Cars to be Prohibited in Oslo by 2019

The new city council of Oslo has made a decision to prohibit cars in the city center completely by 2019 in an attempt to help reduce air pollution.

The ban to be imposed in a Norwegian capital will be the first permanent restriction of such kind in Europe. It will apply only to private cars, while public transport will be still allowed in the city. 

Implementing such a regulation will not be an easy task for Oslo authorities, taking into account that there are currently 350,000 cars in the city with a population of 600,000 people. Members of the city council comprised of the Greens, the socialist left and the Labor party, are hoping to make up for such a decision by building 60 kilometers of bicycle lanes within next four years and by investing in the existing bus and tram networks that operate in the city center.

"We want to have a car-free center," Green Party negotiator Lan Marie Nguyen Berg told Reuters, "We want to make it better for pedestrians, cyclists.  It will be better for shops and everyone."

Local shop owners don’t unanimously agree with that statement, as many of them think the proposal will hurt their businesses. 

Nevertheless, the move may inspire similar actions in other European cities, and car-free zones may soon become a popular concept in Europe. Last month, by temporarily banning cars for just a single day, Paris decreased traffic by 18 percent and pollution by 6 percent within the city.

Norway has committed to reducing air pollution by 2020, with nitrogen oxide levels to be reduced from 162,000 tonnes in 2013 to 156,000 tonnes. It also plans to drop ammonia levels from 27,000 tonnes in 2013 to 25,000 tonnes in 2020.