In the European Union there are more than 300 low-emission zones (ZBE), although there is no official count. “We understand that a ZBE is an area in which access is restricted to vehicles more pollutants to reduce emissions and improve air quality, but does not have a legal definition, each city decides how to put up theirs,” says Nuria Blázquez, who coordinated the report, Low-Emission Zones of Ecologists in Action in April of 2019. The lack of a standardised definition means that in this category come in different models: Madrid Central, for example, is very restrictive –prohibits traversing through the area to cars with labels B or C if not go to a car park– but it applies in a very small area; the ZBE de Barcelona occupies an area 20 times larger, but allows vehicles with label the go through. The fines for hack to the Catalan capital will apply from the month of April. The Madrid Central –that kicked off the last 16 of march– now exceed the 375.000 (data to September), according to the city Hall of the capital.

The count of ZBE most comprehensive to date of what took place in 2015, the CSIC researcher Xavier Querol through the project Airuse, where it concluded that in the European Union there were about 280 low-emission zones, which are spread unevenly: in Germany and Italy are the norm in large cities, while in Slovakia and Hungary there is no... “To this figure must be added to all cities of over 50,000 inhabitants of Lombardy [Italy], according to a regional law must have one of these projects, and some other Italian”, says Querol. Thus, the ZBE european now exceed 300.

In Europe, there are ZBE in almost all the main capitals: Berlin, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam. Vienna, Athens... Other cities are opting for a congestion charge for vehicles which are more polluting, like they do in London —who in 2021, will extend the measurement to nearly the entire city, Stockholm, Milan, Gothenburg and Oslo, among others. Normally, the collection of this fee is invested in improving public transport. The web urbanaccessregulations.eu sets out the greater part of the european initiatives, although it also includes cities that have protocols anti-pollution, that only applied a few times a year and are much less restrictive.

tap the photo area of low-emission, Madrid Central, which came into operation at the end of 2018.

In Spain, so there are only two experiences: the ZBE Madrid Central, which was launched at the end of 2018, and the ZBE of Barcelona, which has entered into force on the 2nd January (1st is a holiday). The penalties for access unduly to the area of restricted traffic in the capital is 90 euros. In Barcelona, the fines start at 100 euros, and can reach up to 1,800 for a repeat in episodes of high pollution.

“In Germany there is a state framework that marks how it should be done a ZBE, but not in Spain,” says Blázquez. This may soon change. A spokesman of the Ministry of Ecological Transition explains that the Government is working with the Directorate General of Traffic in order to establish a definition of the ZBE and that his intention is that, when you have a Government, is adopted in Spain, a standard similar to that of Lombardy, which would oblige all cities of over 50,000 inhabitants to have its own Zone of Low Emissions. In fact, eight municipalities in the metropolitan area of Barcelona are already preparing their own ZBE. Meanwhile, what there is in Spain are cities that have opted for the peatonalizaciones and bike lanes at the expense of taking off site to the car, such as Vitoria, Pontevedra and Valencia.

“To put in place a ZBE you have to do it at the beginning of the legislature, and to monitor the results in terms of emissions, intensity of traffic, sales of businesses... So it is easy to demonstrate that they work,” said David Lois, professor of the UNED and researcher at the Center for Transportation Research of the universidad Politécnica de Madrid (Transyt). “That was what happened with the Madrid Central, which improved the punctuality of the buses, increased the caminabilidad, reduced the number of cars and lowered the pollution by 20%,” he adds. In his opinion, the ZBE are essential to improve the quality of the air: “Are the first leg, because they reduce the through traffic. But in addition, there are incentives for sustainable mobility (on foot, by bike and by public transport), reduce the number of car parking spaces and to perform actions such as the superislas (apples cerrradas the traffic of non-residents), the creation of bike lanes and the peatonalizaciones”.

The scientist Xavier Querol considers that the ZBE “does not solve the problem of air quality in the cities, but it is a key piece”. The expert reminds that this idea was applied for the first time in Stockholm in 1996 and in 2010, Germany chose to apply it in all its large cities. “But in addition to the ZBE measures are needed as a metropolitan transport have skills in park and ride facilities, the urban distribution of goods is carried out with hybrid or electric vehicles or use a bicycle, parking in the area is just for residents and to redesign our cities to remove lanes to cars and give them to pedestrians”.

Date Of Update: 03 January 2020, 02:00