Have Low-Emissions Zones Found Their Way to the US? | Utilimarc Fleet FYIs

Gretchen Reese (00:24):

Hey there. Welcome to the Fleet FYIs podcast, the weekly podcast by Utilimarc that reveals how you can make the most of your data for smarter fleet management. My name is Gretchen, and every week you'll hear from me or some of the industry's finest in candid conversations that will not only shed some light on over two decades' worth of fleet data insights, but also some of the industry's hottest talking points and key metric analysis, with the aim to help you better understand your fleet from every angle.

(00:52):

But before we begin, if this is the first time you've heard our show, thanks for stopping by. I'm so glad you decided to come along for the ride with us. But I've got a quick favor to ask you. Once you finish today's episode, if you could take a few minutes to leave us a review on your favorite podcasting platform, we would really appreciate it. Give us a rating, five stars I hope, or tell us what you liked, or leave us a comment or a question about what you've heard in today's episode. If we haven't yet covered a topic that you're interested in hearing more about, let us know. We would be happy to go over it in detail in a later show.

(01:34):

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Fleet FYIs podcast. I have an exciting topic to dive into for today's episode, and it's rather fitting because I was actually just listening to my favorite London-based history podcast. We all know I love a bit of history. And now I'm branching back into my favorite topic of all, aside from sustainability, and that is transatlantic trends. If you remember from a few episodes back, this was, I'm thinking maybe about five to 10 episodes ago, I was on again about low-emission zones, what they were, how large they were, when they were implemented, and the biggest question of all, why.

(02:10):

We were also chatting about when, if ever, we would begin to see them pop up in the United States, and well, have I got some news for you. It's beginning to happen. For a bit of a refresher, low-emission zones, or LEZs, are designated areas that cover populated city centers, and they restrict the use of heavy polluting vehicles within that given area or designated area. These restrictions can be for certain vehicle types, and they can operate only during certain times. Sometimes there is some flexibility for holidays or if it's more so focused on heavier commuting hours, or it can be a harsher ban of heavy polluters altogether.

(02:49):

Vehicles that meet their designated emission standards, like an electric vehicle, a hybrid, or an alternative fuel vehicle, can continue with free movement within, within the boundaries of the zone. However, you will start to see that vehicles that don't meet the strict standards could be fined, or they will be fined or penalized upon entry. But why the fines, and what's the point? Well, let's jump in.

(03:50):

So let's start off by talking about the benefits for cities or urban areas adopting low-emission zones, because I'm sure that's gonna be top of mind. You know, again, the whole what's the point question. Well, along with meeting zero-emissions goals encouraged by the Paris Climate Agreement, low-emission zones offer many benefits for cities and their residents. That's very important. It's unsurprising that these low-emission zones were always implemented in busy cities as opposed to the countryside, because of population density and congestion of vehicles in such a small area.

(04:22):

I mean, you would understand there's really no point in implementing a low-emission zone if there's not gonna be very many vehicles driving through it. There's no point in enforcing that policy, right? I mean, that makes sense to me. Anyways, but aside from that, there are quite a few noticeable benefits that you will see from implementing low-emission zones, or at least cities that already have done so have been able to report on.

(04:42):

For example, better ar- air quality. That is a number one. With transportation being the biggest contributor to air pollution, a reduction or total elimination of polluting vehicles in cities would reduce the amount of toxic pollutants, like carbon monoxide and sulfur oxides within the air. If you want to learn more about greenhouse gases and the different types of emissions that actually exist in the air, we do have a podcast episode on that a couple episodes ago you can look up at the breakdown of natural gases, what they are, and what they do.

(05:11):

But getting on with it, the City of Madrid, for example, saw a record reduction of NO2 concentration by 32% while their low-emission zone policy was in place, which is pretty impressive. Along with that, public health is pretty big. I mean, air quality and public health kind of directly relates. But anyways, air pollution's effect on the health and lifespan of the human population is another major concern. Now, the City of London quotes that about 4,000 Londoners died in 2019 due to the long term exposure to the toxic elements and air pollution, which causes and increases the risk of cancer, asthma, stroke, and dementia.

