LEZs have not made much difference to city air quality - Iain Whyte
Edinburgh’s pointless Low Emission Zone (LEZ), imposed by the SNP Scottish Government and the left-wing parties on the council, could keep residents debating for years.
I am loathe to return to the topic, but we saw more nonsense peddled about it this week in the Evening News.
Donald Anderson, an old political sparring partner of mine from his time as council leader, praised it on Tuesday and took up a cause championed by a few in the Old Town who bemoan that some older buses are allowed in as “historic vehicles” for bus tours.
Donald admitted himself that the odd classic car will have negligible effect on air quality, but forgot that two or three buses - even seven days a week – will have the same minimal effect.
What he inadvertently spotted is that even fully compliant modern buses remain an issue. Retired Edinburgh air quality specialist John Lamb keeps exposing this (@JohnfaeScotland on X/Twitter).
He has shown from the council’s own 2022 data that the 37,600 vehicles a day on Queensferry Road created a nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration of 26 µg/m3.
Meanwhile, on Shandwick Place, where private vehicles are banned, the 2155 buses and taxis created a higher concentration of 28 µg/m3 of NO2.
For comparison, in 2019 before the car ban, Shandwick Place had 14,600 mixed vehicles a day and the NO2 concentration was 37 µg/m3 – it has dropped but not that much.
Until they are all electric, a single bus will create far more pollution than many cars and our worst pollution hotspots will remain.
The good news is that Edinburgh’s air quality is already approaching the cleanliness of background countryside levels and we met the LEZ objective on statutory air quality before it was even introduced.
Where Donald was wrong was when he said old car users could “pay for the privilege” of entering the LEZ. In truth they are fined very heavily compared with the low access fee for English LEZs.
The truth is that this is a policy implemented by those who hate the concept of private vehicles and the individual freedom they bring.
Cllr Iain Whyte, Craigentinny/Duddingston Ward and leader of the Conservative group