COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT A call for smarter urban vehicle access regulations Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Together towards competitive and resource-efficient urban mobility
Date: 2013-12-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: charges for use of infrastructure, environmental protection, motor vehicle pollution, pedestrian zone, traffic signs, transport infrastructure, transport regulations, transport user













EUR-Lex - 52013SC0526 - EN











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52013SC0526

COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT A call for smarter urban vehicle access regulations Accompanying the document COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS Together towards competitive and resource-efficient urban mobility /* SWD/2013/0526 final */









COMMISSION STAFF WORKING DOCUMENT
A call for smarter urban vehicle access
regulations
Accompanying the document
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
Together towards competitive and
resource-efficient urban mobility
I.            Introduction: Optimising urban access
Making urban centres as accessible as
possible requires local decision makers prioritise the use of urban space according
to their local needs and circumstances. Similarly local competent transport authorities
need to decide on how to make the best possible use of the existing expensive
transport infrastructure and maximise the accessibility of cities for
passengers and freight. 
To optimise the accessibility of urban
areas and to reduce negative effects cities are increasingly prioritising
access for certain types of vehicles or certain users. An increasingly wide
range of different types of access regulations are being implemented in European
cities with different approaches in each Member State and often each city. 
To prevent an unnecessary complexity to
travel in cities it would be beneficial to cities, operators and drivers to
have a more coherent and cost effective approach to urban vehicle access
regulations across the European Union. 
Urban access regulations can be defined as:
'measures to regulate vehicular access to urban infrastructure'. There
is a large and growing diversity of different types of urban access regulations
implemented in different ways and for different reasons.
Urban access regulations such as
pedestrianized areas, loading and unloading zones, low speed zones, congestion
charges  are common and important strategies used throughout Europe's cities to
prioritise access for certain vehicles or users. Low emission zones (LEZ) are
seen by many cities as a solution to the widespread non-compliance with EU air
quality limit values for particulate matter and nitrous dioxide.
Access Regulations can apply to specific
points (bridges, tunnels) or to certain road lanes (bus lanes, high occupancy
vehicle lanes) or to certain areas (low emission zones, pedestrianized areas or
congestion charging zones). Access regulations can apply to different types of
vehicles (e.g. cars, delivery vehicles), the emission class of vehicles (e.g.
EURO III) or to the type of user (e.g. residents, emergency vehicles). Schemes
may apply permanently or only during certain days or times. Finally schemes may
charge for access (e.g. congestion toll or parking fees). The charges may be
fixed (e.g. a toll or annual fee) or related to usage (e.g. per hour or per
kilometre).
Demand for road passenger transport at peak
times often exceeds current road capacity, studies indicate that road space
used for public transport can convey 4.5 to 10 times[1] the number of people
than a conventional mixed use lane. Bus lanes are a type of access regulation
that is a common way for city authorities to prioritise the use of urban space
– and by increasing capacity improve urban accessibility at peak times. 
Access regulations can have broad benefits and
so need to be carefully devised to maximise the benefits (safety, noise, CO2,
air quality, accessibility, logistics etc.). For example large road
freight vehicles can be an efficient way to move goods into an urban area, but
some access regulations ban large road freight vehicles. By allowing such
vehicles and reserving delivery spaces at certain times (e.g. off peak)
operators can deliver goods safely and efficiently and help reduce costs.
Properly implemented urban vehicle access
regulations can effectively improve urban accessibility and reduce costs,
emissions, accidents and optimise use of existing infrastructure. 
II.          urban access regulations
problems and trends
There is a broad lack of
understanding of access regulations, their implementation and their
effectiveness. Of the thousands of regulations implemented in Europe very few have been comprehensively and independently evaluated. There is a lack of
understanding of what works best and which access regulations are the most
effective. To improve urban accessibility and make cost effective use of urban
transport infrastructure there needs to be a better understanding and
evaluation of the broad range of impacts of access regulations.
Information about access regulations needs to be much more widely shared. Information about
schemes and how to comply with them should be easily available and
understandable for drivers and road transport operators. Information about best
practices and experiences should be available for city planners and experts to
improve implementation of urban mobility policy. 
Whilst it is right that local decision
makers should decide on what are the appropriate measures for their local
circumstances and preferences - many access regulation schemes are implemented
to address the same problem or comply with European or national priorities e.g.
on air quality, congestion or greenhouse gas emissions. The incredible
diversity of schemes, complexity and variety of rules and enforcement methods and
lack of information make schemes difficult for drivers or logistics operators
to understand.
Figure 1: Different low emission zone signs
in use in Europe
Improving the quality and availability of
information would reduce the cost of complying with schemes and improve
compliance.
