Amsterdam to ban company vehicles & trucks with combustion engines from city center

From 1 January 2025, company vehicles and trucks with combustion engines will be banned from Amsterdam city center. The city is implementing an emission-free zone for these commercial vehicles. Amsterdam is also tightening the environmental zone within the A10 Ring, banning the most polluting diesel cars.

Various transitional arrangements and exemptions will apply in the coming years to give entrepreneurs time to switch to cleaner transport.

Improving air quality is of vital importance, alderman Melanie van der Horst said. “Amsterdam residents now live 11 months shorter due to polluted air. And every year, bad air causes several hundred children in Amsterdam to develop asthma.”

The city is, therefore, committed to cleaner air. But it also wants to make sure entrepreneurs can switch to emission-free transport in a workable way. “Many entrepreneurs have already taken major steps, but we see that small businesses, in particular, have more difficulty. That is why we have transitional arrangements, and exemptions can be requested if companies are not yet able to make the switch financially.”

Amsterdam initially planned for the emission-free zone to cover the entire A10 ring, but “because no suitable traffic signs have yet been established in parliament,” the emission-free zone will initially only affect the S100. The city intends to expand the zone to cover the entire A10 ring in 2028. Until then, the existing environmental zone within the A10 ring road will be tightened for diesel vehicles, allowing only cars from emission class 5 or higher from 1 January 2025.

The emission-free zone for commercial vehicles and trucks is part of a broader approach to cleaning up transport in Amsterdam. From 1 January 2025, all new mopeds and scooters must also be emission-free. The city is also working on an emission-free zone for pleasure boating. It will expand the public charging network to accommodate the increased electric traffic.

The city has postponed the emission-free zone for taxis because “the national legislation for this is still lacking. The rules for the environmental zone apply to taxis.”