• ZBE Climate Change Law in some cities with more than 20,000 inhabitants

Tolls are not going to stay on highways and highways. They may also

affect future Low Emission Zones (LEZ)

that by January 1, 2023 will have to be implemented in all cities with

more than 50,000 inhabitants

or even in those with more than 20,000 that exceed the regulated pollution values. . This is how it appears, black on white, in the

document of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge

entitled

Guidelines for the creation of Low Emission Zones

, a kind of instruction manual that will govern the future areas restricted to vehicle traffic from combustion.

In it,

the Government opens the door to being charged for access to these 'oases'

that will be created in cities precisely to attack their high levels of pollution or, at least, to prevent the problem from worsening.

With these urban tolls we would go from "he who uses, pays" to "he who pollutes, pays"

, although the measure could also be interpreted the other way around:

if you pay, you can pollute

.

"

Access and circulation in the ZBE

may include the payment of a fee or toll, the amount of which may also vary depending on the conditions of the vehicle",

is specified in section 9.4.2.2 of the Guidelines

, under the heading 'Toll' (Let us remember that when the Government's intention to establish payment for use on highways was announced for the first time, the Executive denied this term). And then the rationale for applying it is established: The "polluter pays" principle, which opens the door to

different amounts depending on the emission level

of each vehicle, or that of "the user pays", which would be used to apply a

toll based on excess traffic

, with "higher amount at peak times."

This system is the one applied by

Uber

when hiring the services of a vehicle: the

higher the demand, the higher the rate

of the race.

Town councils

Everything related to the implementation and management of Low Emission Zones (ZBE) falls to the Town Halls.

Tolls

They will be the ones to decide for themselves whether to impose a fee for the use of the access roads to the LEZs.

London

Since 2003, the most harmful vehicles have paid € 18 a day to go to the center; in 2019, an additional € 15 was added for old gasoline and diesel cars.

The urban toll would be complemented with

the main criterion to restrict access to the LEZs, which will be the level of contamination of the vehicles

, specified in the environmental labels of the DGT, with the exceptions that may be established for

people with reduced mobility, residents or utility vehicles

.

Collection

The Ministry directed by Teresa Ribera recognizes that

this measure would generate a "constant economic flow"

that would be used for actions to improve the space for pedestrian mobility and the development of cycling infrastructure and public transport. Ecological Transition is not the first Ministry of the current Government to pronounce on this measure since Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda had also considered this option in its

preliminary draft of the Sustainable Mobility Law

as an "effective" financing mechanism.

The benefits would be the

reduction of traffic jams

in working hours (which also translates into economic savings for companies), the

improvement in air quality

in cities and the generation of

new financing resources for public coffers

.

The main drawbacks fall on drivers,

who may have to face an

additional double payment in their daily trips

(on the highways if they live outside the city and due to their own access to the center) and, in addition,

without any discrimination due to their purchasing power if some of the current models in Europe are followed

.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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