£11.6m in Air Quality Grants awarded to fund cleaner air projects

A raft of projects aimed at delivering improvements in air quality across England are being financially supported by £11.6m in Government Air Quality Grants, more than double the amount awarded in 2021.

Projects which encourage the uptake of green transport, including e-bikes, through improved cycling and scooter infrastructure projects, are amongst proposals which have received funding, as are collaborations with local businesses to develop low or zero-emissions freight.

“These projects complement the wider UK plan for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations. The plan is supporting the uptake of low emissions vehicles, getting more people to cycle and walk, and encouraging cleaner public transport.”

‘Getting more people to cycle and walk’ is the goal of Active Transport England, established specifically to enable the use of forms of transport which deliver a measurable reduction in air pollution, in tandem with raising physical activity levels, improving both physical and metal wellbeing.

Sustrans are actively building partnerships which seamlessly blend active transport with formal transport networks (trains and buses), a critical element enabling switching from a car. This type of travel – using a bicycle, a scooter, or walking, at either end of a train or bus journey – is often more time efficient, and has far lower environmental impact.

Independent of the Air Quality Grants, one initiative, School Streets, which now has more than 500 participating schools, is delivering meaningful change in attitudes toward transport, road safety, and air pollution around societal hubs, where a collective vested ‘safety’ interest is particularly strong.

To see in detail which local authority schemes receiving Air Quality Grant funding, and for what project purpose, in this round, click here.