Clearways: Helping councils make decisions on air quality and transport
In urban areas, pollution from traffic is one of the biggest influences on air quality. Local councils monitor air pollution and can do a range of things to improve air quality. Measures to tackle air pollution from traffic include changing transport systems, creating ‘clean air zones’, which may involve congestion charges, and encouraging more walking and cycling, also known as ‘active travel’.
These kinds of changes are likely to improve people’s health, by improving air quality and increasing how much physical activity they do.
Local councils in the West of England have taken different approaches to the problem of air pollution from traffic. The Clearways project will examine the measures to reduce air pollution and changes to local transport systems across the region and how decisions were made. We will also look how routinely collected data on air pollution is used to develop air quality and transport plans.
Project aims
The Clearways project aims to help local councils make decisions about air quality and active travel by understanding how evidence is gathered and used to make decisions.
We will interview air quality, transport and public health experts at local councils. We want to understand:
- what changes have been made to local transport systems to improve air quality
- what changes have been made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
- what and how evidence has been used to decide these changes
- how the public have been involved in making decisions
- what other evidence is needed to help make decisions
We will also interview members of the public. The questions will be informed by the concerns and priorities of members of the public taking part in Create to Collaborate workshops. The interviews will explore what kinds of changes members of the public think councils should make, what councils should consider when making plans and how they should work with communities.
We will see if it’s possible to compare the different approaches to air pollution across the region, by analysing data from the different measures. This will help us understand how effective they are and whether people’s health has improved as a result.
What we hope to achieve
Our findings will highlight what works best, helping councils assess the different approaches to air pollution and how best to make decisions around air quality and transport. This will help councils decide which measures to include in their transport and air quality plans.
Related project
This project will incorporate Create to Collaborate workshops.
ARC West Staff
Sara Blackmore
Co-Theme lead
Professor Russ Jago
Co-Theme Lead, Public Health
Professor Frank de Vocht
Applied Data Sciences Team Co-lead
Dr Andrew Turner
Senior Research Associate
Mike Bell
Patient and Public Involvement FacilitatorPartners on this project
South Gloucestershire Council
South Gloucestershire Council has responsibility for public health in its area, including encouraging healthy lifestyle choices, smoking cessation and vaccination uptake.
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is internationally renowned and one of the very best in the UK, due to its outstanding teaching and research, its superb facilities and highly talented students and staff. Its students thrive in a rich academic environment which is informed by world-leading research. It hosts the Elizabeth Blackwell Institute for Health Research.