‘Green Shield’ Cracks Down on City Traffic
Florence will officially activate its new ‘Green Shield’ system on April 1, 2025, which is designed to improve air quality and control access to the city’s centre for most polluting vehicles. However, while the cameras will be switched on, no driving bans will take effect until June, when fines for non-compliant vehicles will be issued.
The city has installed 77 telematic gates at key entrances to Florence’s urban centre, which cover approximately 38 square kilometres (66%) of the urban area. The cameras will be clearly marked with signage and LED screens to inform drivers when the gates are activated. These high-tech systems will automatically detect number plates and issue fines to the most polluting cars and scooters, whose access to the area is already restricted. The penalties for vehicles that violate the emissions restrictions, as well as for tourist buses failing to pay the entrance fee to the city, will begin on June 1, 2025.
The Green Shield is part of a broader plan to regulate the city’s air quality and promote sustainable transportation. Mobility Councillor Andrea Giorgio clarified during a recent Municipal Council meeting that while the system will be fully operational by April 1, it will not introduce any new bans beyond the restrictions already in place for certain vehicles. ‘The telematic gates will be an important tool to monitor compliance with long-standing rules and ease the workload for the Municipal Police, allowing them to focus on other tasks,’ Giorgio says.
The Green Shield will primarily target older vehicles that are known to produce high levels of pollution:
Euro 0 petrol and diesel cars
Euro 1 diesel cars
Euro 0 two-stroke motorbikes
Euro 0 mopeds
Euro 1 two-stroke mopeds
The ‘Euro’ code indicates a European type-approval standard for measuring the pollution produced by a vehicle, be it a car, a motorbike, or a scooter. As part of air quality policies, the European Union has, over the years, issued various directives on the pollutant emissions of vehicles produced by car manufacturers, which have become increasingly stringent. Currently, the environmental class of cars goes up to Euro 6D. The higher the number, the better the vehicle’s environmental performance. Euro 0, 1, and 2, both petrol and diesel, on the other hand, are considered the most polluting.
Exemptions to the Green Shield are in place for essential vehicles, including those of the police, health services, public transport, and maintenance vehicles for utilities like gas, water, electricity, and telephony. Historic cars with the proper certification will also be exempt. Additionally, vehicles with dual fuel systems, such as petrol-methane or petrol-LPG, will not face penalties, but owners must register their number plates with the city’s authorities.
While the new regulations will primarily affect vehicles within the city, they will also be used to penalise tourist buses that fail to pay the required entrance fee to the city centre, with fines set at 168 euros.
