LEZs for Scots cities delayed by Covid-19

Air Quality

The Scottish Government has dropped plans to introduce  low emission zones in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee before the end of the year because of Covid-19.

The three cities were developing plans to introduce LEZs initially covering buses only. They would be similar to Glasgow’s LEZ, which was introduced in December 2018 and increases each year the percentage of the bus fleet that must comply with the LEZ?standard. 

The decision to pause further work was made by the Low Emission Zone leadership group, which includes transport secretary Michael Matheson, climate change secretary Roseanna Cunningham and representatives from the four local authorities, Public Health Scotland and  SEPA. 

Matheson said: “The Scottish Government is fully committed to tackling air pollution in the quickest time possible. The unprecedented impact of the Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in necessary changes to priorities across government and across our local authority partners. 

“Similar to other initiatives across the public sector, we have come to the view that introducing low emission zones across our four biggest cities by the end of 2020 is no longer practicable. 

“We remain dedicated to introducing low emission zones across Scotland’s four biggest cities to reduce inequalities, improve our health and wellbeing and deliver sustainable economic growth.”