(09 Feb 2023, 9:26 pm)mb134 wrote My initial post was more a statement on how badly the council have implemented the CAZ.

Allowing large companies extensions past the already pushed back start date is mental. Nearly as mental as it not having any impact on private cars.

Totally agree. The Govt issued a direction on this back in 2017, so operators have had more than enough time to plan for this without needing exemptions. It's not just buses though, they've actually agreed that many local exemptions that it makes a mockery of the whole scheme: https://www.breathe-cleanair.com/local-exemptions

Hopefully they'll extend it to all vehicles in the very near future, because it feels a bit like trying to carry water in a paper bag at the moment.

(09 Feb 2023, 10:21 pm)Storx wrote The CAZ wasn't brought in by the choice of Newcastle / Gateshead Councils. It was forced by the government otherwise they were going to get fined.

They went for the option which affected the least people and hit the vehicles which cause the most problems.

Yep, always the Council's fault though, isn't it?  

They've gone for the least controversial option, rather than the option that is needed. They know they'll take the beating for whichever scheme was implemented, and as I've said previously on here, I think they'd have seen it as electoral suicide to go straight for an all vehicles scheme... despite it being what is required.

We'll continue to see people ignoring the science of why it's required, labelling it as a cash grab or whatever, but they're going to have to keep increasing the scope of the scheme until pollution in the City Centre is under control.