The Lazio region approves the postponement of the bans on Euro 3 petrol and Euro 4 diesel cars until November 2024. The municipality has until May next year to present alternative proposals
– Milan
A year-long sigh of relief for owners of Euro 4 diesel and Euro 3 petrol cars. The pact with the Lazio region exists on the new Fascia Verde restricted traffic zone in Rome: for one year, until November 2024, they will be admitted into the perimeter Euro 4 diesels (over 156 thousand vehicles) and Euro 3 petrols are also ecological, but above all there will be no fines at the gates for a few more months. First it will be necessary to activate the new technological traffic control measures, starting with Move-in, a sort of telepass that will also allow old cars to travel a certain number of kilometers per year in the Green Belt. The gates, still to be completed, in this initial phase will be limited to the monitoring of vehicles, without translating prohibited crossings into sanctions.
waiting for new proposals
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“It’s a point of balance – the mayor stated in the Chamber during an extraordinary council meeting Roberto Gualtieri – which I think everyone can agree on and which actually allows us to improve air quality” and also allows “to apply limits that have existed for years and which were applied in a random way”. And on the evening of Friday 27 October the official green light from the Region: “The hot potato came to us in the summer – said the governor Francesco Rocca – The first relief is to have a few months ahead. It is a call to arms to address an issue that has been kept under the carpet for too long”. Via Cristoforo Colombo, headquarters of the regional local authority, therefore “approves the proposal presented by Rome starting from November 2023”, but precisely for one year: in fact, the Region “does not approve the proposal” with a view to post-November 2024. The Capitol, however, explained the Region, will then still be able to “prepare a program of interventions that identifies alternative measures as long as these provide a guarantee of equal effectiveness”. In practice this means that the municipality will be able to present alternative proposals to limit pollution by 30 May 2024 without however affecting motorists alone.
how the green belt works
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The mayor explained what the new provision consists of during the extraordinary council meeting. The agreement with the Region, based on the most updated pollution data (PM10 and NO2 for which Italy was sanctioned by the EU), is valid for the ’23-’24 year, at the end of which the mayor and governor will return to negotiations, also in light of the results of the first year. On the merits “the new legislation does not introduce new limits on the circulation of vehicles” compared to those already existing and in fact never applied, which in fact “remain in force”: Euro 0-1 petrol and diesel cannot enter the Green Zone as of 2015 Euro 0-2, while Euro 2 petrol and Euro 3 diesel are off limits from 2019. The ban for Euro 4 diesel it was overcome by remodulation. Even for them Euro 3 petrol the Ztl will be accessible until November 2024. Those who have an old vehicle can now install an LPG system, less expensive than a new car, so as to have free access to the Ztl (another novelty of the remodulation). Otherwise you will be able to have a carnet of 60 entries per year in addition to the 52 Sundays, or install the Move in, on the model of what was also done in Milan with Area B, which “allows the assignment – Gualtieri continued – of a limit of kilometers that can be traveled in the Green Belt, depending on the engine capacity and age of the vehicle”. A system designed to “not force many who use it occasionally to change their car”.
public transport hub
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To technically activate these innovations, however, time is needed and this is why the gates will not be activated until a few months later, while for public transport the mayor assured: “We are working to increase the fleet and frequency of buses. Metro and trams have more demanding times” but already from December “Metro A will be reopened in the evening” whose service has been limited since July last year.
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