel cars trying to squeeze as much MPG from these modern frugal Euro 5/6 engines. With the loss of several large employers in south bristol our employment is now focused on the new industry at Avonmouth and Pilning. With this plan we would have to go via Rownham hill to J19 and the over the avon bridge to J18 to acess the emplyment parks on.offer.
Are the Bristol councillors aware that the railway lines into Bristol are not electrified, so will trains be banned too?
To All, Did you know that 30% of the worlds NOX is produced by lightning storms(28.5 billion tons per annum) and 25% by the human activity of using nitrate fertilizers in agriculture. Of the remainder 30% is from ALL passenger cars produced before 2015 and 22% from commercial vehicles ie only 3% is from the latest diesel cars. Time will eliminate older vehicles, it is unlikely that fertilizers will be banned and not possible stop lightning so unless the rest of the entire world especially India , China and USA follows Bristols example, banning new regulation diesels will have virtually no effect.
At last an intelligent response. Bristols plan is like many others a well thought out conniving plan to relieve motorists of yet more of the hard earned cash. Has anyone thought how this may effect many small businesses like plumbers, electricians etc and then pretty much everyone they go to see to carry out even a minor job, it may add £50-00 to their/your bill. Electric vehicles still have nothing likethe needed number of charging points not to mention they are not all the same so what works on one vehicle wont work on all of them plus the power generated still produces unfriendly by products but at least they are not on Bristols back door!! Traffic congestion around Bristol is a joke but not a funny one Perhaps get your house in order first along with the other things that will allow alternative to function before shutting it all off to us diesel guzzlers that acted on the Governments best advice(subject to change without notice) at the time. Advice it seems that is still correct now but not accoreding to their current thinking.
The stupid mayor don’t want to hear the truth, he wants cash
So he’ll milk the motorist
Hello BRISTOL City
Have you looked up the ‘statutory legislation’, have a DIESEL 1.6 ECO Car – May 2016+.
NOT only does a Vauxhall MOKKA beat ALL correct legislation.
WHY-latest diesel from Vauxhall, has NO EMISSIONS in the whole of United Kingdom ANYWHERE?
The very BEST anywhere, want a ‘LEGAL CASE’ please ASK.
Await your response, look forward to ALL other
Hello
ECO_efficient 1.6 DIESEL MOKKA, ANYWHERE in U.K NILL EMISSIONS
Diesel is dirty so before we all believe this measurement from a car company, can someone explain where the dirt goes?
We believed diesel cars were cleaner than petrol last time… why believe them now?
Note: I am not questioning the people who posted this data… just whether we can believe such information.
Julie, I suggest you do some research rather than demonstrating your ignorance.
Petrol engines are destroying the planet with CO2 and also burn “dirty” oil in the form of petrol so are definitely not clean. CO2 levels are rising since our ignorant politicians decided to blame diesel for the world’s ills and unlike diesel engines, petrol engines emit considerable amounts of carbon monoxide CO.
EV’s would be fine if there were any charge points and if EV’s had a decent range. Don’t forget that the battery range will reduced in cold winter weather and even more when the the lights, wipers, radio and the electrically powered heater are operating. We can all expect massive power cuts in the next few years when we all plug in our new EV’s in the evening when the electricity grid is already experiencing a massive surge in demand from cooking evening meals, heating and lighting homes etc. Haven’t noticed a rush to build more dirty power stations to provide the electricity to charge our clean EV’s. Renewable energy isn’t going to make up the shortfall.
Euro 6 diesels sold from 2015 onwards do also burn “dirty” oil but in the form of diesel. Diesels cars are considerably more efficient than petrol so burn less oil per mile, Euro 6 diesel engines are much cleaner than previous generations of diesel engine and independent research has shown that some diesel cars are cleaner than petrol. Many use an additive to reduce pollution, others pass the exhaust gas back through the engine to reduce pollution and particulate filters capture the vast majority of what’s left.
Julie, you ask good questions and do not deserve the snide comment suggesting you are ignorant.
Your points are valid. An answer to some points is to use efficient filters which trap particulates produced by both petrol and diesel fuels.
