A Clean Air Zone (CAZ) exists in York and applies to local bus services only.
The CAZ restrictions do not apply to:
- coaches
- HGVs
- vans
- private cars
- taxis
The CAZ was introduced in January 2020 to improve local air quality. Following an initial 12 month ‘sunset’ period the zone has been fully operational since January 2021.
Restrictions apply to all local bus services making 5 or more entries into the CAZ area per day. Buses need to meet Euro VI emission standards as a minimum, or be fully electric.
An advisory for minimum emission standards applies to exempted vehicles (local buses making fewer than 5 entrances to the CAZ area per day). This was set at Euro V from January 2022, and will be Euro VI or electric from January 2024.
See definitions of emission standards for heavy-duty diesel engines (Euro I to Euro VI): DieselNet Emission Standards.
Clean Air Zone area
The CAZ area is the area of York contained within the inner ring road. The boundary of the CAZ area is marked with a green line on the area map.
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The streets within the area are the A1036 York Inner Ring Road, and all streets located within the A1036, including:
Bus fleet and service improvements
It remains an ambition to have an all-electric bus fleet within the city of York.
In March 2022 the council was awarded £8.4 million through the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas (ZEBRA) scheme fund to buy an additional 44 new electric buses. The DfT has since awarded the council an additional £1.8m to increase the scope of the ZEBRA scheme to fund a further 9 electric buses.
In April 2022 the council was awarded an additional £17 million to support the development of key schemes and initiatives in line with York’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, including:
- wider electrification of the urban bus fleet
- bus priority measures
- improvements to bus stops, shelters and passenger information