The Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan is underpinned by local data and air quality modelling (the process of forecasting, understanding and managing future levels of air pollution).

We have worked closely with the government’s Joint Air Quality Unit to help guide us in developing measures that will meet legal limits for nitrogen dioxide on local roads in 2026.

The measures have also been shaped by targeted engagement and research with key impacted groups and representatives, including:

• Working with vehicle-owning groups, such as the taxi trade.

• Input from business, community organisations and equality-based groups.

This approach ensures the plan is evidence-led, informed by those affected, and focused on delivering legal air quality limits.

In March 2020, the government directed Greater Manchester to:

• Implement a city‑region wide Category C charging Clean Air Zone.

• Apply daily charges to some older, more polluting vehicles, including buses, taxis, vans and heavy goods vehicles, but not private cars.

The direction was based on the government’s framework, evidence and criteria available at the time, which identified that a charging Clean Air Zone was expected to be the fastest measure to meet the government direction to reduce roadside pollution. From the outset, Greater Manchester made clear that any charging Clean Air Zone would only be fair and workable if backed by enough national funding to help businesses, drivers and operators upgrade to cleaner vehicles and avoid charges. However, the situation changed significantly following the COVID‑19 pandemic:

• Economic conditions worsened.

• Vehicle costs increased, with supply shortages.

• This made it harder for people to switch to cleaner vehicles.

Updated evidence submitted to government by Greater Manchester showed that the plan for a charging Clean Air Zone would therefore:

• Be unworkable in practice.

• Not achieve compliance with legal nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) limits by 2024.

• Cause financial hardship for residents and businesses.

In February 2022, the government withdrew the original direction and allowed Greater Manchester to take a different approach. Greater Manchester is now rolling out an investment-led plan, focused on cleaner vehicles and targeted local measures, which is approved by government to meet legal limits for nitrogen dioxide in the shortest possible time and by 2026.

The investment-led Clean Air Plan will improve air quality faster because evidence shows it is the only approach that will meet legal nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) limits by 2026, based on current conditions. Since the pandemic, the situation has changed significantly:

• There are now far fewer locations where NO₂ exceeds legal limits.

• Earlier investment in the Bee Network, including cleaner buses and heavy goods vehicles, has already improved air quality.

• The remaining issues are concentrated mainly in the regional centre.

Greater Manchester was required by government to compare options, including a Clean Air Zone in the regional centre (covering Manchester city centre and parts of Salford). Modelling showed that only the non‑charging, investment-led approach would achieve compliance by 2026. The plan focuses on targeted measures to reduce emissions at source, including:

• Zero emission buses and cleaner taxis.

• Targeted road improvements to reduce congestion and pollution.

As a result, Greater Manchester is now on track to meet legal air quality limits by the end of 2026, with air quality continuing to improve through sustained investment in the transport network.

Different areas need different solutions to improve air quality. In Greater Manchester, our evidence showed that investing in cleaner buses, taxis and targeted local road measures can meet legal limits in the shortest possible time.

Because this approach is approved by government, a charging Clean Air Zone or Ultra Low Emission Zone is not needed.

Greater Manchester has already made significant progress towards meeting legal limits for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), with monitored levels in 2025 falling compared to 2024 and much lower than before the pandemic in 2019.

In 2019, there were 129 locations that exceeded legal NO₂ limits:

• This fell to 38 sites in 2024

• And further reduced to 11 sites in 2025

This improvement reflects a steady, long-term reduction in pollution across the city region. The progress has been supported by:

• Investment in the Bee Network, including cleaner buses

• People switching to cleaner vehicles

• Early Clean Air Plan funding to support lower-emission transport

You can view the full results on the Clean Air GM Data Hub.

Greater Manchester will bring all remaining areas where nitrogen dioxide exceeds legal limits into compliance by 2026 through continued bus improvements and road traffic measures.

This includes measures to reduce stop-start traffic, as stationary or slow‑moving vehicles produce higher levels of pollution.

Key actions include:

• Introducing AI‑enabled traffic signals that adjust in real time based on traffic conditions.

• Using live data to predict traffic patterns and optimise signal timings.

This helps to keep traffic moving, reduce congestion and cut pollution from idling vehicles. A plan is in place to monitor, evaluate and review the Clean Air Plan’s performance.

With Clean Air Plan funding from government, we have worked with Manchester and Salford City Councils to manage traffic flow on roads in Manchester and Salford and bring nitrogen dioxide within legal limits on Regent Road and Quay Street, including:

• Signal timing adjustments at A57 Regent Road and adjacent parallel routes to improve the flow of traffic, reduce congestion and emissions.

• Reducing the speed limit on A57 Regent Road from 40mph to 30mph to improve the flow of traffic, reducing emissions from drivers speeding up and slowing down.

• Yellow box enforcement along the A57 Regent Road corridor and the A34 Quay Street to improve the flow of traffic, reduce congestion and emissions.

The Clean Air Zone signs and Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras installed for the formerly planned Clean Air Zone and associated costs have been fully funded by government.

As Greater Manchester will not now have a Clean Air Zone:

• The ten Greater Manchester local authorities have now removed the vast majority of signs on the local road network, with funding from the government’s Joint Air Quality Unit.

• National Highways has also removed the signs on the Strategic Road Network.

• Greater Manchester Police (GMP) will take ownership of the ANPR cameras (funded through their budget) to bring them into their existing ANPR network, to support crime detection and prevention. This follows overwhelming backing for the move during a six-week consultation, with nearly 90% of respondents in favour.

• GMP will share ANPR camera data with TfGM to support transport planning and to monitor the efficiency of the Clean Air Plan.