On Thursday, a city official said that Stockholm would become the first European capital to prohibit gasoline and diesel-fueled vehicles from a downtown commercial district beginning in 2025.
To cut pollution, lessen noise, and promote the use of electric vehicles, a 20-block region consisting of stores, sidewalks, and a few homes will implement a ban on internal combustion engine vehicles, remarked Green Party representative Lars Strömgren, who oversees transportation in Stockholm.
Strömgren claims that Stockholm’s proposed ban on gasoline and diesel vehicles would be unprecedented among European capitals.
Dangerous exhaust fumes from gasoline and diesel vehicles must be eliminated, said Strömgren. That is why he is implementing “the most ambitious low-emission zone to date. The plan is to set up an area designated as a “green zone” where only zero-emission vehicles are allowed. There will be an exemption for disabled transportation and emergency vehicles.
On Tuesday, the municipal council announced the proposal for the region just north of the city’s famous Old Town as part of its budget for 2024. The local government has a majority on the council; thus, their vote on November 23 is likely to be ceremonial.
Strömgren remarked, “We are very proud.”
Taxi Stockholm, a major taxi service in the city, has announced that it is rapidly switching to vehicles that produce no harmful emissions. According to interim CEO Pernilla Samuelsson, the percentage of emission-free vehicles in the company’s fleet has increased to 30% from 2% in the previous year.
The other major European cities share these aspirations. The capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam, has set a goal of having zero emissions from any mode of transportation by the year 2030.
The mayor of Paris planned to outlaw diesel vehicles before the 2020 Olympics and gasoline vehicles by 2030, but he has met with opposition.
Paris and 77 adjacent towns have a 12-hour ban on diesel vehicles manufactured before 2006 and gasoline vehicles manufactured before 1997.
