Birmingham CAZ is now in operation

Birmingham City Council has today (June 1) launched its new category D Clean Air Zone (CAZ).

After London and Bath, Birmingham is the newest city to launch a CAZ in a bid to drive down illegal and harmful levels of air pollution.

The Class D CAZ applies to all vehicles that do not meet the minimum emissions standards of Euro 6 for diesel and Euro 4 for petrol.

Restrictions apply to all roads within Birmingham’s A4540 Middleway Ring Road, except the ring road itself. The CAZ is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including bank holidays.

The council confirmed that it will introduce the zone through a ‘soft launch’. The council will not require drivers to pay the daily fee and they will not pursue enforcement until June 14, 2021.

Cllr Waseem Zaffar, cabinet member for transport and environment at Birmingham City Council, said: ‘After more than two years of planning, I’m delighted to launch Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone. This is a bold move that will help to address some significant health inequalities in our city. This is also an important step in encouraging people to re-think how we all move around the city.’

ClientEarth lawyer Katie Nield added: ‘Dirty air has been putting people in serious danger for too long. A Clean Air Zone in Birmingham is a major step forward in tackling the region’s toxic air problem and making the city a healthier and better place to live.

‘It’s important to remember that these schemes are put in place for a reason: to protect people’s health. Road transport is the biggest source of illegal pollution in our cities and CAZs are proven to be the most effective way to quickly reduce this pollution.

‘Birmingham has stepped up to the challenge and is doing the right thing. So it is essential that the UK government now plays its part. It needs to provide help and support to people and businesses – particularly those on low incomes and small businesses – so they can move to cleaner forms of transport.’