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 that can be used to establish compatible supply and demand for new transport services, before they are developed. Transport Groups involve drivers collectively linking their CAZ payments with development of the specific, new, shared services, which will enable them to own fewer cars. This can be used to validate reduced carbon emissions, and it allows Transport Groups to issue Voluntary Carbon Credits (VCC). ​Drivers can buy a Transport Group's VCC as part of their CAZ payments and either retire them, to offset car use, or sell them to other polluters on a VCC Market.​ The Transport Group uses revenue from VCC to pay a return on the investment required to develop its new services.​

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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 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

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CAZ payments as Voluntary Carbon Credits

• Drivers buy VCC for a specific Transport Group as part of their CAZ payments

• The Transport Group uses its VCC revenue to pay a return to investors who buy 'Transport Group Tokens' (TGT)

• VCC, issued by the Transport Group, are validated by the reduction in cars owned by its members

• Drivers can retire VCC, to carbon offset their car use, or sell them on a VCC market, to pass the cost on to other polluters​​

​ICE cars each emit around 6 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. A Transport Group can issue VCC by verifying a reduction in the number cars owned by its members. The price of VCC is predicted to reach £50 per tonne by the end of 2026, selling 6 VCC at this rate generates £300 per car per year. Using this to pay a 5% return on investment leverages £6000 for the development of new services. A Transport Group that substitutes 4 privately owned cars can issue £1200 of VCC and leverage £24,000, enough to invest in a shared access EV (nearly new) and e-bikes. Other drivers can link their CAZ payments to the Transport Group by buying its VCC. For example, 12 commuters, who continue to travel by car, could pay £1 per day for 100 days to buy £1200 of VCC issued by a Transport Group. Replacing 4 of the 10 privately owned cars linked to the Transport Group, is a modal shift of 40%.

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Members of a Transport Group can invest in their own new services by selling their cars to auto-traders for TGT, which the traders buy from the Transport Group, see Diagram 1 below. This avoids the 'carbon rebound effect', where the money saved by owning fewer cars might otherwise be used for carbon intensive activities, such as air travel. ​The overall effect is for members of the Transport Group to collectively shift the money, which is currently trapped by their private cars, to the development of shared alternatives. All of this can be done online before changes, to car ownership or transport provision, are made on the ground. It avoids a transition period during which new services co-exist with the private cars of target users, a problem that increases costs and presents a barrier to change.

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