Air pollution in Oxford dropped quicker than the national average during the first full year of the city’s zero emission zone (ZEZ), but levels of toxic nitrogen dioxide (NO2) at two sites breached the legally binding limit.
Oxford City Council said overall NO2 levels in the city fell by 14% between 2022 and 2023, compared with a 9% average reduction across the UK.
But levels of NO2, which mainly comes from road transport, continued to breach the national legal limit (40 µg/m3) at two monitoring sites in Oxford, both near busy roads,
The other 126 monitoring sites were compliant.
Nine sites breached the council’s own annual mean target for NO2 in 2023 (30 µg/m3).
Air pollution at all sites within the ZEZ is below the council’s local target.
The ZEZ was launched by the city council and Oxfordshire County Council in February 2022 and is the first of its kind in the UK.
All monitoring sites both inside and on the boundary roads of Oxford’s low traffic neighbourhoods showed a decrease in NO2 levels in 2023.
The city council’s environmental sustainability lead Tina Mould said: ‘It is great to see that Oxford is continuing to see reductions in air pollution, and that so many locations are now compliant not only with the legal target, but the council’s local target.
‘However, there is ultimately no safe level of air pollution and further reductions are still needed to help protect everyone who lives, works, and visits Oxford.’
