Low emissions zone

Barcelona, Spain

About the city. According to Air Quality Indices, the air in Spain is considered one of the most polluted in the world. Barcelona has the largest low emissions zone (ZBE) in southern Europe.

Goal

The aim of the ZBE is to reduce environmental pollution and preserve and improve air quality and public health. It is one of the measures being taken to reduce emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, and particularly nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10). The launch of the ZBE aims to reduce emissions of NOx and PM10 by up to 31 % and 39 % respectively.

Air pollution is responsible for approximately half of all childhood asthma cases in Barcelona.

Implementation period.

The project started on January 1, 2020. The system continues to work to this day.

Fact

The levels of pollution in the metropolitan area exceed the maximum pollution thresholds for NO2 and PM10 established by the EU and the World Health Organization, and this is a major threat to public health.

Solutions

1. Restrictions.
The most polluting vehicles are not able to access the low emissions zone within Barcelona’s ring roads (ZBE Rondes de Barcelona), which is an area covering 95 square kilometres.

The restrictions are currently limited to motorcycles and cars without a DGT environmental label on days of high pollution levels. The measure is implemented on a permanent basis by 2020, and to all vehicles, without the label (motorcycles, cars, lorries, vans and buses) all year round, from 7 am to 8 pm from Monday to Friday.

2. An alternative for those who refuse a polluting car.
People who deregister a polluting vehicle and send it for scrap and do not acquire any new vehicle for the duration of three years that the metropolitan green card is valid are eligible. The benefit recipient must be an adult, legally resident within the area covered by the Barcelona Metropolitan Transport Authority, and have scrapped a polluting vehicle they owned that was subject to vehicle tax in a municipality in the scheme.

The green card T-verda is a transport pass that provides three years of free public transport on all ATM transport services in exchange for sending a highly polluting vehicle for scrap. This is a free public transport pass for the entire integrated metropolitan area (6 zones). In the 36 metropolitan municipalities, it is administered through the AMB Information service.

3. Help for those who want to buy an eco-friendly vehicle.
Government offers several alternatives to encourage more sustainable mobility, with grants for purchasing low emissions vehicles; discounts on taxes, tolls and other fees linked to mobility and support for fleets. For instance, discounts on the mechanical traction vehicle tax (IVTM) of up to 75 %.

Challenges

Problem. How are vehicles checked in the ZBE?

Solution. This takes place automatically by cameras that check license plates against the appropriate DGT environmental label, and with the Metropolitan register of foreign vehicles and other authorised vehicles.

The automatic monitoring system, which has over 100 license plate-reading cameras at various points in the metropolitan area, will give the local authorities details of the vehicles identified in their territory, which are therefore subject to penalties.

Problem. What to do with professional transport that do not have the DGT environmental label?

Solution. The regulatory decrees of the ZBE offer to give a 1-year extension to professional vehicles transporting passengers (more than 8 seats, plus the driver’s one) and goods that do not have a DGT environmental label. Those vehicles are N1, N2, N3 (vans and lorries) categories and buses (M2 and M3).

Problem. What should foreigners who came to the city in their own car do?

Solution. The Metropolitan register of foreign vehicles and other vehicles authorised to travel in the ZBE Rondes de Barcelona. All vehicles exempt from traffic restrictions within the ZBE regardless of their DGT environmental label, are required to register. Vehicles affected by the restrictions are entitled to daily permits. More detailed, owners may apply for up to 10 permits per year.

Team

The case was implemented by the AMB. This is the public administration of the metropolitan area of Barcelona, a large urban conurbation made up of 36 municipalities.

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