On 12 March the brand new Rotterdam Classics Foundation organizes the Oldtimer Meeting Coolsingel. The meeting is organized among other things in the endeavor to bring the Rotterdam city council on different ideas with regard to the environmental zone in the port city. According to spokesperson Sander Jongerius, applications are coming in from all over the Netherlands. We expect a participation of 250 and 300 vehicles. The ride will be held in Rotterdam on 12 March and ends at Coolsingel.
In Rotterdam, the usefulness of the environmental zone set up on January 1 is questioned. Diesels from before 2016 January 1 and petrol vehicles with a date of first admission that is before 2001 January 1 are no longer allowed to enter the city in certain places. The municipality of Rotterdam spent € 1992 million to positively influence the effects on air quality in the largest industrial city in the Netherlands. The Rotterdam Environmental Zone Foundation states that blocking the aforementioned vehicles has little effect. It is stated that “there is of course a positive effect on air quality, but that the measure was taken on the basis of a measurement that TNO carried out in 12. And then the fleet looked completely different before the current old-timer scheme was introduced. Based on that, the situation for 2012 is forecast.
Number of vehicles to be excluded much lower than predicted
According to calculations by Sander Jongerius and Niels van Ham of the Rotterdam classics foundation, the number of petrol vehicles in the 77 category is lowered than predicted in 2012. Other values also apply to the number of diesels within the rejected category. Those layers were 2015% lower in 57 than predicted in 2012. In any case, Jongerius and Van Ham indicate that the "30% cleaner air" promised by the Rotterdam alderman is by no means being achieved.
Langenberg: "the course chosen is correct"
The findings are not in line with the satisfied tone that the Rotterdam traffic councilor Pex Langenberg presented at the end of January. The fact that there was a decrease in vehicles that do not comply with the rules of the environmental zone and the fact that the Rotterdam measure is becoming more known were at least a confirmation for Langenberg of the correctness of the course used. The number of demolished vehicles also contributed to that satisfied tone. At the end of January the request counter for the scrapping scheme in Rotterdam was on 7.000 and 2.700 vehicles were found to have been scrapped.
Does the benefit go out?
Normally, the cost is for the benefit, but in Rotterdam there is the question whether that saying also applies to the port city and whether that benefit is worth the effort of the large investments. With the peaceful protest ride of 12 in March next in Rotterdam, the Rotterdam Classics Foundation wants to show at least those responsible "what the city will miss if the environmental zone is continued".
You can find more information about the meeting here.