Currently each city makes different
decisions about the features of its access regulation. The diversity of e.g. vehicle
categories, dates of application, exemptions etc. makes it very difficult for vehicle
operators and manufacturers to know which vehicles can be used in urban areas.
A more common approach would reduce costs and improve compliance.
Difficulties in identifying vehicles
characteristics (e.g. air emissions class, CO2 emissions) can hamper
the efficient implementation and enforcement of access regulation schemes.
Common methods for identification of vehicle characteristics[2]
e.g. electronic tags or vehicle records could facilitate efficient
implementation. Common rules[3]
for the certification of vehicle retrofits would prevent the need for each Member State to set its own standards and certification procedures for retrofitted
vehicles.
Whilst Europe already has a high degree of
urbanisation the population of Europe's cities continues to grow and further increases
demand for urban transport. Other factors are also contributing to increasing
demand for urban transport such as e-commerce (increasing the number and
reducing the size of shipments). So these increases in demand (and the
associated increasing costs of congestion) can be expected to lead to more urban
access regulations. Many urban areas are already struggling to comply with air
quality legislation often due to road transport related air pollution and need
to take stronger action to protect citizens from air quality related health
problems. Many of these urban areas are establishing Low Emission Zones (a
particular type of access regulation) to reduce traffic related air pollution
in a focussed way. 
In parallel we can see increasing
availability of Intelligent Transport Systems solutions that can facilitate the
implementation, monitoring, enforcement and compliance with access regulation
schemes (e.g. CCTV - Closed Circuit Television or ANPR – Automatic Number Plate
Recognition systems), but action is required to ensure interoperability of
solutions implemented in different cities and Member States. 
We can expect an increasing use of urban
access regulations in urban mobility policy.
A more common approach to urban access
regulations would create an 'economy of scale' for vehicles, equipment and
improve enforcement and would be less confusing for users. There is a risk that
a proliferation of different and incompatible access regulation schemes across
the EU addressing different types of vehicles in different ways could disrupt
the movement of cars and goods and increase costs of implementation, compliance
and enforcement of urban access regulations due to a lack of economies of
scale.
III.         The 2011 Transport White Paper and policy background
The 2011 White Paper – Roadmap Towards a
single European Transport Area[4]
presented a strategy to make the EU's transport system more competitive and
resource-efficient and gave specific attention to the problem of urban
transport. It set the goals of reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from
transport by 60%[5]
by 2050 and halving the use of 'conventionally fuelled' cars in urban
transport by 2030. Initiative 32 of this White Paper announced a framework
for access restrictions. 
The 2009 Action Plan on Urban Mobility
(APUM)[6]
announced twenty actions to be taken by the Commission in the period 2009-2012
on urban mobility; all these actions have now been completed. 
As part of the
implementation of the APUM, the Commission launched a "Study on Urban Access
Restrictions"[7]
to inter alia provide EU policy recommendations which was completed in December
2010. The analysis and specific EU policy recommendations have contributed to the
preparation of this Commission Staff Working Document. 
An online
public consultation was conducted on "The urban dimension of the EU
transport policy" from the 17th September to the 17th
December 2012. A vast majority of respondents (71%) consider that EU support
would contribute to more harmonious development of access regulation and urban
pricing schemes at the local level. The most sought-after EU support in relation
to access regulation schemes is the development and exchange of information and
best practice, development of voluntary guidelines and recommendations,
mandatory criteria and interoperability standards for equipment. 
The results of the public consultation are
publically available[8]
and contributed to the preparation of this Commission Staff Working Document.
In January 2013 the Commission set out a
strategy for Clean Power for Transport[9]
and proposed the mandatory deployment of alternative fuels infrastructure in
the Member States much of which will need to be in urban areas. This obligation
will provide the necessary consumer and industry confidence to invest in clean
fuelled vehicles. But much also depends on the other policy measures and
incentives that can support the use of clean vehicles e.g. appropriate urban
vehicle access regulations. 
IV.         Delivering urban transport
policy objectives 
Cities are particularly suited to the early
adoption of alternative types of mobility because their high densities, which
make alternative transport services (public transport, car sharing)
economically viable, and the short distance of many urban trips make walking
and cycling a viable option.  
Access regulations are a very effective
tool for cities to prioritise access for certain types of vehicles, users or
fuels and deliver on their transport policy objectives, by doing so they can
provide a clear incentive for investment in new vehicles/fuels and new
services. But the current and growing diversity of different approaches risks
fragmenting the single market, present barriers to the movements of people and
goods and increasing costs. 
