Effects and potentials of LEZ in Europe: Do they really work?

Abstract

Low Emission Zones (LEZ) are the municipalities' response to the European Clean Air Directive, which obliges regional governments to take appropriate measures to not exceed certain thresholds for pollutants like particle matter (PM), NOX, etc Most LEZ are regulating the access for polluting cars, though the regulations are different and act differently in changing the driver's behavior. Mostly, the pollution class is subject to the regulation; mostly it aims at the particle matter emissions, sometimes the vehicle class is considered, sometimes both is combined. The access regulation is either a pure drive ban or a charge has to be paid. Drive bans are easy to implement as they are a variant of traffic law. In addition they work immediately as people are forced to change their habits immediately. Though, pure driving bans are disadvantageous for certain population groups like inactive households or small trade, starting a public debate about the appropriateness of the measure that overshadows environmental opinion making. Moreover, long transition phases and vast exemptions foil the emission targets. By collecting charges, people are not excluded from accessing the city and may adopt according to their individual capabilities and needs. The experience shows that emission targets and public acceptance are well achievable with charged low emission zones. Regarding greenhouse gas (GHG), the general public does not distinguish between pollutants that are threatening health and emissions that promote global warming — in the case of car use, both originate from the same process. Driving ban zones cannot be used as too many people would be excluded; The principle of charged zones though does not excluded from entering the city, but people are encouraged to change mobility behavior according to their capabilities, individual situation and needs. The recently published EC White Paper of Transport targets at a 50% drop of CO2 emissions from private cars in cities. So there is hardly an alternative to changing mobility behavior. Offering electric cars in the shop windows of car vendors is not enough. People need a stimulus to activate behavioral changes.