Motorists in Rome have breathed a sigh of relief after regional authorities canceled tough new restrictions on cars entering the city. An estimated 350,000 older, more polluting vehicles were due to be banned from entering the fascia verde, an area that covers much of the Italian capital.
With people still breathing polluted air every single day though, sustainability experts say the city's transport network needs to become greener as soon as possible. Inside the fascia verde is the Zona Traffico Limitato or ZTL, a smaller area that only covers parts of the historic center. However, there are several loopholes.
"The key issue is that a lot of people live there and so, even if it's forbidden to enter for people living outside, still many have the right to enter with their own car – even if there is a problem with parking," said Professor Matteo Caroli, Associate Dean for Sustainability and Impact at Luiss Business School in Rome.
The ZTL zone covers parts of central Rome/ CGTN
To try to encourage residents to trade in their petrol or diesel cars, the ZTL does not apply to electric vehicles.
The existing rules have made an impact on Rome's air quality, which has been steadily improving in the last decade. However, the city is still a long way from meeting World Health Organization guidelines.
As the European Union has toughened its own air quality standards, more and more cities across the bloc have introduced low emission zones.
Environmental groups want low emission zones in Italy's capital/ CGTN
Environmental NGOs are now pushing for mayors to learn from zones set up 10 or 20 years ago.
"When we look at the low emission zone in Milan, that also started with a referendum. That's the first example, if I'm not mistaken, that is actually a bottom-up approach. So through a bottom-up approach, a low emission zone was implemented in Milan. So this is also what social acceptability, bringing actors into the process, is about," said Chiara Antonelli, Head of Programme (Climate and Circular Economy) at the Institute for European Environmental Policy in Brussels.
The major challenge for Rome's local government is to provide viable alternatives to cars for residents who have long felt let down by the public transport network. However, digging new metro lines and building more bike lanes can make traffic worse in the short term, further eroding trust in the city government.