Transport Scotland: Scotland’s Low Emission Zones

Transport Scotland has used an innovative, inclusive, and collaborative approach to improving air quality and reducing harmful emissions in four of Scotland’s largest cities by establishing Low Emission Zones (LEZs) over the last 14 months.

Scotland’s LEZs represent the largest ever program of air quality transport-based mitigation in Scotland, and are the most significant change in local air quality since the banning of lead in petrol.

Scottish LEZs focus on improving air quality by reducing concentrations of the harmful pollutants Nitrogen Dioxide and Particulate Matter, and contributing towards meeting emission reduction targets. Over the last 14 months, Low Emission Zones have gone live in Scotland’s four largest cities; Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Scotland’s Low Emission Zones (LEZs) were introduced to improve air quality by setting an environmental limit on certain road spaces, stopping the most polluting vehicles from being driven in certain areas, and helping to transform cities into cleaner, healthier places to live, work, and visit.

The development of these zones also helps make Scotland’s transport system cleaner, greener and healthier.