With enforcement of Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone just around the corner, activity is underway to prepare the city for its operation and to raise awareness of how it will work, according to Glasgow City Council.
From 1 June, all vehicles entering the zone area must meet the less-polluting emission standards or face a penalty charge.
Council teams have been overseeing operational planning of the LEZ, complemented by national work led by Transport Scotland across the four LEZ cities.
LEZ signage and road markings were put in place at the end of last year, covering all zone entry points. Complementary signage on the M8 has also now been installed to alert motorists exiting the motorway for the city centre.
Fixed enforcement infrastructure including camera poles and power supplies are now in-situ across twenty-three sites, with Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras set for installation later this month. Once the cameras are fitted, end-to-end testing of the enforcement infrastructure will follow.
Exemption lists will also be compiled, for both national exemptions such as emergency vehicles, and local exemptions, as appropriate.
In other developments, the application process for taxi operators who require extra time to meet LEZ requirements, opened last month. This will ensure that no public hire taxi should be unable to operate when LEZ enforcement begins on 1 June.
And, to make certain as many people as possible are prepared for the LEZ and how it might affect them, a ‘Plan Ahead for the LEZ’ awareness campaign started last December. This high-profile publicity campaign will continue up to and beyond enforcement, said the council.
Councillor Angus Millar, City Convener for Transport and Climate said: “Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone is an essential measure to tackle unacceptably high levels of harmful air pollution that has long persisted in the city centre.
“Ahead of full enforcement, installation of the necessary infrastructure to operate Glasgow’s LEZ is well underway, complemented by an awareness campaign which includes advertising on television and radio, building on previous publicity and engagement activities ongoing since 2018.
“Glasgow’s LEZ will be enforced by way of penalty charge from 1 June, so I would urge everyone to familiarise themselves with its requirements and to plan ahead.
“Generally, diesel vehicles registered after September 2015, and petrol vehicles registered from 2006 onwards will meet LEZ standards, however, to be certain you can enter your registration number into Transport Scotland’s online vehicle checker, details of which are on our LEZ webpages.”
The full roll-out of Glasgow’s LEZ follows the success of its first phase which saw the introduction of measures that has encouraged a shift to cleaner, low and zero emission buses travelling through the city centre and beyond.
The LEZ will operate continuously, covering an area of the city centre bounded by the M8 motorway to the north and west, the River Clyde to the south and Saltmarket/High Street to the east.
There are some exemptions, such as for blue badge holders, and zone residents have an extra year to prepare.
A report was brought before the council’s Net Zero Committee on 11 April 2023, providing details of work recently undertaken to prepare the city for the LEZ, and information on the next steps leading to enforcement. You can read the full report here.