Cambridge: access regulations stimulating new solutions 
As a result
of new peak time access regulations introduced in Cambridge, cycle delivery
services have flourished. Outspoken! delivers parcels of up to 250kg by bike to
over 200 customers in central Cambridge during the day quickly and efficiently,
they also provide a 90 minute door to door bike/rail/bike service between Cambridge and London. They provide the local pick-up and delivery service for national and
international brands like The Post Office and TNT. This private company is
helping Cambridge City Council to deliver on its objectives to reduce
congestion and improve the environment in the city centre.[10] 
More co-ordinated, larger scale and more predictable
action by cities (e.g. which vehicles and fuels are allowed and how the schemes
will evolve over time) would provide clearer signals to users, service
providers and equipment manufacturers of the long term trend and will allow
them to respond more cost effectively. 
Public funding is not necessarily required to
stimulate the transition to new forms of urban mobility. If cities set clear
and consistent policies e.g. prioritise access to non-conventionally fuelled
cars – they will provide a strong incentive for manufacturers and regular urban
users to switch to alternative fuelled vehicles or alternative modes of
transport and simultaneously improve the business case for alternative mobility
products and services. 
Urban road user charging 
One specific type of urban access regulation
is urban road user charging. So far only a few EU cities have implemented urban
road user charging schemes, while others give it close consideration. 
Initial evaluations indicate that such
measures are effective and can generate net revenue for investment in other
mobility measures but it is not clear if these types of access regulation
schemes are more or less cost effective than other type of access regulation. There
is a risk that a diversity of incompatible approaches and technologies develop
and occasional users are not treated fairly.
Milan: from pollution charge to congestion charge
In January
2012 the city of Milan implemented the first congestion charging scheme (AREA
C) in Italy. The AREA C system has been put into operation to replace the
previous road charging scheme (ECOPASS) which was launched in 2008 and lasted
until 2011. In a referendum in June 2011: almost 80% of voters declared
themselves in favour of more restrictive conditions than those under ECOPASS,
if these restrictions could help in achieving a better quality of life in the
city. The scheme is in force every working day from 7.30 am - 7.30 pm (with no
charge on weekends and public holidays), and free entrance early on Thursday
evenings in order to encourage weekday shopping activities). The fee is 5€ for
all vehicles, except bicycles, scooters, electric cars, vehicles for disabled
people; hybrid, methane powered, LPG and biofuel cars which are instead
admitted for free (up to December, 31st, 2012). The payment allows users to
travel for the whole day in the charged area. Residents have 40 free daily
entries per year.
In order to avoid problems for drivers and
operators needing to comply with different schemes the basic principles, that
already apply for charging of heavy goods vehicles in Europe, should also apply
to urban road user charging schemes. 
This would ensure that in the
implementation of urban road charging schemes there is no discrimination based
on nationality of the user, Member State of vehicle
registration, or origin or destination of the transport. This would
also prevent overcharging or discrimination of occasional users and
ensure that clear and transparent information is available to users, and
that payments can be made easily 24 hours per day. Any on board units
required for electronic fee collection are already required to be interoperable
across the European Union.
V.        Next steps
A more common approach to urban access
regulations would create an 'economy of scale' for vehicles, equipment and
improve enforcement and would be less confusing for users. There is a risk that
a proliferation of different and incompatible access regulation schemes across
the EU addressing different types of vehicles in different ways could disrupt
the movement of cars and goods and increase costs of implementation, compliance
and enforcement of urban access regulations due to a lack of economies of
scale. The Commission will support the increased availability of information
about access regulations schemes for users[11]
and also city planners and academics. The Commission will also encourage networking
activities amongst national experts and continue to support research and
dissemination activities in order to develop a deeper and more European wide
understanding of access regulations schemes.
The Expert Group on Urban Mobility should consider access regulation developments and assist with, for
example, the elaboration of suitable best practice guides and non-binding
guidance to help cities implement access regulation schemes effectively.[12]  Cooperation with the
sub-group on urban ITS is desirable to exploit synergies between ITS solutions
and access regulation schemes.
Member States should consider conducting a
thorough review of the effectiveness and impacts of existing and planned urban
access regulation schemes. Member States should also consider providing a
framework that allows local transport authorities to develop (according to
common principles and conditions) and implement access regulation schemes,
including urban road user charging. 
VI.         Conclusion
Access regulations are a common and increasingly
used tool to manage urban mobility. However there is a risk that the growing
diversity of different access regulation schemes being implemented in different
ways leads to a lack of economies of scale and risks fragmenting the single
market. 
A greater understanding is needed of the
different types of access regulations, their impacts and most importantly their
cost effectiveness. 
While the decisions about access regulations
should be taken at the local level there is considerable potential for a more common
and co-ordinated approach to access regulations across the Union in particular
on issues such as vehicle characteristics, enforcement methodologies,
information and communication as well as evaluation.
Correctly implemented access regulations,
developed and agreed with stakeholders as part of a sustainable urban mobility
planning, can be an effective tool to optimise urban mobility and accessibility
and deliver local, national and European urban transport policy objectives. But
more effort is needed to improve understanding and implementation of urban
vehicle access regulations and foster a more common approach across the Union to optimise access to urban areas. 
