Milan, Italy starts applying a pollution charge
Owning a polluting car has become expensive for drivers in Milan. With the new year, a new rule by Milan's City Council is charging cars a fee based on the EU's pollution levels. With this measure, the City Hall expects to drastically reduce the smog levels in the city center by almost a third which is a big deal, as Milan is considered one of Europe's 10 most polluted cities. The plan is expected to last for one year and won't affect mopeds, motorbikes, alternative fuel vehicles (LPG, CNG, hybrids or electrics), gasoline engines falling under Euro III or IV rules or diesels under Euro IV with a DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter).
The scheme, called "Ecopass", is based on five levels depending on the vehicle engine. It will cost anywhere between two and 10 EUR to drive in the center, a designated area of about 8 km2 (3 sq mi), pictured above. Cameras at 43 electric gates will monitor traffic and violators will be hit with fines that start at 70 EUR. The City Hall expects to generate 24 million EUR revenue which will be used for buses, bicycle paths and green vehicles.
With this charge, Milan is joining cities such as London, Toronto, Singapore and Stockholm, which all have similar measures. Other places, such as Berlin, Cologne and Hannover, have decided to completely ban the most polluting cars.
[Source: Reuters and Ecomilano, h/t to Karl-Uwe for the tip]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Arnold Schneider 2:40PM (1/02/2008)
This is clever. Later on the system can be used to bill all vehicles as in London. I couldn't have done it better...
The German way of completely banning is probably better in the short run, but later on, when the bar is to be heightened again there will always be more resistance in the public to a complete ban than with a billing scheme as in Milan.
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Throwback 3:52PM (1/02/2008)
While I don't doubt that the "only" reason this is being implemented is reduce pollution. I am always a little dubious when a city has already allocated the additional revenue to other projects. How many buses and bike paths do they plan on buying and building? I suspect some of that money will be spent for other "necessities"
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Baldanzi 4:54PM (1/03/2008)
I used to live right where you see the number "1" on the map above. I think it is a great idea - the traffic and pollution is terrible in Milan. However if you read, Euro III and IV vehicles are allowed too... There are lots of cars available in Italy that meet that rating so it is no where near as restrictive as it fist appears.
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Karl-Uwe Strunzen 10:57PM (1/02/2008)
I expect the list of cities with a pollution tax to extend exponentially with time. After London, Toronto, Singapore and Stockholm, now it's Milan's turn.
I think the German example is by far the worst to follow. In terms of city congestion a complete ban is (what a surprise) a very simplistic approach. This system, on the other hand, exempts cars such as Euro IV. A time goes by the standard will presumably brought up to Euro V and one day zero-emission vehicles (see the electric car fleet announced today in Paris). In other words the system, such as that in London, allows the administration a means of rewarding drivers of environmentally-friendly cars, while sticking a tax-burden on those drivers who are the cause of the problem, the drivers of SUVs and huge execs (mainly German vehicles). Likewise Germany is pretty much the only country in the EU in 2008 without a CO2-based car tax (ask the lobbyists for inefficient German cars as to why this is the case...). Furthermore, allowing a SUV in the city-centre because it has been fitted with a particle filter is simply stupid.
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g.reina 7:51AM (1/03/2008)
Milan is my hometown and I currently live in the downtown. I've been unlucky, though, because my house is on the wrong side of the inner ring, out of the gates. And my father, whose car is an Euro 3 diesel, thus a "polluting" vehicle, has to pay this tax. But that's no problem for anyone. For example, we should pay about 200 €uros per year (less than 300 $, for those still comfortable with the good ol' value), and that's really unexpensive when you think of what people pay in London. Moreover, the zone where the tax applies is already, at least the 30% I'd say, for pedestrians or public transport only. So here I come to my point: this is not a pollution charge, but yet another you-have-a-car-therefore-pay tax. We have an established tradition here in Milan: the former major put in the city balance 40 mln €uros of "supposed" fines. By that he meant that, well, his administration was not so good, but he had a solution: let's make the policemen loose to fine everyone and everywhere. This new measure is nothing new.
And if someone is more interested, and understands Italian, here's an article describing why it will not affect seriously the pollution level in Milan:
http://www.autoblog.it/post/11878/lecopass-di-milano-un-approfondimento-sul-tema
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Karl-Uwe Strunzen 1:21PM (1/03/2008)
I don't believe this is another "you-have-a-car-therefore-pay" tax. As stated in the text, gasoline engines falling under Euro III or IV rules or diesels under Euro IV are unaffected. These cars pay zero and make up a huge portion of the current car fleet.
This measure is simply about polluting cars. People who are still driving around in a diesel Euro III OUGHT to be taxed for their emissions and for their congestion. What is the link between the two? The heavy polluters, cars generally classed at > 250 g CO2/km are mainly SUVs, which are also horrible for congestion.
Think of it this way. As of 2008 (and there are plenty of other examples around Europe) a person who buys a car in France with very low emissions will get a cash rebate of either 300 or 700 euros. Cars above 250g CO2/km (which equates to SUVs mainly) will pay an extra CO2 surcharge of 2600 euros. Administrations everywhere (almost) are trying to target those drivers who simply couldn't care less how much they pollute.
As to the surcharges applied in Milan I expect they will go up with time, especially for SUVs. You can't expect them to go from zero to a hundred in 3 seconds flat......
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