City pollution toolkit produced for transport group

A new transport and air quality toolkit has been produced which should help cities to tackle transport-related air pollution published

A new toolkit outlining measures that can be taken to tackle transport-related air pollution in the UK’s city regions has been created by consultants Transport & Travel Research Ltd (TTR) in partnership with TRL.

The toolkit will be for use in cities

Commissioned and published by pteg (Passenger Transport Executive Group) the toolkit aims to provide an easily accessible overview of the issues and options for tackling air pollution associated with transport.

pteg brings together the strategic transport bodies in in the six metropolitan areas outside London  – Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, the West Midlands and West Yorkshire. pteg is also a wider professional network for Britain’s largest urban transport authorities.

The toolkit is aimed at transport and planning professionals and explains the process that colleagues in air quality teams follow and who can contribute to it. It references existing work being done by the city region authorities, and contains an extensive library of measures and references. The toolkit demonstrates there is much that transport and planning can do to design a low emission transport system and provide opportunities for travelling in less polluting ways.

Transport

pteg’s Policy and Research Manager, Rebecca Fuller said, “With road traffic recognised as the biggest single contributor to two of the most harmful and widespread sources of air pollution, reducing the impact of transport on air quality is an important issue in the city regions. Transport and air quality need to work hand in hand, and this toolkit represents a step towards greater integration.”

The toolkit is designed to be used by a number of public authority areas – for transport teams and air quality professionals as well as planning and procurement functions.   It provides a guide though the decision process, looking at measures which reduce number of journeys taken, shift travel to less polluting modes or improve emissions through operational or technological developments such as introducing priority bus lanes or electric vehicles.

The second half of the toolkit contains a comprehensive list of transport options and interventions with their likely effectiveness and cost compared.  Actions include planning, procurement, development control and educational initiatives, with examples of good practice and case studies from across the UK.

Practical

pteg, the Passenger Transport Executive Group, has chosen Dr Jon Lamonte of Greater Manchester to succeed the outgoing pteg chair, David Brown, after his two year term

The Toolkit’s editor, and TTR’s energy & environment divisional manager, Tom Parker said, “This is a practical guide that unusually has something for everyone. It can help both transport and air quality teams in public authorities to decide what measures will be effective.”

“It is timely given recent European Court rulings on UK air quality and pressure on the UK government while making the case for action at city level. Road traffic is at its most concentrated and congested in cities and these are also the places where people are most at risk of exposure to air pollutants. It therefore makes sense to target action at the city level where air quality issues are most acute and where the most significant impacts could be achieved if a coordinated package were to be implemented.”

Useful links:

– PTEG
– The toolkit can be viewed at: Transport toolkit
– Transport & Travel Research Ltd (TTR)
– TRL