Annex I
- Overview of different types of access regulations and 90 case studies[13] from
European cities 
 Charging || Fixed: non-usage based || Variable: usage (distance or time) based 
 LEZ || 24-7 || Time window || 24-7 || Time window 
 ARS || Vehicle type based || Emission based || User based || Vehicle type based || Emission based || User based || Vehicle type based || Emission based || User based || Vehicle type based || Emission based || User based 
 Parking 
 Point based || Paid ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   
 Non-paid ||   ||   ||  1 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   
 Line based || Paid ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || 1 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   
 Non-paid ||   ||   ||  1 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   
 Cordon based || Paid || 9 || 3 || 5 || 5 || 1  || 6 ||   || 2  || 2 || 2 ||   ||  1 
 Non-paid || 4 || 12 ||  8 ||  5 ||   || 11 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   
 Parking || Paid || 1 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || 2  ||   ||   ||  3 || 1  || 4 
 Non-paid || 2 ||   ||   ||  1 || 1  ||   ||   ||   || 1 ||   ||   ||   
Annex II - Examples of the range of urban
access regulations in use in the EU
   ||   || Fixed: non-usage based || Variable: usage (distance or time) based 
   ||   || 24-7 || Time window || 24-7 || Time window 
   ||   || Vehicle type based || Emission based || User based || Vehicle type based || Emission based || User based || Vehicle type based || Emission based || User based || Vehicle type based || Emission based || User based 
 Point based || Paid ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   
 Non-paid ||   ||   || Toulouse ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   
 Line based || Paid ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || Durham ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   
 Non-paid ||   ||   ||  Bologna ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   
 Cordon based || Paid || Genoa, Ghent, Bergen, Nord-Jaeren, Oslo, Reading, Riga, Rome, Rotterdam || Reading, Rotterdam, Utrecht || Ghent, Bergen, Nord-Jaeren, Oslo, Rome || Goteborg, Stockholm, Turnhout, Verviers, Milan || Bologna || Bristol, Cambridge, ,Manchester, The Hague, Trondheim ||   || London, Milan || Amsterdam, Milan || Helsinki, London ||   ||  London 
 Non-paid || Debrecen, Lund, Nuremberg, Prague || Aalborg, Berlin, Eindhoven, Goteborg, Munich, Ravenna, Magdeburg, Halle, Parma, Stuttgart, Ravenna, Hannover, || Gdansk, Krakow, Szczecinek, Venice, Monza, Pecs, Ferrara, Modena || La Rochelle, Perugia, Poitiers, Verona, Lucca ||   || Barcelona, Burgos, Cork, Craiova, Funchal, La Rochelle, Poitiers, Verona, Brescia, Potenza, Imola ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   
 Parking || Paid || Rome ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || Poznan, Pecs  ||   ||   ||  Amsterdam, Graz, Bologna || Graz  || Krakow, Bologna, Toulouse, Strasbourg 
 Non-paid || Gateshead, Pecs ||   ||   || Ravenna || Ravenna  ||   ||   ||   || Gateshead ||   ||   ||   
[1]               Mixed traffic 2000 person per hour per 3.5m lane,
per direction (pphpd), regular bus 9000 pphpd, bus rapid transit 18000 pphpd. Botma
& Papendrecht, TU Delft 1991 and GTZ own figures 2012
[2]               The recent proposal amending
Council Directive 1999/37/EC on the registration documents for vehicles (COM
(2012) 0381 final) will make it mandatory for Member States to record
electronically the vehicle category, CO2 emissions and the
environmental category (euro emission class) for all registered vehicles. A
further technical amendment would make it mandatory for such data to be printed
on the physical registration documents.
[3]               Currently being developed by
the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
[4]               COM (2011) 144 
[5]               Compared to 1990 levels
[6]               COM (2009) 490 
[7]               http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/studies/doc/2010_12_ars_final_report.pdf
[8]               http://ec.europa.eu/transport/themes/urban/studies/doc/2013-a032862-urban-mobility-public-consultation-report.pdf

[9]               COM (2013) 17 - Clean Power
for Transport: A European alternative fuels strategy
[10]             www.outspokendelivery.co.uk
[11]             This responds to Recommendation 7 of the EC 2010 'Study
on Access Regulations'. 
[12]             This
responds to Recommendation 1 of the EC 2010 'Study on Access Regulations'.
[13]             The case studies consisted of
over 90 access regulation measures from over 65 different cities in Europe. Some schemes consisted of multiple types of measures, e.g. an access regulation
scheme restricting access to passenger vehicles (vehicle type based) but
exempting residents living in the area (user based).