Ahead of Edinburgh's Low Emission Zone coming into force on June 1, 2024, here is all you need to now about how it will work.
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00:00 Edinburgh's low emission zone will come into force on Saturday, June 1st, which means that
00:07 from that date all cars, vans and other vehicles which do not meet strict emission standards
00:14 will be banned from a big chunk of the city centre. It will operate continuously, 24 hours
00:20 a day, 365 days a year.
00:26 The aim is to reduce harmful emissions which can have a serious impact on the very young,
00:31 the very old and people with certain underlying health conditions.
00:39 The 1.2 square mile area covered by the ban extends from Queen Street in the New Town
00:44 to Melville Drive on the other side of the meadows and from Palmerston Place in the west
00:50 to Abbey Hill and the Pleasants in the east.
00:55 The vehicles which don't meet the required standard and are therefore banned are most
01:00 diesel cars and vans registered before September 2015 and most petrol cars and vans registered
01:07 before January 2006. But it's definitely worth using the online vehicle checker to
01:13 make sure about your own vehicle. This Volkswagen Polo was okay even though it dates back to
01:19 2001.
01:20 Taxis, private hire vehicles, HGVs, buses and coaches which do not meet Euro 6 emission
01:27 standards are also banned but motorcycles and mopeds are not affected and there are
01:33 some exemptions including emergency vehicles and vehicles for people with disabilities.
01:39 Automatic number plate recognition cameras will be used inside the zone to check whether
01:44 vehicles are entitled to be there but the council is not saying where the cameras are
01:49 located.
01:51 If a banned vehicle is caught inside the zone motorists face a fine of £60, half to £30
01:57 if it's paid within 30 days, but if drivers do it again within 90 days the penalty doubles
02:04 each time to a maximum of £480 for cars and light goods vehicles and £960 for heavy duty
02:12 vehicles.
02:14 To make it easier for motorists with non-compliant vehicles to move around without entering the
02:18 zone the council has made changes to some roads.
02:22 Morrison Street is now two-way to all traffic between Dewar Place and Turfishan Street and
02:27 a right-hand turn has also been added from the Morrison Link to Morrison Street eastbound.
02:36 At Toll Cross a diversion route for non-compliant vehicles will allow traffic to turn right
02:41 from Holm Street to Broome Street and in the Old Town a new right turn filter has been
02:49 added from the Pleasance allowing vehicles to turn right into Holyrood Road.
02:58 So ultimately the aim of the LEZ of course is to improve air quality in Edinburgh and
03:03 for most of us the air is perfectly fine but if you're younger, older or have a certain
03:09 health condition it can really impact on your life day to day, your quality in the city.
03:14 So the aim is just really to improve it.
03:16 Critics sometimes say that we're already meeting most of the emissions standards and
03:22 therefore it's not really necessary.
03:24 So that's a fair question.
03:26 Coming out of Covid the latest data which is still impacted a little bit by the way
03:31 we're living due to Covid shows that by and large we are meeting the minimum requirements
03:36 set by the Scottish Government.
03:37 So they're just a minimum requirement but what we're not meeting is guidelines set by
03:43 the World Health Organisation.
03:44 And you know so charities who work in this sector and the NHS itself fully support us
03:50 implementing the LEZ here in Edinburgh because the benefits it's going to bring.
03:55 And then critics on the other side say that it's just a small area that's actually going
03:58 to be covered by the zone and therefore it's not really tackling the biggest problem.
04:04 For example Christophane, St John's Road isn't included.
04:09 So again that's a fair criticism.
04:11 For some people the zone's too big, for others it's too small, the standard's too high or
04:17 it's too low.
04:19 And I think what we have is probably the least worst option if you like and it's a starting
04:24 point.
04:25 I think certainly in the years to come it may well be that the council with the need
04:29 to change, I think the need for support from the Scottish Government, we could change the
04:33 scale of the LEZ or we could perhaps make it stricter.
04:38 I don't think it's unforeseeable that over the next decade or so we might move to a city
04:42 centre or even a city where it's EVs only.
04:47 And so it's coming soon now, do you think that people are aware that it is happening?
04:52 I think our feeling inside the council is that public perception is quite high and people
04:57 are coming to terms with it.
04:59 We know that certainly at the very least petrol vehicles now, well over 90% of them are compliant.
05:06 We've looked at a number of exemptions, we've given exemptions to two vehicles in total
05:11 so far.
05:12 So it seems that people are asking the right questions, they're preparing.
05:16 So yes I think Edinburgh's ready for it, ready for that improvement in air quality.
05:19 Thank you.