By: Greg Slater, data analyst
Air pollution varies dramatically across London, which means not all schoolchildren have the same start in life.
Using a powerful new dataset, we found that pollution is significantly higher at primary schools with more students from deprived areas, as well as at schools with a higher proportion of students of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) background. With vehicles a major contributor, pollution is also unsurprisingly elevated closest to the cities’ main roads.
Damaging health
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution is a toxic chemical cocktail that includes nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Road transport – especially diesel vehicles – is a major source of NOx, which can inflame airways and aggravate existing heart and lung conditions.
In fact, recent research shows living near busy roads in London, where NOx pollution is high, may stunt lung growth in children by 12.5%.
Stark inequity
New data from the Breathe London pilot project has allowed us to look at the estimated level of NOx pollution at every London state primary school in 2019.
Our analysis reveals that air pollution does not affect all schoolchildren equally, with children from deprived neighbourhoods exposed to more pollution. When examining the deprivation level (a measure that incorporates a broad range of living conditions, including income, health and access to resources), we found that average NOx levels at schools with pupils attending from the most deprived areas were 27% higher than those at schools with pupils attending from the least deprived areas.
Reversing Car Dependency | ITF
Register here to join us for a 90-minute webinar presenting the findings of the report on 16 March 2021, at 16:00 CET.
Managing the growth of urban traffic is vital for improving the liveability of our cities. This report examines how governments can encourage citizens to use alternatives to private cars in order to reduce car dependency, regardless of how they are powered or who drives them. The report analyses fiscal policies and other instruments for managing urban traffic and correcting current policy biases that favour automobile travel over more sustainable and affordable transport options. It also reviews international experience in co-ordinating transport planning with land-use development and in allocating space to walking and cycling in order to make transport more efficient and streets less congested.
Low traffic neighbourhoods and population health | The BMJ
Evidence shows powerful local improvements
Car use harms health, the environment, and society in many ways. In 2019, 1752 people were killed by vehicle collisions in Great Britain, with another 25 945 seriously injured.1 Motor traffic is also a major contributor to air pollution, which is estimated to cause 28 000-36 000 deaths in the UK annually.2Traffic noise pollution is an under-recognised health harm, associated with increased risk of stroke and premature death.3 Car travel increases sedentary time and is a major opportunity cost in terms of the physical and mental health gains that could have been achieved by walking or cycling instead. This is before we consider the urgent need to decarbonise our transport system to mitigate climate crisis.
Reallocating road space
The covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns have substantially disrupted travel patterns. With public transport capacity considerably reduced, and seeking to avoid a car based recovery, the UK government in May 2020 announced £250m (€290m; $350m) in emergency active travel funding and encouraged local authorities to reallocate road space from cars to walking and cycling.
Roads, Runways and Resistance: Steve Melia – Youtube
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Roads, Runways and Resistance draws on over 50 interviews with government ministers, advisors and protestors – many of whom, including ‘Swampy’, speak here for the first time about the events they describe
Drivers must pay £690 to park outside own homes in plan to cut pollution | The Times
Fears that other local authorities will follow suit
Motorists face charges of up to £690 a year to park near their homes in an effort to cut pollution.
A London borough is planning to drive up fees for permits in controlled parking zones to what is believed to be the most expensive in the UK.
Permits for the most polluting cars will cost up to £540 in areas of Merton covered by round-the-clock controlled parking zones in addition to the existing £150 charge for all diesel vehicles and older petrol cars. All annual visitors’ permits will increase to £690.
Our Land In The Crisis – XR Actions Talk – Nick Haynes & Guy Shrubsole – Youtube
16/02/21 How our land has been privatised for short term profit and
SUVs and extra traffic cancelling out electric car gains in Britain | The Guardian
Rajeev Syal Fri 26 Feb 2021
Carbon emissions from passenger cars across Britain have fallen by just 1% since 2011, despite a steep rise in the sale of electric and hybrid vehicles, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has said.
The National Audit Office said the popularity of sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and an increase in road traffic were among factors that have cancelled out expected reductions from low-emission car sales.
Its report concludes that the government has a long way to go to achieve its target for almost all cars to emit no carbon by 2050.
Ministers have announced plans to restrict the sale of new cars that are powered solely by petrol or diesel by 2030 in an effort to cut emissions from the 67.9m tonnes of CO2 equivalent emitted by cars in 2018 – nearly a fifth of the UK’s total emissions. From 2035, only zero-emission cars will be sold.
In a 2013 strategy paper, the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) forecast that carbon emissions from cars would fall by 10 million tonnes between 2010 and 2020.
Auditors examined data from the Department for Transport and found that average emissions from new cars fell by 13% between 2011 and 2016 but increased by 6% between 2016 and 2019.
Cycling UK takes court action over “unlawful” cycle lane removal – Cycle Industry News
Mark Sutton25 February, 2021
Cycling UK has upped the pressure on “irrational” opposition of cycling schemes with the announcement that it will take legal action over West Sussex County Council’s decision to remove a popular cycle lane introduced during the lockdown.
The charity applied for a judicial review on Wednesday against the removal of the Upper Shoreham Road scheme, which had been well received, in particular by parents of local schools and nurseries. Evidence collected showed that over 30,000 bicycle journeys were made on the route during its short tenure; the less than two months spanning September 25th to November 24th.
What’s more, the cycling charity has referred the council to its own evidence that there was no negative impact on journey times, nor air quality as a result of the installation, which was primarily made up of wands segregating cyclists from the bulk of the traffic.
Taking Grant Shapps’ walking and cycling targets seriously – transportxtra
Greater Manchester lines up ten Low Traffic Neighbourhoods
Mark Sutton25 February, 2021
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and its local councils have approved the design of ten Active Neighbourhood schemes (also known as Low Traffic Neighbourhoods) across the Greater Manchester city region.
The project involves design and engineering agents Arup and active travel organisation Sustrans working closely with residents and other stakeholders to design an Active Neighbourhood scheme in each of the Greater Manchester local authority areas.