Last week's poll: reducing ill-health from air pollution

There was no consensus among the 351 readers who responded to last week’s poll. The largest single group of respondents, 37 per cent, opted for removing the most polluting vehicles from the roads, although as one reader pointed out, there was an ambiguity in the phrasing of the option meaning it wasn’t clear whether we were referring to removing the vehicles with the worst emission performance, or removing the majority of polluting vehicles (the intention was to refer to the former).

The next largest group, 28 per cent, thought that improving infrastructure for cycling and public transport would have the biggest effect, while 21 per cent opted for a focus on cleaning up particulates. The smallest group, five per cent, thought that reorganising freight delivery times would have the biggest effect, while nine per cent declined to pick an option.

The feedback section was lively, with 29 comments. Among these were the usual smattering of denialists insisting that claims of health effects on poor air quality were overblown.