More electric vehicles, and continuing enlargement of the UK vehicle fleet, will not deal with the congestion created by increasing numbers of vehicles, the non-exhaust emissions of road vehicles, or the rarely mentioned issue of polluted road run-off. The main route to dealing with all of these problems is more pedestrianisation in settlements, fewer vehicles, and year-on-year rising investment in walking and cycling networks and public transport.
What are non-exhaust emissions (NEEs)?
Air pollution includes particulates resulting from the erosion of brake pads, tyres, and road surfaces. Overall, road transport pollution can be as much as 32% of air pollution in a city such as Oxford. Systematically eradicating as much of this pollution as possible can be attained by enforced zero-emissions zones.
How dangerous are NEEs?
Tyres:
It is possible to regulate the use of toxic materials in tyres. Despite the challenge this presents to tyre manufacture, this could reduce harm to land- and water-based species, including humans.
For example the chemical 6PPD, added to tyres to prevent cracking and deterioration, falls as part of dust on roads. With exposure to ground-level ozone, 6PPD transforms into a variety of other chemicals, including one toxic to at least 11 fish species. One estimate suggests 78% of microplastics in our oceans are from synthetic tyre rubber, which can contain more than 400 chemicals and compounds, many of them known carcinogens.
There is a problem of scale. About 2 billion tyres are sold each year, estimated to climb to 3.4 billion a year by 2030. These add to the existing tyre ‘population’ on the planet.
On average, 23 litres of petroleum are needed to manufacture just one tyre, adding to fossil fuel use. Worse, the four tyres of a vehicle emit 1 trillion ultrafine particles for each kilometre a vehicle is driven. Not only do we breathe them in, but the particles’ size allows them pass through lung tissue into the bloodstream and across the blood-brain barrier into the brain. Evidence suggests such particles can create heart, lung, developmental, and reproductive problems and even cancer.
By mass, emissions from tyres and brakes in the form of particles with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less and those with a diameter of 10 micrometers or less (PM2.5 and PM10, respectively) now exceed emissions from exhaust pipes. Emissions from the latter have been declining gradually over recent years.
Tyres are landfilled, incinerated, and may be used in the creation of artificial grass and playgrounds. There are no guarantees that these activities will be free of environmental consequences.
Brakes
Brake pads are eroded in use and, predictably, more evidence of that can be found in urban areas and on busy roads including both the M25 and the North Circular. A key problem of both tyre and brake pad erosion is that, added to particulates arising from road abrasion and damage by vehicles, a considerable amount of road dust is created. This can be blown – including into the faces of people – or washed into the environment by precipitation. Of course, vehicles can also leak oil and petrol and this adds to road dust.
So, what happens to the road dust?
Highway run-off: structures
Road dust can be blown by wind and vehicle movements or washed by rain into the proximate environment onto land or into watercourses.
The national highway system has about 18,000 highway run-off outfalls in England alone. These allow the toxic run-off to add to other forms of watercourse pollution from sewage, agriculture, and chemical spills.
There also local road run-off outfalls of unknown scale, diversity, and impacts. It has been suggested there are more than a million of these discharging to watercourses.
It is unlikely that all of these outfalls are in good enough condition to restrict where the polluted water goes. The years of austerity since 2010 have undermined already sparce repair and maintenance spending.
Highway run-off: source materials
There are ten broad categories of materials found in highway run-off. These are:
- road surface and road marking particulates;
- microplastics;
- dust which contains heavy metals from brakes, clutches, and other components;
- fluids from windscreens, engines, brakes, hydraulics, and fuel additives;
- particulates from combustion emissions and unburned fuel;
- spillages from accidents and leaks;
- road salt;
- herbicides used on verges;
- metal particulates from road furniture; and
- soils, sands, and sediments which can be from tyres or from materials being blown on to roads.
These materials have been found to contain as many as six priority hazardous substances to be removed from the water environment under the Water Framework Directive of the EU.
There are no permits currently in force covering pollution management from all of the outfalls or from run-off in general.
Solutions
Extending pedestrianised areas
Pedestrianisation is a quicker solution than waiting for new technologies to be scaled up across the planet’s vehicle fleet. Since extensive evidence indicates pedestrianised areas have more footfall than trafficked streets with shops, archaic beliefs that most people shop using a car should be rejected.
Ending pollution and noise, making healthier town centres, and using pedestrian and cycling improvements to curtail accidents in many locations all need investment. There are also the health promotion benefits of encouraging more walking (and cycling) with better overall active travel investment.
Ensuring attractive and extensive joined-up walking and cycling networks
Accessing shopping areas and other facilities would be assisted by joining up walking and cycling routes to ensure high standards of safety, accessibility, and reliability – preferably without potholes and poor work by utilities on pavement, cycling, and road surfaces.
Progressive reduction in car parking spaces in settlements
Increasing numbers of vehicles in the UK, from the current 41 million to a conceivable 50 million over time means serious pressures upon settlements where employment and facilities are often based. Consequently, and as part of reducing NEEs and the flow of pollutants through outfalls, car parking spaces should be diminished to encourage use of sustainable travel modes.
More car-free homes with no parking by covenant
It is essential, in areas plagued by high traffic levels, that more car-free homes are created. If, for example, councils were funded to buy empty properties for housing (homes and other suitable buildings) then they should be able to designate these as car-free by covenant, with no car parking spaces.
Cargo and ecargo bike deliveries for zero-emissions zones
As a national plan, more deliveries within settlements should be by cargo bikes and ecargo bikes. This is already happening in Oxford, with a number of companies operating in the city. As is the case with ebikes, cycle tracks may need widening to accommodate movements of cargo bikes, which are frequently used to carry children to school in Oxford, too. Reducing road space is also desirable to give people better and wider walking routes.
Re-opening disused rail lines
There is no general plan to re-open disused rail lines and link them to the existing rail network. Car use would certainly be reduced by a nationalised bus company with free fares. However, using rail may also help to cut traffic – especially for commuting.
Using Oxford as an example, the Cowley branch line, currently used for transporting BMW’s cars, is likely to be re-opened for passengers. This would link the far east of Oxford with Oxford rail station. Another local possibility is Oxford to Witney and Carterton, to help relieve extremely large rush hour/school run vehicle movements into and out of West Oxfordshire, accessing schools, universities, and employment in Oxford.
Considering new underground lines in the most congested areas
In the long-term, and selectively, some locations should be considered for new underground lines linked to existing rail networks.
Technical solutions to prevent NEEs at source
Technical solutions to NEEs such as those arising from brakes and tyres have been very slow to emerge and appear to lack legislative pressure.
Solutions to the outfall problem
At present, the massive scale of discharge from roads into watercourses and land lacks overall policy responses in the UK. The immediate alleviation possible by reducing overall traffic movements through electronic road pricing, reducing car parking, and other measures requires political will in government and in local councils. ‘Rain gardens’ have been suggested near roads to capture run-off. With careful plant selection, rain gardens can capture many pollutants which would otherwise enter watercourses.
Vote with your feet
There are many comparatively neglected environmental problems related to transport which are not being addressed by either central or local government throughout the UK.
That there are health problems and deaths from transport-originated pollutants in the environment is not in doubt. But it seems governments are not willing to confront challenges from the transport sector or even wish to make pollution worse by, for example, permitting airport expansions. Governments are not questioning increases in vehicles and are failing to introduce electronic road pricing as fuel duties decline due the increase in EVs.
We need voters to elect people who will lead on these topics, instead of abdicating responsibility for public health and the environment.
We want to hear your views. Please send any comments to editor@westenglandbylines.co.uk
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