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Birmingham's 'through driving' ban is an addition to a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) arriving in July 2020


The most controversial element of Birmingham's project is about 'transforming the city centre' and a ban on vehicles from driving through it.

It intends to borrow an initiative already in use in Ghent in Belgium, which forces motorists planning to cross the city to exit their area via the ring road and travel to their desired location - potentially on the other side of the Midlands city - using this route. 

Only motorists whose destination is in the city itself will be allowed to drive in, but will forced to pay a charge if their car is not compliant with vehicle emission standards as part rules being introduced in a few months. 

As well as stopping motorists cutting through the city, the Transport Plan released on Monday also included a workplace parking levy and the extension of the city's controlled parking zones - which remove all free parking from the centre. 

In its place will be an increased park and ride service for access in and out of the centre. 

The third part of the proposals is for all residential areas to have 20mph speed limits, despite studies showing that this has little impact on safety and emission.

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