Driving in
Driving in Sunderland
Tyne and Wear, England. What is different here rather than what is the same everywhere.
287,070
No zone
SR
Checked on 30 June 2025.Office for National Statistics, Population estimates, local authority based by single year of age (mid-2025) (as of 30 June 2025)
No charging zone here
Sunderland has no clean air zone, low emission zone or congestion charge. Nothing about the age or fuel of your car changes what it costs to drive into the city, and the only motoring charges that apply are the national ones.
What is different about driving in Sunderland?
Very little, in charging terms. Sunderland runs no zone, so the national rules are the whole story. What is local is the shape of the fleet and the charging network, which the figures below describe.
Local figures for Sunderland
- The Tyneside clean air zone covers Newcastle and Gateshead only, so Sunderland drivers are outside it until they cross the Tyne. It is a class C zone, which charges vans, taxis, private hire vehicles and lorries but not cars.
- 30.9% of Sunderland households had no car or van at the 2021 census.
- About 122,300 licensed cars were recorded in the city at the end of March 2026, more than in Newcastle even though Newcastle has 33,000 more residents.
- Charger numbers grew from 455 devices in January 2026 to 522 at 1 April 2026, or 180.9 per 100,000 residents.
The numbers behind those lines
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Vehicle fleet | The Tyneside clean air zone covers Newcastle and Gateshead only, so Sunderland drivers are outside it until they cross the Tyne. It is a class C zone, which charges vans, taxis, private hire vehicles and lorries but not cars. |
| Public charging | The Tyneside clean air zone covers Newcastle and Gateshead only, so Sunderland drivers are outside it until they cross the Tyne. It is a class C zone, which charges vans, taxis, private hire vehicles and lorries but not cars. |
| Car ownership | 30.9% of Sunderland households had no car or van at the 2021 census. |
Common questions
- Is there a clean air zone in Sunderland?
- No. Sunderland has no charging or low emission zone, so no daily charge applies to driving there. The nearest zone, if any, is in a different authority area.
- What does a car pay to drive in Sunderland?
- Nothing. There is no zone charge in Sunderland. The only motoring charges that apply are the national ones: vehicle excise duty, fuel duty and any local parking scheme.
- How many public chargers are there in Sunderland?
- The Tyneside clean air zone covers Newcastle and Gateshead only, so Sunderland drivers are outside it until they cross the Tyne. It is a class C zone, which charges vans, taxis, private hire vehicles and lorries but not cars.
- Are motoring rules different in England?
- Vehicle tax, speeding penalties and licensing are set nationally, so they are the same everywhere in Great Britain. What varies locally is whether a charging zone applies and what it costs.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics, Population estimates, local authority based by single year of age (mid-2025) (as of 30 June 2025)
- Office for National Statistics, Population estimates for England and Wales: mid-2025 (as of 29 July 2026)
- Office for National Statistics, Census 2021, TS045 car or van availability (as of 21 March 2021)
- Department for Transport, Vehicle licensing statistics, table VEH0105 (2026 Q1) (as of 31 March 2026)
- Department for Transport, Electric vehicle charging infrastructure statistics, table EVCI0102 (as of 1 April 2026)
- GOV.UK, Driving in a clean air zone (as of 30 July 2026)