Manchester City, just like most cities in the world, faces a huge problem with air pollution and congestion due to the influx of diesel cars, Heavy Goods Vehicles and old petrol cars. The vehicles are the highest source of Carbon and Nitrogen dioxide emissions that cause global warming, different types of cancer and premature deaths (Bennett and Vijaygopal 2018). Air pollution and congestion have become a menace to the residents and the business community in the city and that calls for a prompt response to cut down the pollution levels and ease of congestion to meet the international thresholds. This report seeks to address the economic implications of the considerations to introduce charges to diesel vehicles that play a significant role in the pollution problem.
Economic Problems Caused by Air Pollution and Congestion in Manchester
Air pollution and congestion pose major economic problems to the city of Manchester because transport efficiency and population health are among the most important elements of production. Air pollution is mainly caused by diesel vehicles, Heavy Goods Vehicles, old petrol cars and Buses that ply the roads of Manchester. Current Statistics indicate that diesel cars comprise 20% of the private car population (Geels 2018). The diesel cars are mostly over three years old which explains the inefficiencies in the combustion system resulting in copious amounts of Carbon and Nitrogen Dioxide. Heavy Goods Vehicles. The old petrol cars also develop engine issues that cause them to produce huge amounts of carbon. The largest share of air pollution comes from the heavy diesel engines of trucks and buses that offer public transport services and transit goods transport for the businesses in the city.
The air pollution in Manchester City causes at least a thousand premature deaths in the city of Manchester and that has grave economic implications. The economy of any society is supported by the availability of a consistent and vibrant labour force (Miyoshi and Rietveld 2015). The population living in the city offers a significant portion of the required labour and the deaths due to pollution will continue to deal a huge blow to the economic development and sustainability of Manchester City. Besides the deaths, tens of thousands of residents suffer respiratory conditions due to the high carbon and nitrogen dioxide levels. A recent survey indicates that over 15% of patients seeking healthcare services in the city report chest congestion and Asthmatic allergies due to the high carbon content in the city's air (Bennett and Vijaygopal 2018). These are the workers who drive economic development in the corporate and business environment and absenteeism from work cuts down on production.
The huge medical costs to treat respiratory conditions due to increased carbon levels in the city also affect the economy by reducing the purchasing power of residents who spent significant amounts of money on health services. The presence of carbon emissions above the legal levels also becomes a deterrent factor that keeps away environmentally conscious investors from Manchester City (Geels 2018). That has a grave economic impact on the city as it shrinks the financial opportunities for both workers and existing business owners. The government requirement for the city authorities to manage the pollution levels and bring them down to the legal level by 2021 also poses an economic challenge as that would need an injection of money to establish a framework to achieve the environmental goals.
Traffic congestion in the city is also an economic challenge because it slows down economic activity. Corporate workers and business people waste a lot of precious time in traffic congestion, especially in the morning when they are required to kick-start work and maintain high levels of economic production. Time wasted in congestion cannot be recovered and businesses end up with lower productivity than desired. The profit margins shrink and most business organisations find it hard to maintain a full staff (Miyoshi and Rietveld 2015). Retrenchments further lead to economic suffering and families scatter which worsens the already deteriorating economic state. Air pollution and congestion in Manchester, thus, have a great impact on the economic sustainability of the city and calls for a prompt response to solve the environmental challenge.
Key Considerations in the Proposal to Charge Vehicles to Enter Manchester
The thought of introducing charges to vehicles that cause huge pollution in Manchester is informed by human responses to punitive measures. The idea offers the potential benefits by cutting down the carbon emissions and nitrogen dioxide levels but needs a great deal of analysis before implementation (Geels 2018). A background check of the highest population using diesel cars and old petrol cars indicates that most of the people are low-income earners that strive to make ends meet. The economic development of Manchester City depends on the purchasing power of the low-income population as they make the majority of the city residents.
Workers in firms within the city, small and medium scale business owners also fall into the class of people who own old petrol cars and diesel cars. The decision to introduce charges on the most polluting vehicles will definitely affect the low-income earners and destroy their economic prospects (Bennett and Vijaygopal 2018). The city administration also needs to consider the economic implications on businesses transporting goods into and out of the city. Heavy Goods Vehicles, buses and trucks powered by diesel engines are a common means of business transport and any charges geared at mitigating the pollution problem ought to be within reasonable limits.
Cutting down the carbon and nitrogen dioxide emissions will not be achieved only by charging diesel vehicles entering Manchester city. The fact that the heavy diesel engine vehicles are majorly used for business purposes will not deter the users. The charges will have a slight economic impact on the businesses and business will go on unabated (Geels 2018). Worse still, the increased production costs due to the charges will be passed on to the consumers. That means that the low-income earners will experience harder financial times, which will affect their purchasing power hence economic development for the city.
In the quest to reduce air pollution, the Manchester City authorities ought to be cognizant of the fact that poverty and economic devastation negatively impact just like dirty air. That should be the guiding principle when making the decision to introduce charges that will threaten the economic stability at the personal and societal level (Miyoshi and Rietveld 2015). The best move in striking a balance between the fight for environmental sustainability and economic stability would involve a revolutionary tax adjustment for people who need to buy vehicles. A reduction in vehicle registration and ownership taxes would go a long way to enable more people to acquire new petrol vehicles.
The cost of acquiring new petrol cars would greatly reduce if the municipal authorities worked in collaboration with the national government to ensure that the low-income earners get exposed to lower taxes when acquiring cars. The move will achieve both economic stability and environmental integrity as more people get rid of old petrol cars and diesel cars (Geels 2018). The emission by Heavy Goods Vehicles, buses and trucks ferrying people and goods into and out of the city can be dealt with by putting stringent requirements for catalytic exhaust systems to clean the carbon and nitrogen dioxide before releasing to the air.
The implementation and enforcement of the stringent measure will require a huge financial investment. The enforcement cost can be shared between the heavy vehicle owners and the municipal coffers. The main focus in this process is to promote both environmental and economic health of the city residents and businesses and should, therefore, minimize charges on the private vehicle as much as possible (Cox and Goggins 2018). The metric of success of this process is the economic stability of the population when the city finally manages to cut down air pollution to the legal level by the year 2021. The period given to the city administration to achieve the reduction in pollution and congestion is enough provided there is a concerted effort between the residents, vehicle users and the business community.
Conclusion
The economic impact of pollution and congestion in Manchester City is clearly a huge motivation to the local government to take prompt responses to deal with the menace. The idea of charging diesel and old petrol cars that are high in carbon emissions will only serve to exacerbate the economic woes of the businesses and individuals living and working in the city. Alternative measures that balance between the fight against environmental degradation and economic sustainability would solve the problem in a manner that will not have adverse economic implications. Such measures include a collaboration with the national government to cut down vehicle taxes in order to make petrol cars affordable to the low-income earners. The effectiveness of these interventions is pegged on the collaborative efforts between residents, business owners, and government authorities.
References
Bennett, R. and Vijaygopal, R., 2018. An assessment of UK drivers’ attitudes regarding the forthcoming ban on the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 62, pp. 330-344.
Cox, E. and Goggins, D., 2018. Towards a Proper Strategy for Tackling Greater Manchester’s Air Pollution Crisis.
Geels, F.W., 2018. Low-carbon transition via system reconfiguration? A socio-technical whole system analysis of passenger mobility in Great Britain (1990–2016). Energy research " social science, 46, pp. 86-102.
Miyoshi, C. and Rietveld, P., 2015. Measuring the equity effects of a carbon charge on car commuters: A case study of Manchester Airport. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 35, pp. 23-39.
