Ahead of Clean Air Day, City of York Council has released figures revealing it is meeting national air pollution targets for the first time.
The council said its latest air quality monitoring figures for 2024, reported to the Combined Executive Member Decision Session on 3 June 2025, showed that the health-based air quality objectives were met at all locations in York for the first time – except during the Covid lockdowns, when traffic emissions reduced due to home working and closure of non-essential retail.
Air quality monitoring in some areas of the city, such as around Gillygate and Bootham, has shown that maximum annual levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution improved by 27% in 2024 compared with 2023.
The significant improvement in air quality is due to actions taken by the council, its partners and by residents, including electrification of buses and council fleet vehicles, policies to incentivise the uptake of more low-emission taxis, anti-idling campaigns, and improved electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.
The council is also encouraging active travel wherever possible to reduce their exposure and contribution to air pollution, and make the switch to EVs if budgets allow.
Air pollution is linked to a range of health problems at every stage of life – from premature birth and effects on organ development in childhood, to causing heart and lung disease, diabetes and strokes in adulthood. Every year, air pollution is a factor in up to 43,000 deaths in the UK.
Cllr Jenny Kent, the Council’s Executive Member for the Environment and Climate Emergency, said:
“This is brilliant news – what a fantastic achievement to help us celebrate Clean Air Day. By being proactive on improving the air we all breathe, the council has helped to meet air pollution targets for the *first time ever in York.
“We made a commitment to improve air quality when we published our fourth Air Quality Action Plan last summer and it is rewarding to see that the measures are working. Cleaner air is helping improve the health and wellbeing of everyone in York.
“This is a really big achievement which we should celebrate, but we are not complacent; we need to see these results and the longer-term downward trend continue”.
Peter Roderick, director of Public Health at City of York Council, said:
“Even though we can’t see it, air pollution impacts our health whatever age we are. Improving air quality not only benefits our physical health and the environment but can also protect our mental and brain health. For the whole of York to meet air pollution targets for first time since Covid is a great achievement.
“The latest results for the city demonstrate how far we have come in recent years to improve local air quality for everyone, however we recognise that more can be done.
“Through the council’s Air Quality Action Plan and other complementary strategies, we aim to go beyond National Air Quality Objectives and work towards meeting stricter World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines in the longer term to further improve public health; this will allow us all to benefit from lasting health improvements”.
Mick Forbes, Engineering Director of First Bus North & West Yorkshire, said:
“The results are very positive and provide real evidence of the environmental benefits we are achieving with our fully zero-emission fleet on the streets of York, which started on routes through Gillygate in September 2023.
“We are delighted this is recognised in the air quality assessment by City of York Council and will continue to support its efforts to create cleaner air in the city.
“By working together with the council we have been able to invest millions of pounds with government funding support to transform our James Street depot, which is one of the first in the country to be declared net zero.”
Image courtesy of City of York Council
