Yunex Traffic has been awarded a contract to design, supply and install a Clean Air Zone ANPR camera monitoring and enforcement solution across Sheffield City Centre.
The company says the introduction of the Class C Clean Air Zone follows research undertaken by the city council, which showed that air pollution contributes to around 500 deaths a year in Sheffield, with the largest cause of pollution being transport and diesel vehicles.
Yunex Traffic has worked closely with the council, the Department for Transport’s Joint Air Quality Unit and the other programme partners to develop a robust and reliable system that will improve air quality across the city centre. The Class C scheme will discourage drivers of the most polluting buses, coaches, taxis and goods vehicles from entering and encourage them to upgrade to cleaner, low or no emission vehicles.
Wilke Reints, Managing Director of Yunex Traffic UK, said: “It is well known that road vehicles are the most polluting form of transport in the UK, with a significant amount of work to be done to reduce emissions and create a cleaner and more sustainable road network.
“Following the research undertaken by Sheffield City Council, we are delighted to be working with the team to deliver a Clean Air Zone solution that meets the city’s specific needs. Once live in 2023, the Clean Air Zone will play a vital role in not only changing drivers’ behaviour, but ultimately reducing transport emissions and improving the health of those living and travelling in Sheffield.”
The company’s proven Sicore II ANPR cameras will be installed at 26 permanent locations across the city.
The cameras will identify and register every vehicle that enters the zone, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, with the information captured then being interfaced with the UK government’s national Clean Air Zone database for vehicle checking and payment. Money raised through penalty charges will only be used to cover the costs of operating the zone itself, to support owners of affected vehicles, and for other schemes to improve air quality.
Sicore ANPR cameras are proven in applications worldwide, with the ability to provide three-lane coverage with just a single camera, industry-leading image quality and number plate read accuracy. The system provides effective and robust enforcement, with its advanced technology and ease of installation making it cost-effective for residential, city, rural and motorway environments.
Wilke Reints concluded: “As the latest in a series of CAZ contracts to be awarded to Yunex Traffic, this is a further endorsement of our technology and broader capabilities, which are proven in projects worldwide to influence driver behaviour and improve air quality.”
(Picture – Yunex)
