In Portugal, the environmental zones are called Zona de Emissões Reduzidas (ZER) (Emission Reduced Zone). There are only two of them, the smaller and stricter one being within the larger one. Both are located in Lisbon and are bordered by the River Tagus to the south.
The German Federal Taxi and Hire Car Association (BVTM) has presented a plan to electrify 80 percent of the taxi fleet by 2030. The paper, called Federal Roadmap eTaxi, focuses on promoting, demanding and networking.
One of the biggest challenges facing the electrification of transport is the charging infrastructure. Even if more and more drivers opt for an electric model, it will fail in everyday life due to the lack of sockets on the road. One solution is sockets integrated into street lamps. In Berlin, they already wanted to test this by equipping some street lamps with plugs. In London and Arnhem, they are already further along.
In the Netherlands, there are 15 low emission zones in 12 cities. The three largest cities Amsterdam, The Hague and Rotterdam even have two zones. Most zones only prohibit the entry of diesel trucks with Euronorm 3 and below. But there are exceptions and special rules.
The Indonesian capital Jakarta wants to go new ways to fight noise and air pollution: Half of the scooters, mopeds and motorbikes are banned from driving.
Everyone should drive electric cars. But when it comes to mastering everyday life, electric cars still often reach their limits. This is largely due to the infrastructure, which is still in its infancy in many places. Parking garages with charging functions promise a solution. But what happens if a car catches fire there?
Norway has two environmental zones. From 2025 onwards, the country does not want to allow any new combustion cars. This may not even be necessary, because no internal combustion cars are expected to be added as early as around 2022, if sales of electric cars continue as they have been.
Next Wednesday, 22 September, it's that time again, in 46 countries and in over 2000 municipalities: Car Free Day will be celebrated as part of Mobility Week. On this day, people appeal to car drivers to leave their cars behind and get around by bicycle or public transport instead.
It already exists in many European countries: in Norway, Great Britain, Sweden and Italy, the congestion charge is already reducing traffic and increasing revenue in some cities. Transport experts are now calling for the introduction of a toll in German cities as well.
When the mayor of Karlsruhe stood for re-election almost a year ago, the Greens made their support conditional on several points: Parking fees were to be raised and a second bridge over the Rhine was to be dispensed with. Also under discussion were temporary driving bans and the possible introduction of a city toll. So far, however, this toll has not been an issue for the SPD mayor, so that until today there is only an environmental zone.
