The Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership has launched a Good Practice Guide for Local Measures to Encourage the Uptake of Low Emission Vehicles.
A key recommendation is that policy measures implemented at the local level should be consistent with each other, that common definitions and vocabulary for low emission vehicles should be established.
With the twelve cities shortlisted for the £35m Go Ultra Low City scheme now preparing their final bids, the Guide provides a wide range of options that bidders may employ.
Released to coincide with the LowCVP’s 2015 Annual Conference which featured a discussion on mobility in future cities, the LowCVP has identified five ‘P’s from the Guide – levers that local authorities can most effectively use to influence low emission vehicle uptake at the local level:
• Parking – discounts for LEVs or dedicated bays
• Permits – discounts for LEVs to operate in low emission zones and for residents; preferential permits for LEV taxis
• Planning – embedding consideration for LEV fuelling infrastructure into local development
• Procurement – local authorities specifying LEVs for their own fleets and setting leading standards for their service providers
• Promotion – of the benefits to business and via educational activity within the local community.
The five ‘Ps’ are amongst the most powerful of the range of options available to local policy makers as levers to stimulate local LEV uptake. Light duty vehicles – cars, vans & taxis – contribute much of the air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in towns and cities across the UK. Low emission vehicles have a critical role to play in addressing these two challenges and in contributing to sustainable transport systems. Action taken at the local level can be instrumental in complementing national policies by making LEVs more convenient, cost effective and desirable to use.
This Good Practice Guide aims to assist local and city authorities in understanding a broad range of policy measures and initiatives that can be utilised to encourage the uptake of LEVs. The Guide – published to a timescale intended to benefit the bidders for the £35m available from OLEV’s Go Ultra Low City scheme – covers 12 distinct areas including planning; procurement; taxis and private hire vehicles; parking and infrastructure provision.
