Equitable and people-centred
Air quality
Poor air quality affect communities disproportionately, and targeted support to protect communities most likely to be the first to suffer the consequences need to be prioritised.
Nitrogen dioxide is measured by small plastic tubes with a metal grid at one end which is coated with a chemical to absorb the nitrogen dioxide. The tubes are replaced every 4-5 weeks and sent for analysis at a laboratory. Because of their low cost these tubes can be used in a wide area, and we have about 60 around the city on busy roads and junctions. The results from these tubes are used to determine locations where nitrogen dioxide levels are at, or close to, legal limits. We have a programme of installing real-time air quality sensors at these locations to provide us with real-time data that we can use to determine the best traffic management strategy to limit nitrogen dioxide levels. Typically, this might mean changing the way traffic lights operate to reduce queuing in areas where there is a build-up of nitrogen dioxide for example. There are currently 12 such real-time sensors across the city with more planned in the coming year. The aim is to develop an intelligent system whereby the air quality data automatically drives the operation of the traffic signals to minimize pollution levels.
Air quality across Coventry’s diffusion tube sites in 2019 (above) and 2020 (below), where green sites have annual mean concentration of nitrogen dioxide of less than 30 microgram per cubic metre (µg/m3); amber sites between 30-39 µg/m3; and red sites with 40 µg/m3 or above. Note that 2020 figures are likely to be an anomaly as lockdowns resulted in a marked reduction in traffic.
The 40 µg/m3 annual limit for nitrogen dioxide was the World Health Organisation’s former guideline level for nitrogen dioxide up until September 2021. A more stringent 10 µg/m3 limit has since been introduced with the increasing recognition of the hazards of air pollution, and this will be reflected in future reports.
Road casualties
There were 532 road casualties in Coventry in 2021, up from 519 in 2020. This increase could be a result of greater road use in 2021 compared to 2020 which saw road usage reduce most likely due to COVID-19 lockdowns. Annual data for the whole of Great Britain from the Department for Transport supports this view with total road casualties for all road users decreasing by 25% from 2019 to 2020 and increasing 11% from 2020 to 2021.
While there was an increase in the total casualties in Coventry in 2021, this increase was not evenly spread across road users. The percentage of casualties who were car occupants or users of powered two-wheelers dropped from 61% and 6% in 2020 to 58% and 5% in 2021 respectively. On the other hand, pedestrian and cyclist casualties increased from 17% and 8% to 18% and 12%.
This means across Coventry in 2021, there were 311 car occupant causalities, 26 powered two-wheeler (including pillion passengers) causalities, 97 pedestrian causalities, 64 cyclist causalities, and 34 other causalities.
