From electric streets to hydrogen vans: Here’s how six London neighbourhoods plan to improve air quality
The mayor and Transport for London (TfL) have announced £1.4m in funding for six "neighbourhoods of the future" that will aim to tackle London's air quality troubles at a local level.
The funding will be matched by £1.1m from the London boroughs involved and Heathrow airport, as the areas aim to combine green tech with other initiatives to work on cutting down on pollution.
The goal is to give Londoners the confidence to switch to more environmentally friendly vehicles and work with businesses to bring new tech to market faster.
Read more: Mayor issues air quality alert: Here are the boroughs set to be worst hit
The successful six neighbourhoods of the future are, drum roll please…
| The neighbourhoods | What they're proposing… |
| Hammersmith & City | – A zero emission zone for the town centre with charge points for electric vehicles – Improvements to public space and sustainable urban drainage |
| Heathrow | – A trial of one of the UK's first hydrogen-diesel powered vans to support the reduction of emissions from the airport's day-to-day operations |
| City Fringe (Hackney, Islington and Tower Hamlets) | – The creation of electric streets with a concentration of charging points and electric vehicle-only parking |
| Harrow |
– Training mechanics to service ultra-low emission vehicles – Local businesses will trial the use of electric vehicle fleets |
| Haringey | – The trial of clean energy charging schemes, including a rapid charging taxi rank |
| Croydon & Sutton | – Electric vans and trucks will be loaned to businesses to reduce pollution caused by high levels of construction in Croydon town centre |
Shirley Rodrigues, deputy mayor for environment and energy, said: "Tackling London’s poor air quality is a public health emergency that requires bold action at all levels of government. These six innovative schemes will play a direct role cleaning the up toxic air in neighbourhoods across London, and could lead the way for similar schemes across the UK."
The mayor has already announced a commitment of investing £875m over the next five years to improving the quality of London's air.
Read more: The mayor is doubling funding on cleaning up London's air
The majority of this will go into extending his proposed ultra-low emission zone, greening the capital's bus fleet and bringing in an emissions surcharge.
Yesterday, he issued air quality alerts across the capital with moderate pollution expected until the weekend across 17 boroughs.