Transport and air quality

The main causes of poor air quality in our city are from road transport and congestion which, in addition to costing the local economy hundreds of millions of pounds every year is giving rise to a significant public health issue that is comparable with smoking. Unfortunately, given the microscopic nature of most of the particles that are emitted by road transport, the impact can be and has been overlooked for many years.

It is important to be clear about the scale of the public health problem we face from the travel choices currently being made. That is, while road traffic collisions account for around three fatalities in Newcastle in an average year, the impacts of poor air quality are responsible for hundreds of deaths.

To address this issue we have been working on a plan to improve air quality.