The first phase of Oxford’s Zero Emission Zone will get underway tomorrow, with drivers of non-electric vehicles charged for going down eight roads in the city centre.

The ZEZ – the first of its kind in Britain – is being piloted ahead of an expected roll-out next year.

Drivers of all petrol and diesel vehicles, including hybrid cars, motorbikes and vans, will be charged a daily rate if their vehicles are driven in the ‘zone’ between 7am and 7pm.

That zone encompasses: Bonn Square, Queen Street, Cornmarket, part of Market Street, Ship Street, St Michael’s Street, New Inn Hall Street and Shoe Lane.

Oxford Mail:

Charges for driving within the zone vary depending on the vehicle.

Discounts will be available for Blue Badge holders, taxi drivers, residents, students moving in or out of halls of residence and others.

The majority of vehicles will have to pay £10 a day – rising to £20 from August 2025. Low emission vehicles that meet the Euro 4/IV petrol or 6/VI diesel standard will be charged £4 from Monday. The charge is £2 a day for ultra-low emission vehicles, which emit less than 75g/km of CO2. Zero emission vehicles will not pay the charge.

Fees can be paid through the Oxfordshire County Council website from Monday, February 28.

As with the London Congestion Charge, traffic cameras in Oxford city centre will check numberplates and fines will be sent to drivers caught flouting the ZEZ.

Oxford Mail:

The county and city councils, which are backing the scheme, hope that it will improve air quality in the city centre.

Cllr Duncan Enright, county council cabinet member for travel, said last month: “We will learn from the pilot and in the coming months we will consult with local communities as we develop plans to expand the ZEZ across the city centre. We hope that residents, businesses and visitors will join us in our journey towards a carbon neutral future.”

Cllr Tom Hayes of Oxford City Council said: “[We have] chosen to set the toughest air quality standards of any local authority in the country. There is no safe level of air pollution. As the chair of the Zero Carbon Oxford Partnership we set up, the city council has helped to establish a data-led, science-based target of creating a net zero city by 2040.”

However, the plans are not universally popular.

Last week, Graham Jones of Oxford business group Rox said traders were ‘appalled’ by the plans.

He told BBC Radio Oxford: "It is the companies and the tradesmen supplying goods and services who are having a hard time, because they have either got to apply for special permits, or they are going to get fined."

Mr Jones added: “We would go for a low emission zone, as some vehicles are not even available in electric format."

Michael Keirs, owner of St Michael’s Street booksellers Arcadia, told the Oxford Mail yesterday: “The feedback we are getting just from the occasional people is that the message is that Oxford is out of bounds unless you have an electric vehicle.

“Obviously that’s not the case at the moment because you can get into the bulk of the city. But the perception has taken hold, I think.”

Sha Ali, manager of Repair My Phone Today on New Inn Hall Street, said the ZEZ pilot could have an impact on the business. His customers typically parked up outside the shop and dropped off their phones.

Around the corner, on Cornmarket Street, Jane Roberts was handing out flyers for Extinction Rebellion. She was in favour of the ZEZ scheme, she said. “I would like to see it expanded. It [will] reduce pollution in the centre.”

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