A Breath of Fresh Air for Liverpool

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A Breath of Fresh Air for Liverpool The CATCH
Project
Dr Karen Booth Environment Officer Merseytravel
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Project

• Three year demonstration project
• Funded through the EC Life-Environment Programme
• 1.48 million in grant-aid
• Co-financed through UK Energy Saving Trust

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Partnership

• Merseytravel
• Liverpool City Council
• Arriva NorthWest and Wales Ltd
• TTR Ltd
• CTP Napoli, Italy
• Suceava Municipality, Romania

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Project Objectives

• Promote sustainable mobility
• Significantly improve urban air quality
• Contribute to the ECs Kyoto commitments
• Develop an innovative, partnership-based approach
  to transport-related environment policy in
  Liverpool
• Disseminate results and promote best practice
• Transfer knowledge and experience to other EU
  member states and Candidate Countries

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Liverpool

• Major port on NW coast of UK
• Population of 440,000
• City of Renaissance
• Capital of Culture in 2008
• Region is preparing for sustained growth and
  regeneration

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Liverpool

• Economic issues
• - Regeneration
• - Increased wealth
• Social issues
• - Accessibility
• - Social exclusion
• - Public health
• Environmental issues
• - Air quality

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Project Structure

• Urban Regeneration
• Future Vehicle Technology and technological fixes
• Community Health
• Behavioural Change
• Urban Air Quality

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Urban Regeneration

• Increased wealth increased cars?
• Integrated transport solutions
• Improving quality of life

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Vehicle Technology

• Retrofitting Arriva buses
• Liverpool City Council introduced clean vehicles
  in fleet
• New diesel-electric hybrid bus in Liverpool
• LPG vehicles in Romania

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Community Health

• CHD, Asthma and Obesity on increase
• 1 in 6 under 12 year olds are now obese
• Areas of deprivation in Merseyside people are
  more than twice as likely to die from a
  respiratory disease than the average for England
• Physical activity levels - low
• Health Impact Assessment undertaken

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Behavioural Change

• In UK low car ownership but using them more
• Using cars for shorter distances
• Aspirations and status
• Looked at ways to encourage change

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Urban Air Quality

• Liverpool has specific air quality problems
  associated with road traffic
• Measures being put in place to prevent it getting
  worse
• Innovative monitoring technology

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Expected Results

• Greater awareness by the public of the impact of
  personal travel decisions on the environment
• Improved air quality and quality of life
• Enhanced assessment of environmental and health
  impacts of transport measures
• Improved collaboration between public and private
  organisations
• Policy recommendations and guidelines
• Introduction of environmental policies in EU and
  Candidate countries

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Air Quality Management

• Nitrogen Dioxide emissions exceed prescribed
  levels
• Air Quality Management Areas declared
• Liverpool City Centre
• Approaches from M62 motorway
• Main source of pollution is transport

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Problems and Issues

• Transport impact to be reduced in the City Centre
  by more than 40
• Traffic movements along key roadways i.e. Eastern
  Approaches
• Paradise Street Development Area
• Old dirty buses with engines left idling
• Social inclusion implications of banning older
  vehicles

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Air Quality Action Plan

• Primary strategies looking at number of vehicles
  and types of vehicles
• Links with other Strategies including the Second
  Local Transport Plan for Merseyside
• Secondary strategies
• Encouraging use of alternative sustainable forms
  of transport

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Options

• Consultation process identified the options
• Options were appraised and prioritised
• 87 original options were assessed for each
  indicator on a scale of -3 (possible serious
  negative impact) to 0 (no effect) to 3 (possible
  significant positive benefit).

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Cycle Training Initiative

• 70,000 initiative
• High levels of cycle ownership, but low levels of
  cycle use
• Provide cycle training for adults and children
  and local health sector referrals
• Targeted at schools with travel plans, health
  sector and deprived communities

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New Bus Service

• 6 Optare Solo buses with Eneco series - hybrid
  system
• Operated on a new service in the inner city area.
• Initial teething problems
• Impressive display compared to simple battery
  electrics.

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Evaluation

• Evaluation is governed by the project objectives
  expected results. i.e.
• Promote partnership working
• Improve urban air quality
• Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Expand use of clean fuels in public transport
  local authority fleets

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Partnership Working

• Ensuring relevant partners are included at the
  start is imperative to ensure delivery
• Institutional framework has a massive impact in
  determining outcomes
• Regulations and guidance help reinforce the
  message but must be backed up by communication
  action

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Air Quality Emissions Starting Point
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Technical Solutions

• Particulate filters on older buses have been
  extremely effective
• Particulates down 80-95
• CO down 90
• Hydrocarbons down 90
• NOx reduction technologies promise a way of
  completing the job
• EGR 30-50, SCR more.?

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Emissions Impacts
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Technical Solutions

• Without forcing a massive fleet renewal, could
  reduce
• Bus particulate emissions (25 of the total) by a
  further 40
• Bus NOx emissions (47 of the total) by a further
  18

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Wider Emissions Impacts
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Local Air Quality vs Greenhouse Gases

• Often find technologies that can address only one
  of air quality or greenhouse gas emissions at
  reasonable cost
• The hybrid buses now being trialled offer a
  technical opportunity to address both
• 37 CO2 reduction
• But who pays the price in the commercial world?

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Ultimate Emissions Impacts?
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Importance of Behaviour Change

• Cars contribute the majority of CO2 emissions in
  city centre
• Transfer to other modes gives a much greater
  impact on CO2 and helps cut other emissions
• General awareness raising is first step
• Planning process can help influence travel
  decisions through parking and access restrictions
• Partnership working with developers and community
  groups

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Finally.

• Evaluation being completed
• Findings from project influencing Local Transport
  Plan
• Move toward Quality Contracts for buses
• Feasibility of Low Emission Zone in city centre
• Smarter Choices
• See www.cleanaccessibletransport.com