Mayor helps boroughs target toxic air hot spots with £6million fund to create more car-free zones

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has today called for boroughs to bid for a share of £6 million funding to help target local pollution hot spots and drastically improve air quality. 

The funding is part of the £20 million Mayor’s Air Quality Fund that has already delivered hard-hitting measures across 29 boroughs including electrifying Hackney Council’s vehicle fleet, fitting low-cost electric charging points onto lampposts across Hounslow, and establishing a green courier service in Waltham Forest.

As well as working with boroughs on new ideas to target filthy air, part of the £6 million will be used to establish four more Low Emission Neighbourhoods (LENs), cut emissions from construction machinery, create car-free and low-emission streets, and support people and businesses to start using ultra-low emission vehicles.

Sadiq launched the latest funding round today as he visited business owners on Francis Road in Leyton who have helped reduce traffic pollution by using a cargo bike and electric vehicle delivery service, supported by a £400,000 City Hall Air Quality Fund grant. Over the last year the project’s 12 part-time riders have cycled 7,743 km and delivered more than 8,000 packages. Around 25 local businesses use the delivery service every month, alongside The Waltham Forest Library Service which uses the cargo bikes to deliver books to housebound residents across the borough. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said: “Our filthy toxic air is a national health crisis, contributing to tens of thousands of premature deaths in the UK every year. The bold action we’ve already delivered such as establishing Low Emission Bus Zones, cleaning up the bus and taxi fleets and delivering the T-Charge in central London, are starting to have a positive impact. Today’s funding will help boroughs to deliver targeted action to complement these strong measures and improve their local areas for the benefit of all Londoners.