The air that we all breathe is cleaner than it was in November 2022. Nitrogen dioxide pollution is down by ten percent across Bristol and is almost 13 percent lower inside the Clean Air Zone (CAZ). Outside the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Children’s Hospital, nitrogen dioxide is down by around 20 percent. And almost nine in ten journeys through the CAZ are now in compliant vehicles, up from a year ago.

The Clean Air Zone remains a blunt instrument from national government, who take £2 from every £9 charge paid by motorists, but, thanks to the support package that we negotiated from Westminster, it is working. Millions of pounds of support has been paid out to Bristol residents and businesses to help them upgrade to cleaner vehicles.

During the same period, my administration has proudly opened our city’s first new train station in almost a century, with another one on track to open this summer. We have driven forward ambitious plans for the future of transport in Bristol through a transformational mass transit system. We have continued to invest in active travel, completing pedestrianisation schemes inside and outside of the Clean Air Zone. After securing millions of pounds over previous years to retrofit buses in Bristol, these cleaner vehicles have seen passenger numbers rise despite challenges. And despite fears that air pollution might be displaced across the CAZ boundary, it has fallen across our city.

In the face of a national cost of living crisis, where everyone continues to feel the squeeze, footfall in Bristol city centre has stayed steady – even increasing by 16 percent at St Nick’s Market! This is testament to the dynamism and increasing diversity of our city centre’s offer, which will be seen again in just a few weeks when hundreds of thousands of people visit the Bristol Light Festival.

Some people called for the Clean Air Zone to start before we had secured a penny of support to help people to upgrade their vehicles. We were right to keep working for Bristol, including to secure exemptions for over 350,000 journeys in the first four months of the scheme’s operation, to help smooth the transition.

And, while some people have called for a charging Clean Air Zone to cover the whole city, like the majority of fellow Bristolians, I remain convinced that is a road best not taken. The CAZ was never about making money for the council: it was about clean air. If our progress cleaning up our air continues, then, in the not-too-distant future, the CAZ should come to an end

Marvin Rees, the Mayor of Bristol

Clean air is important in helping reduce the risk of respiratory issues and infections such as asthma, lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Air pollution can also contribute to other health issues like depression.

I am delighted to see that the Clean Air Zone is already making a huge difference to Bristol’s air quality, which will have a positive impact on residents’ health now and in the future.

Our children, grandchildren, and beyond, will benefit from the cleaner air that we are all delivering through changing vehicle use and our active travel.

Christina Gray, Director of Communities and Public Health at Bristol City Council