Milan’s Ecopass On Holiday

Last year, Milan’s Ecopass congestion charge system took a summer vacation, and this year it’s the same.  From Monday 3 to Friday 21 of August the Ecopass system will not operate, meaning that motorists can access the Ecopass designated area without having to pay.

Milan Ecopasses

This is good news for car driving tourists who might like to have a look at Milan, a city which boasts a spectacular cathedral, and houses artworks of international fame such as Da Vinci’s exceptional last supper, which is known as Il Cenacolo in Italy.  I believe the Last Supper may be viewed during August, but the official website was refusing to load today.  When it did play ball with my browser, so to speak, I was greeted with a message anouncing that the booking of visits to the Last Supper has been temporarily  suspended.  The announcement does not explain why or for how long, I’m sorry to say.

The magnificent Last Supper, which I have seen incidentally, is one of the many positive aspects of the quality of life in Italy’s northern mini-metropolis.  Another as aspect relating to quality of life, air quality in this case, could be the presence of, which I have not noticed before, certain insects in Milan .

… Continue Reading

Excessive PM10 Levels in Milan

Despite the Ecopass pollution charge system which has been in force for more or less a year, PM10 levels in Milan Italy, and in areas around the city, have exceeded acceptable limits by as much as 4 times.

Milan's Ecopasses

PM 10 levels have recently been measured at over 200 micrograms per cubic metre.

Local papers have been reporting this and a possible consequence is the increase in the number of people I’ve been seeing in Milan who have been wearing anti-smog masks.  In response the dangerously high pollution levels, Milan’s local police are to be issued with portable emissions checking devices.  Will this make any difference? … Continue Reading

Milan’s Ecopass Goes on Vacation

Milan's Ecopasses

Milan‘s Ecopass congestion charge, or congestion fee, is going to be put on hold between the 2 and 24 August 2008, Milan’s Mayor Moratti has recently promised. Note that this promise has not yet been turned into an official change in Ecopass policy.

This means that those coming to Italy who wish to visit Milan by car will probably not have to worry about how and where to pay this charge.

Be wary, though, of camera controlled areas in the centre of Milan that may well still be restricted to traffic, Ecopass or not.

If you do decide to spend a couple of days in Milan, and you stay in a hotel in the central part of the city, do remember to ask the hotel staff to report the details of your car, rented or not, to the local traffic authorities. This should help you avoid receiving a nice little fine some time later after your vacation here.

This temporary suspension of the Ecopass is a good idea, seeing as Milan is generally deserted in August, so traffic pollution levels will be at a minimum anyway, and not having to worry about these passes may encourage a few tourists to drop in, and maybe check out the vibrant night life down in the Navigli - Canal – area, which is just south of Milan city centre.

Nice move Mrs Moratti!

Milan’s Ecopass also took a break in 2009, for information, please see this post:  Milan’s Ecopass on Holiday

Update: Milan’s Ecopass was officially suspended for most of August 2008 – the reason given by Milan’s  official responsible for Mobility Edoardo Croci was that traffic levels in August are lower than in other months.

Source: Press Release, in Italian, from Milan Council: Ecopass sospeso dal 2 al 24 agosto – Translation:  Ecopass suspended from the 2 to 24 August 2008

A Close Shave – Scooting About Milan

Whilst on the way the Gaetano’s house on the back of Gaetano’s trusty scooter to take some photos for a little real estate experiment I’m cooking up, a twerp decided, at the last minute, that he needed petrol and pulled right across us. Gaetano pulled up rather sharply and we both ended up resting against the wing of said twerp’s black Merc.

It could have been worse, and certainly was not one of those ‘life flashing before your eyes’ incidents (…and I’ve had a few…), and luckily neither the scooter, Merc, nor us were any the worse for the experience.

Now, I’d love to tear around Milan on a (motor) bike, but I don’t think it would be a great idea. Many moons past I used to tear around in the civilised traffic back in the UK on a bike, and I had a few close shaves. However, if I got up to my old tricks here, I’d most probably end up eating the asphalt, or worse.

Much safer to throw money at camera gear, I suppose.

Chaos in Part of Milan this Morning

When I got to the business school in the Fiera area of Milan this morning, at around 9, I found just about all the classrooms deserted. Oops, I’ve arrived far too early, I thought. I checked the time, and it was indeed around 9, on both my trusty mobiles.

Very odd. I had noticed that the traffic was a little heavier than normal, but this happens from time to time, and whenever there is an accident somewhere or other in Milan.

In an effort to understand just what had happened I asked the two or so staff who had made it into work, and was told that the red underground line had been having some problems.

The knock-on effect was incredible, with many of the students, and I imagine many office workers, not managing to arrive much before 10, and other students continued to drift in throughout the morning, even if a few did give up the struggle and return home. A couple of people I met had had to walk a mile or so to get to work. Total chaos.

The disruption of this single line managed reverberate enough to bring just about the whole of this usually fast moving area of Milan to a virtual standstill for more or less a whole morning.

Very strange. A funny start to a Friday if ever there was one.

Milan’s Ecopass Not Working

The Milan section of the La Corriere della Sera newspaper is carrying a couple of perturbing articles today, one of which states that the Ecopass anti-pollution traffic charging system does not appear to be having any real effect.

Apparently levels of PM10 and other noxious pollutants are still far too high.

Another article, which is more worrying, especially for those of us with children, is that around 100,000 children in the high risk under 14 group are having pollution related health problems in Milan. Admissions to casualty departments in the city triple when pollution levels are high. Not too good. And I am worried about my son, especially as he has a weakness that means that he is more likely to have respiratory system related illnesses.

Solutions? First, and most painful. Extend the Ecopass area outwards. But before this can be done, new car parks need to be built near all metro stations on the periphery of Milan. The land is there, well, at the Famagosta and Cascina Gobba stations there are plots of land that could be turned into car parks, and I know of other areas. And many plots have been vacant for years, and a compulsory purchase system does exist under Italian law.

Even if car parks cannot be built next to metro stations, they could be built just about anywhere and served by shuttle buses taking commuters to nearby metro stations. Reducing taxi fares would also make a difference.

Funding for all these changes could come from the Ecopass revenues and parking charges, plus increased public transport income.

I’m under the impression too that the number of cars within the Ecopass area is increasing, and even if the cars are low pollution models, they are not zero pollution models, hence, most probably the negligible changes in pollution levels.

Come on Moratti, if you have real power, use it. Think of the health system savings and lost productivity due to parents taking their children to the hospital. Not to mention the cost of dealing with long term health problems that all this pollution is bound to be creating.  Asthma, and allergies, all take time and money to treat.