Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan to tackle nitrogen dioxide exceedances at the roadside

Like many areas across the country, Greater Manchester has higher levels of air pollution on some local roads. Poor air quality has negative impacts on health, the environment and society.

Greater Manchester (GM) is under direction from government to develop a Clean Air Plan to meet legal limits for nitrogen dioxide on local roads in the shortest possible time and by 2026 at the latest.

The proposed GM investment-led Clean Air Plan does NOT include a charging Clean Air Zone, but would bring air quality within legal limits faster than a Clean Air Zone – and without causing hardship to residents or businesses.

If approved by government, the Clean Air Plan would use government funding already awarded to the city region for:

• A fleet of zero emissions electric buses, along with new charging infrastructure and upgrading some older buses to the latest (Clean Air Zone compliant) engine standard;
• Financial support to help GM licensed taxi/ private hire vehicles upgrade to meet minimum emission standards by the end of 2025, including help for Hackneys to upgrade to a zero emission vehicle;
• Local measures to manage traffic flow and improve air quality on some roads in the centre of Manchester and Salford.

If the government approves the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan no vehicle would be charged to drive in a Clean Air Zone in Greater Manchester.

You can keep up to date on developments with the Clean Air Plan and sign up for updates at cleanairgm.com

This page was last updated on 29 November 2024