Last update: 21st August 2014
Title of the measure:
ITA10 - Car-Restricted Areas Planning in Major Towns
Z.T.L. ( Zone a Traffico Limitato)
General description
a. The Z.T.L. structure
Since the end of the eighties, many Italian cities have begun to limit private automobile traffic in growing
areas of their historic centers, by implementing various “Limited Traffic Areas” (Z.T.L. / Zone a Traffico
Limitato or “Blue Zone”).
As a whole, inside the Z.T.L. there are pedestrian zones, where the motor-traffic is completely prohibited.
The Law 122/89 and then the New Highway Code (1993) have set the juridical bases for this kind of
measures.
The Municipalities are supposed to set the rule of the Z.T.L., such as:
- the traffic-limit schedule;
- types of vehicles or of users without entrance limits (resident, sellers and so on);
- eventual entrance and circulation rate;
- eventual parking rate.
According to a study of the Environment Ministry (DISIA- Environment Pollution Decrease), the ZTL
wide creation could have a very positive effect on the energy consumption of private and public transport
sector, by allowing about a 30% of total energy saving in terms of fuel consumption.
The major cities which have implemented a Z.T.L. are: Rome (see the next paragraph b. Electronic
Devices for the Car-Restricted Areas in Rome [Z.T.L. – Varchi Elettronici].), Naples, Bologna, Milan,
Turin, Florence, Bari, Palermo, Brescia, Padua, Verona, Terni, L'Aquila, Genoa.
b. Complementary measures to ZTL
During the last years, also other traffic limiting or prohibiting measures have been implemented in major
Italian towns. These measures, undertaken as a matter of urban pollution safe levels overcoming, have
been temporary (just for days or for a few hours), but extended to all or almost all of the urban area
(downtown area).
Examples of these complementary measures to Z.T.L. are:
- alternating license plate numbers with alternating days;
- blocking off no catalytic vehicles traffic;
- blocking off all vehicles traffic;
This kind of measures is necessary in case of an environmental emergency. Provisions have clearly
shown that atmospheric pollution of cities is almost exclusively due to automobile traffic.
Samples taken before and after total prohibition of traffic show that the presence of pollution in the air
decreases by more than 60-70%. However these measures should be planned in an integrated political
scheme of city traffic, which takes the collective mobility and economic needs of citizen into account.
Table 1: ZTL areas – square meter of ZTL per inhabitants (reference year 2005)
Bergamo
45,61
Napoli
3,49
Ragusa
0,31
Siena
30,79
Verona
3,43
Asti
0,24
Mantova
17,61
Vicenza
3,31
Udine
0,24
Last update: 21st August 2014
Pisa
15,56
Ravenna
3,29
Imperia
0,21
Viterbo
14,17
Lecco
3,27
Agrigento
0,18
Pavia
11,26
Massa
2,96
Milano
0,15
Firenze
10,11
Trento
2,85
Prato
0,13
Ferrara
10,02
Pistoia
2,82
Nuoro
0,11
Ascoli Piceno
9,66
Bolzano
2,64
Ancona
0,11
Lecce
9,54
Roma
2,44
Catania
0,11
La Spezia
8,90
Belluno
2,29
Trieste
0,09
Bologna
8,43
Salerno
2,06
Caltanissetta
0,08
Arezzo
7,93
Livorno
1,90
Frosinone
0,04
Cremona
7,73
Forlì
1,49
Avellino
0,01
Vercelli
6,71
Gorizia
1,40
Potenza
0,01
Piacenza
6,54
Biella
1,37
Vibo Valentia
0,00
Brescia
6,49
Torino
1,23
Sassari
0,00
Parma
6,37
Savona
1,13
Messina
0,00
Lucca
6,06
Rovigo
1,10
Latina
0,00
Sondrio
5,80
Rieti
1,07
Crotone
0,00
Rimini
5,67
Pescara
1,04
Verbania
0,00
Palermo
5,66
Genova
1,03
Benevento
na
Aosta
5,13
Venezia
0,98
Campobasso
na
Pesaro
5,11
Cosenza
0,78
Catanzaro
na
Cagliari
4,91
Brindisi
0,66
Enna
na
Cuneo
4,89
Varese
0,66
Isernia
na
Como
4,41
Caserta
0,53
L'Aquila
na
Lodi
4,40
Alessandria
0,49
Chieti
na
Reggio Emilia
4,28
Matera
0,47
Oristano
na
Perugia
4,00
Terni
0,46
Treviso
na
Grosseto
3,98
Foggia
0,40
Bari
na
Padova
3,93
Trapani
0,40
Reggio Calabria
na
Macerata
3,92
Novara
0,33
Taranto
na
Siracusa
3,88
Pordenone
0,32
Modena
3,78
Teramo
0,32
c. Electronic devices for Rome’s Z.T.L. [ Varchi Elettronici]
With an area of 4.2 sq km, Rome’s ZTL is one of the largest in Europe and has the objective to protect the
immense historical and archaeological heritage of thecity, to preserve the quality of life and encourage the
use of public transport to promote the reduction of environmental pollution.
