Austrian low emission zones explained
In Austria there are seven environmental zones and one noise zone. In Burgenland, Lower and Upper Austria, Styria and Vienna, the environmental zone applies to trucks only, and to all types. Whether vans, whether lorries under or over 3.5 tonnes: All truck classes, i.e. N1, N2, N3, are affected by the driving ban, at least those that do not meet Euro standard 3.
Specifically, these are diesel trucks that were registered for the first time by 30 September 2006 and petrol trucks that were registered for the first time by 30 September 2009. However, while in Burgenland and Vienna the driving bans apply to the whole province, in the other provinces it is only certain districts, namely those with heavy traffic in and around the big cities. In the provinces of Tyrol and Linz, on the other hand, completely different rules apply. In Linz, taxi cars are not allowed to drive if they were first registered before 1 January 2006. All other vehicles have free passage. In Tyrol, the driving bans are stricter than in the other provinces: There, no trucks over 3.5 tonnes are allowed to drive (classes N2 and N3) if they do not meet Euronorm 6, i.e. if they were first registered before 1 January 2014.
If you are driving a truck to or through Austria, make sure you have the correct environmental sticker, which is called an Umwelt-Pickerl in Austria. The Pickerl is stuck on the windscreen. In addition, motorists must carry a document with them, which they receive when they buy the Pickerl and on which all the details are listed again. However, the document alone is not enough. Anyone who does not also have the correct sticker on their windscreen and still drives through an environmental zone must expect a fine of up to 2180 euros. The sticker is not stamped with the car's registration number, but with part of the chassis number. The advantage of this is that the sticker is still valid even if the licence plate is changed, as is the case in France and Germany, for example.
In addition to the environmental zones, there is also a noise protection zone, namely in Tyrol, more precisely in the district of Reutte/Außerfern: Since June 2020, motorbikes louder than 95 decibels when stationary are no longer allowed to be driven on several roads there. Those who drive anyway will have to pay 220 euros.
Which roads are affected by this and all further details on the respective zones can of course be found in detail in our Green Zones app.