Madrid will ban motorcycles without environment labels on high pollution days

The City Council of Madrid has announced that from now on, motorcycles will have the same restrictions as any other vehicle in the city when pollution protocols are activated.

Up until now, motorcycles have been freed from any restrictions when air pollution reaches a certain level over the Capital, but that’s come to an end. In a new document presented yesterday by councilor for Environment and Mobility, Inés Sabanes.

The move has already come in for loud criticism in some areas of the Madrid City Council with some councilors complaining that motorcycles should be exempt from any punitive measure because of the benefits they bring in easing congestion in the city.

The fines for any motorcyclist who rides their bike in the city without the correct environmental classification label on their vehicle will be 90 Euros per fine (£79.31), with the biker being offered a 50 percent reduction if they pay the fine immediately.

There are five scenarios where vehicles are to be restricted in Madrid:

1: The first restriction will be enforced when in any two roadside measuring stations sited in the same zone of the city there’s more than 180 micrograms of NO2 for two consecutive hours. If this happens then ALL private vehicles speed will be reduced to 70kmh (43.49mph) and the use of public transport will be promoted.

2: In addition to the measures in level one there will be no parking in the city except for residents with a specific parking pass.

3: In stage three vehicles under a certain emissions output, and with the correct labeling on display won’t be allowed to travel through the city.

4: In scenario four, the vehicles that will be banned from circulation will be those that have the B label – this is the second lowest emissons level, one above zero emissions.

5: In Madrid, stage five has never been reached, but in the event that this happens, vehicles with any emissions will be stopped from travelling.