Warsaw is a city designed for cars: four wheeled moving boxes are ubiquitous in the Polish capital, which makes congestion and poor air quality a fact of daily life. Could things get better?

From the Cleantech magazine, Fall 2012

There seems to be a disdain for public transport in downtown Warsaw. Drivers are pushing cars into areas perfectly well covered by buses and trams, as well as Warsaw’s only metro line, causing the city’s central areas to congest and the air to deteriorate.

The Czech capital Prague tackled car congestion and ensuing problems by establishment of a low emissions zone (LEZ) in the city. “A LEZ is an area in the city that only cars of particular emissions standard can drive into,” Alicja Zajączkowska explained. Ms. Zajączkowska heads a program for the environmental NGO Zielone Mazowsze to make the Warsaw city hall establish a low emissions zone in the capital.

HOLD YOUR BREATH
LEZs are popular in many European countries, like Germany or France, but Warsaw has a long way to go before city officials warm up to the idea. Ms. Zajączkowska hopes it’s going to happen sooner rather than later because the quality of air in the Polish capital is rather appalling.

According to data from the Warsaw stations measuring air quality, there were 145 days in 2011 during which air pollution with particulate matter exceeded the norms. Cars are responsible for two-thirds of this type of pollution, according to Zielone Mazowsze.

While pushing for the establishment of LEZs in cities is somehow linked with climate change mitigation, the primary reason for curbing air pollution from cars relates to health.

“It’s also a better way of getting everyone to think about the problem. People are tired of the climate change talk but they will want to do something about their health,” Ms. Zajączkowska said.

Warsaw city hall told Cleantech that a LEZ was “in plans” as one of several measures to tackle pollution in the city, alongside prioritizing public transport or introducing a congestion charge like in London.

HOW DO OTHERS DO IT?
In Berlin, the LEZ covers an area of 88 square kilometers contained inside a ring created by the municipal train system known as S-Bahn. From 2010, diesel vehicles with the emission standard of EURO 4 or higher can enter the Berlin LEZ. The norm for petrol cars is EURO 1.

In Prague, there’s a ban affecting all vehicles over 3.5 tonnes, and a ban in a wider area over 6 tonnes. Entry permits can be granted if the lorry is at least EURO 2.

The Czechs are also going to create more LEZs in the country to tackle air pollution from transport, particularly in the industrial region of Moravia. Prague is planning to give authorities power to allow drivers to bypass for free - rather than entering the city - on normally paid roads on days with high smog levels.

Ms. Zajączkowska acknowledges that getting a LEZ in Warsaw for cars meeting the EURO 4 norm is going to be difficult.

“The average car in Warsaw is 15 years old, largely not meeting even the EURO 2 standard. Of course, you can retrofit your car to meet higher standards, but then again, not all European cities with LEZ allow that,” Ms. Zajączkowska said.