You may not have noticed if you visited our fair city from London or New York, but Amsterdam is incredibly dirty and polluted. Just run your finger round the edge of any building in the centre of town (you know, like your mother proably used to do with the top of the cupboard) and it comes away covered in a mixture of dirt, dust and pollution. The main cause of this? Traffic. Amsterdam is a small, compact city with a lot of offices and a lot of people commuting into the city by car. For several years now air quality in the city has worsened, to the effect that living here can actually reduce your life expectancy.
No wonder than that the city council has been looking for ways to improve air quality, especially since several prestigious building projects had to be suspended last year because of pollution concerns. Yesterday the council presented the measures it wants to take and it seems they’re going for the carrot and stick method, by rewarding owners of more environmentally friendly cars and punishing polluters. From the end of next year the most polluting classes of car will be banned from Amsterdam. Any cars older than 1992 will be banned, while diesel cars without smog filters will also be banned. However, if your car is clean, your arking license will be cheaper. At the same time the council is allocating more money for bicycle lanes and to promote biking in general.
Great news, though personally I wouldn’t mind seeing the car disappear completely, at least from the centre of town. The old Medieval heart of the city just isn’t built for cars.