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Station Parade taxi rank has worst air quality in Harrogate district

Harrogate's air quality deteriorated in 2015, according to the Borough Council's May 2016 air quality report. The worst single location for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution is the taxi rank on Station Parade, Harrogate.

Concentrations of NO2 have increased at the majority of locations where monitoring takes place across the district. This could be partly because there was more traffic than ever before in 2015.

Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) already has two air quality management areas (AQMAs), declared because the sites breach average annual NO2 limits. They are Bond End, Knaresborough, and Low & High Skellgate, Ripon. Now, two more will have to be declared because of the results of monitoring in 2015 - Woodlands pub, Wetherby Road, Harrogate, and York Place, Knaresborough.

The report's executive summary says, 'there are no other pollutants or areas of concern across the district...' However, another part of the report states that particulate matter isn't measured at all, so it's hard to understand how a judgment can be made as to whether it is a concern or not. According to page 6, local authorities are expected to work towards reducing emissions and concentrations of PM 2.5 - harmful particulate matter, which can cause allergic reactions, cardiovascular disease, and death. 

Actions to reduce NO2

Where there is an AQMA, the local authority has to prepare an action plan, aimed at improving air quality. According to the report, one action being taken is to reduce emissions from buses. In October 2015, Harrogate Borough Council (HBC) applied for funding under the Clean Bus Technology Fund (CBTF), and was awarded £237,000 of funding to fit Transdev's buses on the No.1 route from Harrogate to Knaresborough with selective catalytic reduction technology. This reduces NOx emissions. The project should be completed by the end of 2016.

Another action is to look at emissions from HBC's own vehicles. A new transport manager will be asked to consider introducing low-emissions vehicles into the fleet. This action is in the planning stage until December 2016, and is in any case expected to reduce pollution by less than 5%. 

A planning policy is to be created, but because it is to be a Yorkshire-wide document, it has been delayed. It is hoped it might result in a reduction in pollution of 5-10% sometime after the policy is finalised in June 2017.

Optimistically, traffic signal improvements are slated to reduce pollution by 5-10% by September 2018. Cycle route improvements are in the 'less than 5%' category. A North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) app, Smarter Travel Choices - which I can't find - is due to reduce pollution in the AQMAs by 5-10%, which seems incredible.

Actions to reduce PM 2.5

A section of the report setting out HBC's approach to PM 2.5 lists some more actions. A local bus company has introduced two electric buses. Harrogate Car Share Scheme is being relaunched, and the road signs promoting it are being replaced. Travel plans and school travel may also have an impact.

Data tables in the report

There are tables of data, showing the average annual NO2 concentrations at different sites over 2015, with the figures for the 4 previous years for comparison. Concentrations of NO2 should not exceed an average of 40 micrograms per cubic metre.

The diffusion tube (used to measure NO2) on the Woodlands pub, Wetherby Road, Harrogate gave an average reading of 48.36. The tube at the taxi rank on Station Parade, Harrogate, recorded an average of 51.80, which means it has the worst air quality of any site measured in the district - and yet from the report, it appears that this is not to become an AQMA. 

Some questions

It's disappointing to see air quality getting worse.

Unanswered questions

The report provides interesting information, but there are questions it doesn't answer. Particulate matter isn't monitored at all, so there may be high concentrations damaging the health of local people which we simply don't know about. Also, not all relevant locations are covered. Anecdotally, I would say that the air quality on Otley Road, from the Prince of Wales roundabout towards Harlow Carr, is awful, but no monitoring is carried out there.

Station Parade taxi rank

I don't understand why the worst-polluted location in the district, the Station Parade taxi rank in Harrogate, is not one of the new AQMAs. It seems to me that some steps ought to be taken to clean up this site, for the health of everyone, including the taxi drivers themselves - who certainly don't create all the pollution themselves, as Station Parade is a busy road, and the taxi rank is very close to the bus station.

Some thoughts on solving the problem

Serious and significant action is being taken. Real money is being spent on cleaning up the buses on the number 1 route. Some changes may be made to HBC's fleet, but that is still uncertain. Relying on an app for a pollution reduction of up to 10%, on the other hand, seems far-fetched.

HBC seems to be taking the problem seriously, but I can't imagine that the council or anyone else believes that the actions set out in the report will be enough to solve the problem. HBC is taking action in the areas it controls, but buses and council vehicles are a tiny proportion of the total of vehicles on the road in Harrogate.

Changing travel habits

For quite a lot of local people, driving is the default option for getting anywhere - even, for example, one mile into town, to school, or to work. This is legal, but in the context of local air pollution problems, and a wider problem with our climate, it isn't a sensible travel solution.

We need to make it safer, more convenient, and more enjoyable for local people to walk or cycle, on short journeys. As a subjective observation, I would say that I am seeing more girls and boys, and women and men of all ages, going to school, to town, or commuting to work, by bike.

We also need to recognise that driving wherever you want, whenever you want, isn't a neutral activity. It has an impact on the health of everyone who lives here. Ideally, there should be a change in attitude, where people accept that it's better for everyone if vehicles are kept out of some areas, like shopping streets, which then become nicer places to visit on foot. If you get out of the habit of driving everywhere, and get into the habit of walking or cycling, it makes you feel good, and is far less frustrating, as you're unlikely to get stuck in jams.

Diesel vehicles

Part of the solution, too, is to make diesel vehicles less polluting. Our local MP Andrew Jones is a minster in the Department for Transport. So far, the reaction of the DfT to the VW scandal has been a version of Sir Humphrey's (Yes Minister) 'masterful inaction'. In fact, it's worse, as the government lobbied in Europe to weaken standards for diesel vehicles. 

New standards for on-road emissions are due to come into force in September 2017, when vehicles which emit more than double the amount of NO2 on the road as in the lab will be banned from sale. In the meantime, new diesel vehicles can emit far more NO2 in real life than under test conditions. An Emissions Analytics report dated 24th August 2016 shows that the VW Tiguan diesel has real-world emissions consistent with those produced in the lab. In contrast the Hyundai i40 and Santa Fe both emit 8 times - 8 times!!! - the laboratory (Euro 6) test limit; and the Renault Megane and Espace diesels emit 12 times - 12 times!!!! - the lab limit. 

In the longer term, we should move away from diesel vehicles. One or two electric vehicles are popping up in and around Harrogate, and if that happens on a greater scale, it will improve air quality.

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