(05:50):

This is concerning for residents of all ages, as exposure over a lifetime in that city can have very detrimental health effects. So again, going back to that better air quality, better quality of life thing. See? They're pretty related. Thirdly, we have speeding up electrification. This is kind of off the topic of health-based, but whilst it may be considered a pain for fleet managers to overhaul their current strategies and go completely electric, or at least as electric as they can, they will likely appreciate having ripped off the Band-Aid in the long run. I mean, we all know the phrase, you rip it off, do it now whilst it's uncomfortable, and you benefit longer in the future. Right?

(06:26):

Many cities are calling for a total ban on internal combustion engine vehicles by a certain year. London is by 2030, and that's coming up in about eight years from now. So a lot of fleet managers are actually better phasing out internal combustion engine vehicles as soon as they possibly can. Now, last on my list, limiting city congestion. This again kind of goes hand-in-hand with both electrification and human health. But restrictions on vehicle movement within busy cities will also be useful in cutting down on heavy traffic. In addition to reducing the amount of toxic pollutants in the air, a less congested city would certainly improve the quality of life for residents, making the streets optimal for biking and walking instead. And also, it just kind of cuts down on the city noise, which is kind of nice. Wouldn't you agree?

(07:05):

But the question is, is where do we typically see these low-emission zones? Is it anywhere? Is it at random? You know, we've already started talking about the fact that you don't see these (laughs) in rural areas. There's no point if there's not a lot of vehicles that drive through it. So like I said previously, we typically see them in cities or urban areas, but the question is where? Because if we're not seeing them in the US, where are they? Well, like I said in that, that episode a few episodes ago, typically these zones have been most prominently seen around Europe, with the most notable low-emission zones covering cities in the UK, especially in London, Germany, and the Netherlands.

(07:41):

The City of London, which currently had the largest low-emission zone in the world, has already seen a 44% drop in NO2 concentration in the air since implementing the Ultra Low Emission Zone in 2017. Slightly smaller zone, it still is a part of the larger low-emission zone itself, but this is extra concentrated, even stricter restrictions in the more kind of central part of the city, and it just covers a smaller amount of area, or at least it did. Now it's gotten a little bigger, I think, in recent months, or maybe in the last year. But we'll get into that in another episode.

(08:14):

Anyways, this has shown pretty great promise for other cities that are looking to clean up their air supply and to give citizens a healthier living environment, but what does this have to do from a transatlantic perspective? Because I know I promised you transatlantic in the beginning of this episode, and we are getting there, I promise. Los Angeles County. That's our talking point for today. So whilst these eco-friendly areas may be common on the other side of the Atlantic, like, for example, in London, again, one low-emission zone has recently popped up in the United States, covering one square mile in Santa Monica, California.

(08:46):

This pilot low-emission zone will test the logistics and the benefits of implementing such an initiative in a city like Los Angeles, whilst paving the way for other cities around the county. Because like I said, we don't see a lot of low-emission zones in the US right now. I've always wondered why, but that's a different topic for a different day. (laughs) Anyways, Santa Monica's program specifically targets last-mile delivery vehicles, whose presence has increased dramatically since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with the influx of online orders being made, and even just take away being a bigger business.

(09:17):

For almost 16,000 Santa Monica residents, this means that many of their home deliveries will now be made by an all-electric delivery truck, an e-bike, or even a battery-powered robot. To further support participants, any zero-emissions delivery vehicles will have access to priority curb access for loading and unloading, which is kind of exciting. And one thing to note about this low-emission zone, or actually, it's more accurately considered a zero-emissions delivery zone, a ZEDZ... That gets to be a little bit of a tongue twister, doesn't it?