Don’t be put off from making your comments, this is supposed to be a forum where topics can be discussed in an attempt to find solutions to problems.
JP: “An answer to some points is to use efficient filters which trap particulates produced by both petrol and diesel fuels.” This sounds like a better way of going if it is possible and has the desired effect, until we’re ready for something better?
I will never go to London ever again. And now Bristol is on my blacklist. Good luck and goodbye Bristol.
OMG !!!!!!!
I work in Bristol as a children s nanny and have done for 33 years .(. I commute from Weston super Mare) and
it’s hard enough to get a job nowadays due to the government 15 hours free nursery child care killing our work .. permit parking NOW diesel cars ,most of us nanny’s and I can tell you there is a lot of us, working in Bristol all have blue efficiency or add blue cars and need to get around bristol to go to toddler groups, trips to the zoo, music classes, doctors,and dentist appointment s, school runs etc
And, we don’t earn a lot of money how are we going to afford buying a new car …I got a blue efficiency car because it’s kind to the environment and low in emission, this is crazy we are all being penalised.
Old diesels yes but not new ones
What about the shops in town they are all struggling as it is. Whiteladies Road already looks like a grave yard due to permit parking & shops closing and clifton village has been badly affected too.
OMG it’s going to kill Bristol.
How are builders going to work , cleaners , people & children with disabilities who need to get to the BRI.
So many people are going to lose there jobs.
Bristol City Council really need to think this though before going any further because from what I can see from the boundary line it’s going to affect a big area in Bristol and cause extra stress on the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Also public transport is rubbish and very costly in Bristol. As for the new metro, well what a load of wasted money because that’s rubbish too.
I could go on but think 🤔 I have made my point.
Geoff H.
I lived in Bristol 6 years ago , and then found it difficult to find a parking place in a park and ride , where are they going to place more park and rides , have they considered the increase of buses to cover the demand , our infrastructure is designed on the car, we have waited so long for a change it’s ridiculous to plan a knee jerk reaction to appease EU laws when no other country cares.
I am all for change but let’s do it in a structured way, this has not been thought through properly and does not cover loss to Bristol businesses, attending inner hospitals, trying to get on a bus with the weekly shopping , standing in the queue with a line of people which is longer than the shelter in the rain does not appeal to my old bones
as a pensioner I would not be able to buy a new car, or pay the bus fares they charge
I went on a holiday 2 weeks ago, flying from Bristol Airport. Even though the airport is well outside the city, the routes signposted to and from the airport from the M4 take you RIGHT THROUGH THE MIDDLE of Bristol. Perhaps it would help to simply route the airport and other through traffic round the outside. So what are they going to do in 2 years time? Continue to route the traffic straight into the banned are and then whoops we have to fine you now?
Seeing as we are going to be progressively barred from certain Cities and Towns, perhaps a stark reduction in our road fund duty would be appropriate!
Why isn’t all public transport electric/solar powered, you can’t ban diesel cars and then run 100+ diesel buses daily in the exclusion zone. I’ve sat behind plenty of buses in Bristol and had to shut my air vents because of the smell. If you going to force diesel cars off the road, then you’ll have to do the same with the bus companies. Make them invest in a cleaner city too. Or are they going to be charged £100 a day per bus…be a sure way of crippling a bus company.
An exclusion zone is good, but make it what it says. Ban everyone from using it apart from bicycles, electric mopeds and disabled blue badge badge holders.
It’s a very challenging idea, good luck I Bristol…glad I moved to the east coast of the UK, it’s way less polluted over here!!
Is the extension for the steam train line to go ahead? As much as I like steam it still has to be fuelled by fossil! And you’ll be expecting more visitors to use it, will this increase the volume of busses running around the city to ferry the passengers….don’t even get me started on the ferry’s on the wharf?
We don’t live in Bristol but we like to visit on a regular basis from the caravan park at Baltic Wharf as a member visiting and recently as wardens.
We hope you’re decisions will be well thought through and not a decision to drive your visitors away, this is what happened after the Mall was built at Cribbs Causeway.
Bristol Airport will suffer. People living North of Bristol will be penalised as there is no decent route to the airport.
Not only will the airport suffer, tourists will think twice before taking a trip to Bristol !
