Ecopass

The Ecopass program is a pollution charge implemented in Milan, Italy, as an urban toll for some motorists traveling within a designated traffic restricted zone or ZTL (Italian: Zone a Traffico Limitato), corresponding to the central Cerchia dei Bastioni area and encircling around 8 km². The Ecopass was implemented as a one-year trial program on January 2, 2008,^[1][2][3] and later extended until December 31, 2009.^[4] A public consultation will be conducted early in 2009 to decide if the pollution charge becomes permanent.^[4]

The primary purpose of program is to reduce air pollution from motor vehicle tailpipe emissions and to use the funds raised through the charge to finance public transportation projects, cycle paths and green vehicles.^[2] This program is similar to the congestion pricing programs implemented in London and Stockholm, but actually corresponds to an evolution of these pricing schemes as only high-polluting vehicles entering the ZTL are charged and the worst polluters are banned.^[5]

The amount of the pollution charge depends on the vehicle's engine emissions standard and fees vary from € 2 to €10 on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Free access to the ZTL is granted to several types of alternative fuel vehicles and for low-polluting conventional fuel vehicles compliant with the Euro3 and Euro4 or better emission standards. Residents within the restricted zone are exempted only if driving a low-polluting vehicle while owners of older more polluting vehicles get a discount only if they buy an annual pass that can go up to €250 depending on the vehicle's engine emission standards. Enforcement is carry out through digital cameras located at 43 electronic gates, with fines for offenders varying between €70 to €275.^[1][2][4][6]

There are also restrictions to enter the ZTL between 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. for trucks with a length greater than 7 m; commercial loading and unloading operations are restricted to pre-established schedules; and the older and worst polluters vehicles are forbidden to enter the ZTL during six months a year.^[5]

Milanese authorities decided to temporarily suspend charging the Ecopass fees during a three-week period in August 2008 in order to facilitate tourism inside the restricted area (ZTL), considering that during this time of the summer local traffic is low and pollution levels are usually at a minimum level.^[7][8]

Milan has one of the highest European rates of car ownership, as more than half of Milan citizens use private cars and motorcycles, ranking second only after Rome,^[3] and among the highest in the world.^[9] The city also has the third-highest concentration of particulate matter among large European cities, both in terms of average annual level and days of exceeding the European Union PM10 limit of 50 micrograms per cubic meter, according to a 2007 study supported by several environmental groups.^[3] Due to its lingering air pollution problems and associated health problems, in 2007, and for a trial period, the city banned 170,000 older cars and motorcycles that do not pass strict environmental emission standards.^[9]

In January 2008 the mayor of Milan, Letizia Moratti, launched the Ecopass program expecting a 30% cut in pollution levels and a 10% reduction in traffic.^[2] She said that it was part of a wider project to reduce smog in the Lombardy region and increase the use of public transportation. The mayor forecast that the scheme would raise € 24 million a year, two thirds of which would be invested into public transportation. Because of opposition, even among her own political allies, the original plan had to be scale down as the traffic restricted zone (ZTL) was reduced from a planned 60 km² to 8 km². The implemented Ecopass ZTL represents just 5% of the city's area.^[3] Also the launch was delayed from October 2007 until after the Christmas and New Year holidays,^[6] and the mayor was forced to include discounts for local residents.^[3]

An estimated 89,000 vehicles were entering the restricted area before the implementation of the Ecopass program.^[2][6] In just two months the financial return was €3.9 million^[10] and nine months after going into effect, the traffic reduction was estimated in 22,000 polluting vehicles; public transportation speed increased by 11.3%^[10] and was carrying 40,000 additional passengers; traffic accidents fell 20.7% in downtown Milan; and the number of days exceeding the permitted level of particulate matter felt to 51 days as compared to an average 91 days for the last five years in the period January to September.^[11][12]

The city of Milan was awarded a 2009 Sustainable Transport Honorable Mention by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) for the introduction and success of its Ecopass program.^[10]

Any motor vehicle built before the Euro emission standards were in force (called pre-E) is not allowed to enter the restricted zone (ZTL) from October 15 to April 15, as these vehicles are the worst polluters and the weather during this period worsens air quality. Cleaner vehicles are exempted from the pollution charge and there is free access for all vehicles on Saturdays and Sundays, except as noted above. The amount of the charge payable depends on the type of vehicle according with their their compliance with the European emission standards, and there is a discounted annual pass for residents within the restricted zone (ZTL). The following table details the daily and annual charges and the type of vehicles that are exempted.

• Carbon tax
• Congestion pricing
• Ecotax
• London congestion charge
• Pareto efficiency
• Pigovian tax
• Polluter pays principle
• Road space rationing
• San Francisco congestion pricing
• Singapore's Electronic Road Pricing
• Stockholm congestion tax
• Tragedy of the Commons
• Transport economics

• Oficial Ecopass website from the city of Milano
• Map of Ecopass entry/control points to the ZTL