In light of Madrid’s on again off again low emission zone law, Madrid Central, it’s important to look at Europe as a whole to see what governments are doing to cut emissions in urban areas. There are over 260 LEZ (low emission zones) throughout Europe that restrict the use of vehicles within city centers in an effort to reduce air pollution and traffic in urban areas.

Sweden was the first European country to enforce a low emissions zone in 1996 and at the date of the publication “Urban Vehicle Access Regulations in Europe” in 2018, there are now 12 European countries that have introduced low emission zones. Cities in countries such as the United Kingdom are now launching ULEZ, ultra-low emissions zones, to combat pollution and public health concerns.

The impacts of LEZ:

The overall goal of low emission zones is to reduce levels of air contaminants that are hazardous to human and environmental health and also to reduce traffic which, in turn, has the potential to reduce these emissions even more. The impact of a low emission zone depends on many factors, one of them being the size of the restricted zone and also the intensity of the restriction. Furthermore, the combination with a congestion pricing scheme can affect the results as well.

In a study done by the Umweltbundesamt (the German Environment Agency) of three German cities with low emission zones, they found a 5-10% reduction in PM10 concentrations and a 50% decrease in elemental carbon concentrations (EC). It was also found in The Journal of Hazardous Materials that PM10 and NO2 levels were both considerably reduced in Lisbon through low emission zone. In the city’s zone 1, PM10 levels were reduced by 30.5% and NO2 levels were reduced by 9.4%. In zone 2, PM10 levels were reduced by 22.5% and NO2 levels decreased by 12.9%. 

Other Strategies

Congestion pricing is another strategy that cities can implement in order to curb traffic to improve air quality within urban areas. Currently, New York City has put into motion the planning of a congestion pricing scheme for lower Manhattan, making it the first American city to restrict traffic in its urban core.

With 260 European low emission zones and one of the most car-dependent countries implementing congestion pricing in its largest city, we can see an important shift in how we are approaching pollution and congestion in our cities.