(09:50):

Anyways, the ZEDZ is completely voluntary, but aims to align with the sustainability goals of the city, with the goals of companies operating in it. So far, 15 major companies, including IKEA, Nissan, and Shopify, have committed to participating in the ZEDZ. And in order to tie sustainability in with innovation, the idea for this zero-emissions delivery zone was generated by the Transportation Electrification Partnership, the TEP, in LA County. The TEP is also responsible for the Zero Emissions 2028 Roadmap, which outlines plans to promote the adoption of electric vehicles across Los Angeles. This is coming ahead of the Olympics that LA plans to host in 2028.

(10:34):

The initiatives work in tandem to develop the political and technological support needed to effectively reduce pollution and congestion in the city. We all know that Los Angeles is famous for its traffic. (laughs) But in addition to testing out the concept of restricting heavily polluting vehicles in certain areas, the pilot program could potentially change the way that last-mile delivery services work. Emphasis on micro mobility is a major component of the ZEDZ plans, and this means relying more on e-scooters and e-bikes for food and parcel delivery instead of cars and trucks that contaminate the air and create additional traffic in busy cities.

(11:09):

Curbs will also be managed and prioritized for electric delivery vehicles using technology from a program partner called Automus, or Automotus. Uh, using video analytics technology, curbs within the ZEDZ will be monitored to study the program's effect on delivery efficiency, driver safety, city congestion, and gas emissions. Very important. The technology will also make it possible to access real-time parking availability data in order to better assist ZEDZ drivers. Now, I remember the last time that I was in London, this was in January a few weeks ago.

(11:41):

And speaking to the point of seeing more of these delivery services on bikes or e-scooters, I started to see a lot more of that when I had my sneaky later night d- (laughs) delivery take away from Franco Manca. Pizza is a little bit of my vice, especially if it's a sourdough crust. And I think every single delivery driver that I had, I think they arrived on a bicycle. It was really interesting to think about. I had never noticed that before. It was always, you know, like, a motor scooter or something along those lines. Anyways, I digress.

(12:20):

So the main question here. What can this ZEDZ mean for fleets, especially in Los Angeles? Well, though the ZEDZ program is currently voluntary, it is likely a way to ultimately transition into a new region-wide low-emission zone, or at least it's the beginnings of that, especially within Los Angeles County's Climate Action Plan aiming to make the entire region carbon neutral by 2045. And again, climate goals, the year is coming up pretty quickly. Santa Monica's low-emission zone will likely expand to surrounding areas and develop harsher restrictions over time, but that is soon to be seen. We don't exactly know all of the particulars of that yet.

(13:25):

Now, if municipalities in the United States choose to follow in the footsteps of London's low-emission zone, there will likely be daily fines and penalties imposed on vehicles that don't meet the zero-emission requirements. For fleet managers, this will mean making the decision to either accept the fine as a cost of operation or begin to phase our diesel and petrol-based vehicles for good. Either way, these zones are created with the purpose of ultimately facing out in- phasing out internal combustion engine vehicles entirely. We already kind of figured that that was the point.

(13:55):

But for fleet managers across the country, it can be worth weighing these options even before a low-emission zone has popped up nearby. After all, with so many local governments committing to carbon neutrality within the next few decades, it's only a matter of time. It's a when, it's not an if it's going to happen, at least I think so. But I would love to hear what you think. Let me know your thoughts. Are you keen on hearing more about low-emission zones? Are you keen on having one in your city (laughs) as per it exists now? What do you think? Let me know. Tag me on LinkedIn. Use the hashtag UtilimarcFleetFYis. You can send me an email or a carrier pigeon. I don't judge. It's completely up to you, but I would love to hear from you and hear all about what you think of low-emission zones. Anyways, that is all from me this week. I will chat to you again next week on Monday. Ciao.

(15:09):

Hey there. I think this is the time that I should cue the virtual high five, because you've just finished listening to another episode of the Fleet FYIs podcast. If you're already wanting more content, head over to Utilimarc.com, which is Utilimarc with a C, U-T-I-L-I-M-A-R-C dot com, for this episode's show notes and extra insights coming straight from our analysts to you. That's all from me this week, so until next time, I'll catch you later.