Does this mean they are going to close Bristol airport to stop the highly polluted skies from being filled with aviation fuel fumes?… I very much doubt it.
Ok I’m broadly in favour of this proposal. However I have just purchased a new car diesel car. I know
I do 120 miles a day and there wasn’t a viable economic affordable alternative solution. I did approach Bristol council about having an electric charging bay, as I don’t have off street parking. The response was pitiful and unhelpful. Therefore Ias I would not be able to park outside my house to charge the vehicle this option wasn’t pursued further…
I think the council needs to put some carrots out – where’s the M32 park and ride ! Only been talked about for 15 years…
The city centres just been re developed to BRING the polluting busses right into the centre !!!
And yes for an awful lot of us there’s no viable alternative route into our out of the city. They haven’t changed the 3 lamps junction into Bristol from Bath so your forced to drive into the city to turn towards Bath.
Let’s see the council put in place a massive raft of extra measures to help , support the commuter . If we all stopped using our cars the city could collapse as it’s not got a sufficient viable alternative transport solution for the masses.
Please, please, please start boxing done joined up thinking, rather than blue sky proposals which will I’m very shore have a massive affect on the commercial viability of the city if adopted in there current form
Even Euro6 diesel cars, with low to zero NOx emissions?
Your money is as good as everyone else to your Council!
2022 release in Europe.
Stop moaning ! Start saving baby !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQut6ks3nSY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F9cmREErBU
Brizzle’s new ‘Park and Ride’ ?
I often worry about the lack of understanding of my fellow people. Air pollution is a serious health problem. Fixing it is easy though neither simple nor cheap. It requires the political will to make the right decisions NOW. Self-interested argument like wishful thinking that the problem can be ignored only results in more suffering and avoidable early DEATH.
My solution: Immediate ban of worst polluting vehicles unitl they are fixed (like faulty brakes), scaled rates of increased tax on others according to pollution, spending this and MUCH MORE money so cheap CLEAN public transport freely available.
Am I holier than thou? NO! I drive in South London despite having free travel as an OAP. Why? because it is more convenient! Would I support this change? YES! As I did for the London congestion charge. Even with this London roads are still clogged with cars containing only the driver.
What is required is far fewer cars (AND taxis), then buses will run quicker.
The only other alternative is to flatten the cities of multi-lane expressway, like the USA, but we don’t have the room.
-OR- Far fewer PEOPLE – that would also solve global warming – I will let you volunteer first!
Well the way this an every other government we’ve ever had is tax mad and doesn’t want to spend any, other than for new duck houses of course, pollution is great, lots of tax from fuel, tax on electricity for air conditioners, early death so no need to pay out pension money, now we see a new swizz, let’s tax um to choke themselves to death! Yeah. More new taxes coming as beer an fag sales are down, electric cars with special price electric to charge it with, through a fitted dedicated meter. Any one found illegally trying to change from normal household supplies will be fined heavily. This my sound like a joke but I think this joke is on every tax payer in the land.
And of course Londons congestion chnage was sold on the principle that it would resolve Londons congestion problesm…. which it didnt… so a ft lot of good that was… unless your on the councils that received the cash from the failed scheme… then its a sucess.
It’s got to come! How else will change occur Unless decisions are made?
Traffic seems immutable, as if it’s a
zero-sum game, its not. Traffic is made of individuals making choices, consciously or unconsciously.
I am getting sick and tired of the stupidity of those we have appointed to serve our best interests. If Bristol are looking to ban car drivers why stop there. Why don’t they ban all diesel vehicles instead of just penalising the car driver. What they would lose their public transport and would not receive any deliveries to the shops.
I am sick and tired of the stupidity of those we have elected to serve our interests. So Bristol are looking at banning all Diesel cars. Why if they are so interested in the health of their citizens don’t they ban all diesel vehicles not just cars. Oh that would have serious implications on their public transport system and their logistics. Not to mention the fire and ambulance services.
Oh well lets just hit the poor bloody car drivers again.
Old petrol bangers are better than new diesels? Was thinking that to myself. Sure there’s more emissions belting out of old petrol cars that aren’t well looked aftered.