Extended environmental zone in Malmö
On 1 September 2007, Malmö City introduced a larger, so called, Environmental Zone (or Low Emission Zone) for heavy goods vehicles. The extension of the environmental zone forms a part of the CIVITAS SMILE project.
During the autumn, Malmö's environmental zone was extended considerably it has practically doubled compared to its previous size. Now it encompasses central Malmö inside the inner ring road. The environmental zones make environmental demands on heavy vehicles that go through the central parts of the city. As a result of the new environmental zone, we are intensifying our requirements and investing in improved air quality and noise reductions in central Malmö, says Urban Nordh of the municipal services department.Malmö, Gothenburg, Lund and Stockholm have introduced the same rules, making it easier for hauliers who work throughout the whole country.All new heavy vehicles which run on diesel are allowed to drive in the environmental zone for six years from the date of registration. But if you have, for example, the best engine which complies with Euro 5 criteria, you can drive through the environmental zones until 2020, says Urban.A brochure, which covers the environmental zones in Stockholm, Gothenburg, Lund and Malmö has now been produced and is being distributed throughout the industry. In order to get a picture of how well the environmental zone in Malmö is working, the municipal services department will evaluate it .In October we conducted a new traffic count together with Malmö University College at 20 locations throughout the city. All the registration numbers of heavy vehicles were written down and will be checked to see if they are entitled to drive through the environmental zone. We will then compare the figures with our previous evaluations, says Urban.
