We are working in partnership to make Oxfordshire a greener, fairer and healthier county. The zero-emission zone in Oxford city offers one more step to achieving our vision.
In the 1800s, serious outbreaks of cholera blighted the city until the public authorities acted and cleaned up the water supply.
Until the late 1900s, the sumptuous Cotswold glow of the historic buildings was rendered black with soot, until public authorities enforced the Clean Air Act and they were cleaned.
Right now, the air in the city centre is beginning to be scoured of the invisible pollutants that cause serious health problems. At least one in 17 deaths in Oxford is related to air pollution, and the largest contributors are the internal combustion engines in our cars, vans, buses and lorries.
“At least one in 17 deaths in Oxford is related to air pollution”
Congestion and pollution hit residents on lower incomes hard, as they are more likely to live in areas of the city most badly affected and are least likely to own a car.
The newly launched zero-emission zone (ZEZ), in the heart of our beloved city, aims to help with this, and is one of a series of measures designed to tackle four significant challenges:
- Climate emergency: this is the hardest thing civilisation has ever faced – our natural world is our life-support system.
- Pollution: idling cars and traffic congestion create a build-up of harmful air pollutants that affect our air quality, our environment and, ultimately, our health.
- Congestion: in 2019, we passed four billion total miles driven for the first time in Oxfordshire. While cars have increased our personal mobility, they have also resulted in major congestion, contributing to the climate emergency and making public transport harder to function efficiently.
- Safety: congested roads make it harder for cyclists and pedestrians to travel safely around our town and city centres.
We know our challenge is to support people to get around safely while eliminating pollution and congestion, so our vision is to create a zero-carbon transport network in Oxfordshire.
If we achieve this, it will help towards our climate goals.
The Oxford ZEZ will play a role, but we are also bidding for a new fleet of electric buses and taking urgent measures to improve our cycle infrastructure.
We can only deliver our vision by working in partnership with other councils and organisations, local businesses and residents.
We launched our ZEZ pilot in February, in a small area of the historic heart of Oxford. What we learn from the pilot will help us to expand the ZEZ and encourage more residents and businesses to switch to low or zero-emission vehicles.
Many have already started using bike and electric delivery vehicles to expand their businesses while reducing emissions. Please come and visit Oxford’s legendary Covered Market if you want to see what is possible.
In fact, just come to Oxford – it is a magical city full of possibility, set within a vibrant, diverse and innovative county.
We may be starting small with our pilot, but our big ambition is that Oxfordshire will become the greenest, fairest and healthiest it has been for some time.