Ecopass

The Ecopass program was a traffic pollution charge implemented in Milan, Italy, as an urban toll for some motorists traveling within a designated traffic restricted zone or ZTL (Italian: Zone a Traffico Limitato), corresponding to the central Cerchia dei Bastioni area and encircling around 8.2 km2 (3.2 sq mi). The Ecopass was implemented as a one-year trial program on 2 January 2008,[1][2][3] and later extended until 31 December 2009.[4] A public consultation was planned to be conducted early in 2009 to decide if the charge becomes permanent.[4] Subsequently, the charge-scheme was prolonged until 31 December 2011.[5] Starting from 16 January 2012, a new scheme (called Milan Area C) was introduced, converting it from a pollution-charge to a conventional congestion charge.[6]

The primary purpose of the program was to reduce traffic and air pollution, as it was based on a fee structure according to the vehicle's engine emission standards,[7][8][9] and to use the funds raised through the charge to finance public transportation projects, cycle paths, and green vehicles.[2][7] This program was similar to the congestion pricing programs implemented in London and Stockholm, although there was a variation of these pricing schemes,[1][3][10] as only vehicles with high-polluting engines entering the ZTL were charged, and the ones with older most polluting engines were banned.[10][11]

  1. ^ a b Ken Belson (27 January 2008). "Toll Discounts for Going Green". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  2. ^ a b BBC News (2 March 2008). "Milan introduces traffic charge". Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  3. ^ a b Marco Bertacche (3 January 2008). "Milan Introduces Congestion Charge To Cut Pollution". The New York Sun. Archived from the original on 20 January 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  4. ^ a b Edoardo Croci (31 December 2008). "Ecopass. Prorogato fino al 31 dicembre 2009. Nei primi mesi dell'anno prevista la consultazione dei cittadini" (in Italian). Comune di Milano. Retrieved 15 February 2009. The complete pricing scheme is presented in this article.
  5. ^ "Official Ecopass page" (in Italian). Official Ecopass page
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference areac was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b Antonella Ciancio (2 January 2008). "Milan drivers face trend-setting pollution charge". Reuters UK. Archived from the original on 26 March 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  8. ^ "'Eco-Pass' begins as Milan fights city pollution". European Federation for Transport and Environment. 6 February 2008. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  9. ^ Michael Day (7 March 2008). "Milan 'is pollution capital of Europe". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 April 2013. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  10. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Times08 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference ANTRAM08 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).