Podcast: Transport Scotland on their new Low Emission Zones

The latest episode of the Air Quality News Podcast is now live.

In this episode, editor Chloe Coules speaks to Vincent McInally, Environment and Air Quality Manager at Transport Scotland about the newly introduced Low Emission Zones in four major Scottish cities.

Vincent led on work to develop the Low Emission Zones on behalf of Scottish Ministers. ‘What is really different about the Scottish Low Emission Zones compared with probably anywhere else is that there is no ability to pay and enter,’ explains McInally.

‘If your vehicle is non complaint, you should not be bringing it in. If you do get found within a zone in a non-complaint vehicle and it’s not exempt, you get given a fixed penalty notice and that’s £60 when you first get caught.’

When asked why Transport Scotland has taken a non-charging approach, Vincent tells Chloe: ‘We did not want to see businesses or particularly wealthy individuals looking on this as just a cost they could incur to bring in a high-polluting vehicle.’

Vincent also tells Air Quality News what impact we can expect the Low Emission Zones to have on air quality in Scotland.

‘Nobody expects the low emission zones to be the silver bullet that will do everything, and all the local authorities are aware of that. They are probably the single most important or significant action that any of these local authorities will have taken to reduce pollution since the Clean Air Act came in and they were able to ban the burning of coal in the cities, this will be the single most important measure since then,’ argues McInally.

‘I think it will be as significant as the lead being removed from petrol in terms of the difference we should see with [the Low Emission Zones] being introduced in these cities,’ he adds.

This podcast is brought to you in association with Vortex IOT, who are now part of Marston Holdings. Together, they are offering end-to-end decarbonising solutions that reduce air pollution for their clients. For more information please visit www.vortexiot.com