Today, Thursday 20th June, marks Clean Air Day 2024. 

A campaign by environmental charity, Global Action Plan, in partnership with Environmental Protection Scotland, Clean Air Day is the UK’s largest air pollution campaign. With both outdoor and indoor polluters affecting our air, this campaign aims to raise awareness and educate about air pollution, and ultimately, make our air cleaner and safer for everyone. 

Since its launch in 2017, Clean Air Day continues to encourage everyone to:  

• Learn about how air pollution is generated. 
• Act on their own contributions to air pollution. Walk, wheel or take public transport to work, or try leaving the car behind one day a week!  
• Ask your local representatives to support clean air measures that will make it easier for everyone to breathe clean air. 

Air pollution is the biggest environmental threat to our health, and generating 37% of greenhouse gases, transport is the biggest source of toxic chemicals in the air.  

Amey Transport Infrastructure in Scotland are supporting this year’s campaign, continuing to educate our teams about air pollution and how to tackle it. 

Since Clean Air Day 2023, we have invested in our fleet that deliver essential operational services across Scotland’s South-West Trunk Roads to reduce our contribution to air pollution. Electric Vehicles now account for 90.9% of our cars and vans under 3.5 tonnes. This is a substantial increase from June 2023, when the figure was 40.8%.  

In addition to this, our Amey South-West Trunk Roads’ Fleet was recently reviewed by an Energy Saving Trust Sustainable Transport Co-ordinator, reporting improvement recommendations. This report recommended the adoption of a Sustainable Travel Hierarchy, encouraging employees to work from home or embrace active travel for shorter journeys where possible, which is estimated to save 29 tonnes of CO2e. Additionally, the introduction of ZEVs to our fleet was also recommended with the expectation this will save approximately 2,390 tonnes of CO2e. Our Environmental and Sustainability team continuously explores opportunities to reduce our carbon footprint on our journey to Net-Zero.  

Conscious of the impact fuel efficiency can have on the environment, in 2023, we refreshed and relaunched our Fuel-Efficient Driving briefs. Small changes to our employees’ driving habits can have a great impact on improving air quality. Encouraging the adoption of these changes, each quarter we recognise and reward our most efficient drivers through our Amey Green Driver Initiative. This initiative is delivered through clear communication, training from specialists and monitors drivers’ habits: braking, mileage, idling, and more. The scheme has delivered a miles-per-gallon improvement of 13.29%.  

Here are some tips on how you can make your driving more fuel efficient: 

• Shift up gears early 
• Avoid excessive speeds 
• Avoid idling 
• Reduce weight