Taxis, vans, trucks, scooters, mopeds and boats - all these vehicles will soon have to face the zero-emission zones planned for 2025 and switch to zero-emission drives. Passenger cars are not affected by the environmental regulations for the time being, but they too are about to change.
A year ago, the Dutch capital decided that taxis and rental cars must switch to zero-emission drive systems by 2030. But a new green regulation is to come into force in Amsterdam even sooner and affect even more vehicles than originally planned. This is because only locally emission-free taxis, vans, trucks, scooters, mopeds and boats - namely vehicles with, for example, an electric or hydrogen drive - will be allowed to drive in large parts of the city from 2025.
An announcement that comes as little surprise to taxi and rental car companies, as there has already been talk in the city administration in recent years of having to make the fleet greener. But the city's decision still poses challenges for vehicle owners and residents who now have to plan a green transition. To facilitate this, Amsterdam has provided transitional arrangements to "give more time to people who are not yet ready for it" - explains city councillor Melanie van der Horst.
The municipality will rely on exemptions and replacement premiums to help low-income residents retrofit and buy new, for example. Ultimately - van der Horst continues - "only the broadest possible support for the packages of measures can help to accelerate the transition to zero-emission mobility".
At the same time, there will be no emission-free zone for passenger cars for the time being, as the planned regulation will only actually apply to the above-mentioned vehicle types with registration from 2025. However, cars will also have to become greener more consistently from 2025 onwards, because the traffic of vehicles worse with Euronorm 5 will be prohibited in the Amsterdam zero-emission zone from that date. It will therefore take longer until the last polluting cars are actually banned from these zones.
Cameras will read the number plates of all vehicles and check whether violations of the new regulation have been committed, and hefty fines can be imposed. This will apply in different parts of Amsterdam because the size of the zones varies depending on the type of vehicle. For mopeds and mopeds, for example, this affects almost all of Amsterdam - with the exception of Landelijk Noord. For vehicles with four or more wheels, the entire area inside the ring is considered an environmental zone. In all cases, the metropolis is thus coming closer to its goal of only allowing zero-emission vehicles and boats - including passenger cars - from 2030. Amsterdam and the adjacent municipalities will now work with the national government to create the necessary framework for the establishment of such traffic measures and driving bans.
In the perspective of the traffic turnaround, it will become increasingly difficult to drive in Amsterdam - as well as probably in other major Dutch cities - while sitting on board a climate-damaging combustion car. Anyone planning to drive motorised vehicles in Amsterdam in the future certainly has a lot to consider.
Also not to be forgotten are the more than 30 low emission zones that are already active in the Netherlands - as well as all the others in the rest of Europe. As always, all information is available on our website and in the Green Zones app.