The series of ordinances issued by Rome’s Mayor aims at implementing a system of monitoring the
Last update: 21st August 2014
entrance of vehicles in Rome’s historic downtown, which – likewise other major towns, i.e. Milan,
Florence or Bologna have set to achieve – has been restricted to vehicles circulation.
The bordering and implementation of a Z.T.L. (Zona a Traffico Limitato or Car-Restricted Area) in
Rome’s downtown has been further improved by the setting and installation of a system of electronic
gates placed at every main road or street leading to the core of Rome’s historic downtown.
The picture below shows the central ZTL scheme, where 7 different areas can be identified.
Picture 1 – Z.T.L. areas in downtown Rome
The electronic gates system provide a constant control on traffic flow into the Z.T.L. These gates allow
a quick and sure identifying of all the vehicles (private cars and vans) which get into the Z.T.L., by
checking out whether they possess the permission (an orange label the car owner must well show in the
back of it – see picture 3) released by the Municipality, according to sector which the car owner lives
in;
Picture 2 – the electronic device sited at the gates entrances to the Z.T.L.
Whilst the car getting across the gate, its electronic device snapshots the vehicle – either it has a
Last update: 21st August 2014
Telepass® equipment or an orange label – and subsequently codifies the recorded image by sending it
to a monitoring central system belonging to the Municipal Police. Obviously, cars and vans which do
not possess such the label for transit permission, will be fined by Euro 68.
Picture 3 – orange label permission for transit into the Z.T.L.
To date, the system includes the use of 50 gates on access roads to the LTZ for electronically detecting
the license of the vehicle, enabling, in case of infraction, the sanctioning procedure laid down by the
regulations in force.
Following the good results obtained with the LTZ Historical Center, it was established a new Limited
Traffic Zone, the LTZ Trastevere, entry into service July 28, 2006, which consists of 12 gates on all
access roads to the district optically controlled by the system .
In addition, the measurement stations, which are also connected with the system, operate a vehicle
classification in access to the LTZ of Trastevere.
An important innovation was the installation of variable message signs in the vicinity of the gap, which
have the function to alert users to the activity status of the gate itself.
There have also been activated and an additional 10 new electronic gates to protect the restricted traffic
area of San Lorenzo (lanes 7), and from May 2, 2014 came into operation also the 10 new gates of ZTL
Testaccio.
Impact evaluation
Impact evaluation (last update October 2008)
Methods
The implementation of the electronic device for Z.T.L. in Rome was set in order to both reduce the traffic
flows inside the downtown areas of Rome – and thus preventing high levels of congestion and CO2
emissions which damage monuments and historic sites and buildings – and to improve the transit
regulation towards the Z.T.L. (which would have required the presence of 70 municipal policy constables
to watch over all of the transits to the Z.T.L.).
1
Data on traffic rates reduction in Rome’s downtown area show that changes in modal split is mainly
influenced by the Access Control and Road Pricing Schemes. Comparing before and after implementation
data, in 2002 modal split in the central area was: 30% public transport, 27% private cars, 23%
motorbikes/mopeds and 20% pedestrians, while in 2005 data revealed that these proportions had switched
to 31%, 22%, 24% and 23%, respectively. The most important result is the five point decrease
(percentage) for private cars in favour of three point increase (percentage) for walking.
Expectations of the Mobility Department of Rome’s Municipality for 2004 were:
•
a 25% decrease in urban traffic flows thanks to an integrated management of urban traffic
Last update: 21st August 2014
(traffic regulation policies, public transport priority and ITS – Intelligent Transport System
– technologies implementation for the sustainable mobility);
•
a 50% reduction of pollution in the urban area, thanks to the Z.T.L. monitoring by electronic
devices;
•
a 30% abatement of CO emissions in downtown Rome, including the Z.T.L. area.
2
In 2007, the following results were available:
•
Reduction of access flows: - 15/20%
•
Increase of average speed (inside) : + 4%
•
Increase of T.P. passengers (local) : + 5%
•
Increase of two wheels (access): +10%
•
Residual illegal transit: 25.000 /wk
•
Pollution concentration: local reductions, almost compensated by the increase of “two
wheels” access
Interaction of measures
Historical data
Z.T.L’s electronic gates have been working since August 11th 2000 in an experimental way – just in
three out of seven sectors. Their definitive and throughout implementation has been put into effect from
October 1st 2001 in the whole area of Z.T.L. to Rome Municipality.
Also other major towns have designed a similar system of electronic devices to monitor and reduce traffic
flows in downtown areas, namely Florence and Bologna by the issue of own ordinances (Ordinance of
Florence Municipality n° 4677/01/reg. uff. n°3787, not implemented yet, except for the bordering of the
Z.T.L.).
References
http://www.normattiva.it/atto/caricaDettaglioAtto?atto.dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=1989-0406&atto.codiceRedazionale=089G0150&currentPage=1