Tackling the West Midlands’ choking pollution is one of the key issues facing the new mayor after he or she is elected on Thursday.
Should we introduce a city centre congestion charge? Should we tax high-polluting diesel vehicles?
Or should we reduce the cost of public transport to entice motorists out of their cars?
What is clear is that the courts have recognised this is a public health crisis responsible for 40,000 deaths a year in the UK, and have told the Government to stop dragging its feet over the action.
In Birmingham there are dangerously high levels of the toxic nitrogen dioxide in the city centre and along the M6.
Children are particularly vulnerable and the Birmingham Mail has reported several times on alarming levels of pollutants in the air we breathe.
And while plans for a clean air zone – under which high-polluting commercial vehicles such as lorries and coaches will face a toxin tax to drive in the city centre – are being developed, the council says this may not bring Birmingham’s pollution down to safe levels. More must be done.
The British Lung Foundation’s West Midlands manager Sarah Gray said: “Dirty air is an invisible danger. The new mayor must put in place ambitious policies to lower traffic emissions in polluted areas.
“Everyone across the West Midlands has a right to breathe clean air with healthy lungs.”
Transport policy will play a massive part in encouraging people to get out of their cars and ease congestion. As well as the risk to health, the region’s city centres and motorways are all too often, and too easily, jammed when there are breakdowns or accidents. But often an incident is not even needed to cause chaos – the sheer volume of traffic is enough to bring the region to a standstill.
All candidates are signed up to massive investment in public transport, including the roll-out of new Metro lines and extensions, and the re-opening of major rail lines to passengers, including the Camp Hill Chords, Sutton Park and Walsall-Stourbridge lines.
Much of this funding has already been agreed as a spin-off from the HS2 high-speed rail development.
The candidates have also all pledged to increase funding for cycling initiatives to £10 per head, including a coherent cycle network across the region and Boris Bike-style bicycle loan schemes. There are also various pledges to lower the cost of bus and train travel and further improve smart card and contactless access across rail and buses.
Matt Finch of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank said: “There’s very little reference in any manifesto to things that have worked elsewhere, other than London.
“This puzzles me. If a policy has worked in a region, why not copy it?
“For instance, in Norway electric vehicles are allowed in bus lanes and don’t have to pay tolls on motorways.
“As a result of these and other policies, electric vehicles account for about a third of new sales, and emissions from transport are dropping rapidly.”
The manifesto pledges
SION SIMON
Labour
- Says he would double the size of the Metro tram network.
- Will lobby the Government to nationalise the M6 Toll road – or open it up for free.
- Wants to establish a ride-share app and scheme to encourage more use of bike hire and car shares.
- Pledges to back low-carbon industry and wants more electric charging points.
JAMES BURN
Green
- The most climate-friendly manifesto with an energy and environment section.
- Has set ambitious target of 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions 20 years ahead of UK target.
- Would introduce smart road charging in areas where there is good public transport and use this to fund further public transport development..
- Wants to bring in an electric car sharing scheme.
- Backing for green technology industry, including electric vehicles.
ANDY STREET
Conservative
- Has talked of raising toxin taxes for the highest-polluting vehicles in our congested city centres but explicitly rules out a London-style universal congestion charge.
- Wants an incentive scheme for HGVs to use the M6 Toll road at peak times, relieving congestion on the M6, which is often at a standstill.
- Plans more promotion for low-carbon businesses, driverless car technology and more electric vehicles.
BEVERLEY NIELSEN
Liberal Democrat
- Wants the introduction of a cycling tsar to promote greener travel throughout the region.
- Plans a Beverley’s bike scheme, borrowing from London’s Boris Bikes hire scheme.
- Free bus passes for all once a month as a way of encouraging more use of public transport.
GRAHAM STEVENSON
Communist
- Congestion-busting measures include working with business to encourage flexible and home working.
- Wants to make public transport cheap, available, and attractive.
- A scrappage scheme paying car drivers to end the life of old bangers, and toxicity charges on polluting vehicles.
- More charging zones for electric vehicles.
PETE DURNELL
UKIP
- Improve the quality of live transport information available to motorists to help them avoid congestion.
- Review and adopt measures for improving traffic flows
- Upgrade tow paths and paths on waterways to create cycle routes
