(11 Sep 2021, 11:11 am)Storx wrote In fairness, the North East is the poorest region in the North East. Having a tax which mostly affects poor people who can't afford anything more expensive is extremely unfair. It's alright in somewhere like London as it has an expansive public transport whereas up here it's not

Most the highest emissions in Newcastle were in spots where cars can't even drive down anyway or there's very few of them like Percy Street so they're not the cause of the high emissions mostly in Newcastle.

https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/sites/defau...R_2020.pdf - Data here. For example the highest in Newcastle (excluding one on the Coast Road (DT81)) is DT65 which is Blackett Street / Old Eldon Sq and there's only one thing which can be blamed there and it's why they're getting the charge.

I have sympathy for low earners that would be penalised by the AQMA scheme including private cars, but likewise this could penalise public transport users, when fares inevitably go up post-pandemic and we're reminded that it's due to X investment in vehicles, in order to meet the AQMA rules. 

Cars alone aren't the cause of congestion, but they do play a big part in it. Our roads and City Centres just aren't designed for the volumes of traffic they're now taking, and there needs to be a point where you try and flatten the trend.

Your observation about Blackett Street is a good one, and certainly there's been plenty of times I've seen congestion caused by a bus parked up with its back end hanging out, but just because there's very few cars on Percy Street and none at all on Blackett Street, doesn't mean that buses aren't getting stuck in traffic congestion elsewhere, causing them to run late and inevitably start grouping at stops. Of course, overprovision is also a big factor in this and I agree what Andreos1 has said. I'd like to see operators design networks that don't involve *everything* passing through or terminating in the City Centre. Its excessive, unnecessary and quite frankly part of the problem. It's also something that is intended to be tackled by BSIPs, so hopefully an opportunity to sort that out.

Buses and the Metro aren't perfect, there's barriers to people using them and there's a lot more work to do to encourage people to switch. Drivers need to see it as a realistic (and inexpensive) option to park just outside of the City Centre, then complete their journey by bus or Metro. It works well in Durham, because the P&R cost compared to parking makes it a no-brainer. 

Pollution and air quality remains a very real problem that needs tackling, and IMO not one that you can do selectively. Otherwise we end up in a position where we keep shrugging our shoulders and hoping that it'll deal with itself further down the line.