Reluctant acceptance: Exploring implementation and contextual factors influencing the acceptability of a newly implemented low emission zone in a UK urban setting

Low emission zones (LEZ), known as Clean Air Zones (CAZ) in England, aim to improve air quality by restricting the movement of the most polluting vehicles in urban areas. Despite their increasing deployment across European cities, they remain a contentious policy amongst populations, with suggestions that they have adverse impacts, such as an inequitable impact on different communities. Few studies have explored how communities and businesses are impacted by the introduction of a CAZ. The current study explored adaptations made and attitudes towards the Bradford CAZ in the first year of implementation. Semi-structed interviews were conducted with 20 workers in professions which had the potential to be directly affected by the CAZ (e.g. bus and taxi firms, local tradespeople), and eight diverse focus groups held with 51 residents, between March – August 2023. Thematic analysis identified key themes inductively. Overall, respondents suggested that the CAZ worked as intended, encouraging businesses to upgrade vehicles. Mitigations such as exemptions and grants were used, but were not felt to be enough to support smaller businesses. The majority of participants supported the CAZ, but there were strong negative attitudes including dissatisfaction with how the intervention worked, feelings of unfairness, lack of trust in those implementing the intervention and issues with the communication of the policy. Policies such as CAZ operate within a complex system and it is important to systematically capture wider impacts, both positive and negative. Ultimately, these factors impact on political popularity, which will in turn influence the likely continued implementation of such policies at scale.