1. Clean Air Zones

Clean Air Zone (CAZ) charges are often seen as a punitive tax on driving. But they are also a potential source of data to establish supply and demand for new transport services, before they are developed. A Transport Group can involve drivers collectively linking their CAZ payments with the development of specific new shared services, which will enable them to own fewer cars. Using self-sovereign IDs, they can pseudonymously share data with AI without giving up control of it. Linking reductions in car ownership to the development of new services allows Voluntary Carbon Credits (VCC) to be issued and used in the provision of new services. Drivers buying VCC for a specific Transport Group, as part of their CAZ payments: Indicates demand, creates a tradable asset and ensures the cost of new services are covered. Drivers can retire VCC, to offset car use, or sell them to other polluters on a VCC market. The overall effect is to develop new transport services that enable drivers to own fewer cars and shift the cost of using CAZs from drivers to major polluters.​​

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Transport Groups

Forming a Transport Group ensures the viability of new services before changes, to transport provision and car ownership, are made on the ground. This allows a combination of private cars to be 'traded-in' for a combination of interdependent alternatives and avoids paying for both at the same time. A smart contract is programmed linking blockchain tokens which are tagged to each of the components required:

• Compatible Users

• New Services

• Investment

• Clean Air Zone (CAZ) payments

• Voluntary Carbon Credits (VCC)

• Pay-Per-Use (PPU) rate

Establishing compatible supply and demand of Transport Group members is similar to conventional crowdfunding, but instead of raising a one-off amount of capital, the end point is agreeing to cover the costs of the new shared services. This agreement is made through a smart contract, held on a decentralised network, which will manage the pay-per-use rate of new services when they are provided.​​​

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CAZ Payments as Voluntary Carbon Credits (VCCs)

Drivers can link their CAZ payments to VCCs issued by a specific Transport Group. Linking new shared transport services with a reduction in cars owned allows VCC to be validated and become a tradable asset. CAZ payments can be used to buy tokens which become VCC if the Transport Group's new services reduces the number of cars owned. These can then be sold in a VCC market, shifting some of the cost of a CAZ from drivers to major polluters. In the process, vital data is provided by drivers about the sustainable alternatives they need, and introduces them to participating in their development.

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Each internal combustion engine (ICE) car emits around 2 tonnes of eCO₂ per year from its use and replacing it with shared transport avoids manufacturing an EV with a one off embedded eCO₂ of around 20 tonnes. Amortised over a 5 year period the total eCO₂ per vehicle replaced is around 6 tonnes. At a projected VCC price of £50 per tonne by the end of 2026, a single car reduction generates VCC worth £300 annually. This could cover the annual cost of providing the user with an e-bike, for example.  

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