Delegates to the Transport News Clean Air event held at the Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh in October were told enforcement of the newly introduced clean air zones will commence in Glasgow from June 2023, while the other cities - Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen - will start issuing fines for non-compliance 12 months later.
Vincent McInally, Air Quality and Environment Manager for Transport Scotland explained the clean air zones were introduced across the four Scottish cities in May 2022, but all city authorities were able to exercise a grace period of up to two years before penalty charges were issued. “Glasgow will introduce penalty charging from 01 June 2023,” he said. “While Dundee has opted to start on 30 May 2024 and both Aberdeen and Edinburgh from 01 June 2024.”
The new clean air regulation mean trucks have to be Euro-VI compliant to enter the zones (typically a tight one-square mile area in the city centre) and with the exception of a small number of exemptions non-compliant vehicles will be issued with a penalty charge notice of £60 for a first time offence, increasing up to £960 per vehicle for repeat offenders: “There is no option to pay to enter the zones,” McInally explained. ”We do not want non-compliant vehicles in the cities.”
