MPs approve local low-emission zones

The Chamber of Deputies has overridden a presidential veto and cleared the way for municipalities to designate low-emission zones (LOZs) and thus limit certain kinds of automobile traffic, to guarantee air quality.

The law passed Sept. 7 allows local communities to regulate access to certain neighborhoods based on a vehicle's emissions, discouraging older-model car and large truck traffic. President Václav Klaus, a noted skeptic of man-made climate change, had refused to sign the law, arguing it left room for corruption.

While mayors from the worst-affected smog area in the Moravia-Silesia region welcome the change, some critics argue most cities do not have sufficient alternative roads through which to divert traffic, a requirement to utilize the new law.

Ostrava Deputy Mayor for Transport Aleš Boháč said, "It is good there is finally an option to improve the environment," as his city is one of the country's most polluted areas.

But while welcoming the regulation in general, he also said it has shortcomings.

"The biggest stumbling block is that we can create the zone only if we can provide the drivers with roads of equal quality as an alternative," he said. "Ostrava still does not have a ring road; therefore, we could consider offering the use of the highway instead, but the Transport Ministry keeps rejecting our request to free drivers of highway fees in the city area."

The changed law comes on the heels of a study by the Czech Hydrometeorological Institute concluding that 48 percent of the population lived in areas with dangerous levels of air pollution, a number up from 18 percent the year before.

Deputy Pavol Lukša (TOP 09), one of the law's main proponents, said the amendment on air protection is only the beginning, and such a model has already proved effective in many European cities.

"This measure is to motivate drivers to stop avoiding the paid ring roads and going into the city centers instead to save money on highway fees," he said. "This is much more efficient than providing free transport as Ostrava City Hall did, which is like throwing millions of crowns into the air and discriminating against those who have prepaid transport cards."

The law would be enforced by requiring drivers to have their emissions checked and receive a sticker classifying their vehicle in one of several categories. Municipalities would regulate which class of vehicle was allowed to enter which zones. Older makes of Škoda cars like the Škoda 105 or Škoda Favorit, as well as Avia trucks, are considered among the most common seriously polluting vehicles. Municipalities can set their own penalties for violators.

LOZs are already in regular use elsewhere in Europe, especially in Germany and Italy.

Boháč also expressed concern that the issuing and monitoring of the emissions categories could prove an administrative burden for towns.

"The ideal scenario would be that people would get used to practices already common in Prague, when coming to the city center some people park their cars in the suburbs and then continue downtown using public transport," he said.

Boháč also urges greater flexibility in allowing cities to cancel highway tolls and discourage through-traffic from entering the city center. At present, the law requires "smog alert" conditions for a city to be able to waive driving fees on highways.

"The optimal solution is to reduce the overall amount of individual transport in the city centers," said Vratislav Filla of AutoMat, an NGO that promotes alternative modes of transportation in Prague.

"In small towns, it requires the construction of city circles. In extensive agglomerations like Prague, people's attitude toward driving into the center has to be changed. It is necessary to keep improving public, pedestrian and cycling transport as attractive alternatives to car transport."

Klára Jiřičná can be reached at
kjiricna@praguepost.com