Peter -

I don't know about you but German is my native language. Afaik, the semantics are as follows:

Eintritt (noun) = access to a building on foot
Einfahrt (noun) = access using a vehicle
einfahren (verb) = breaking in a motor (one of several meanings)

So you were half-right.

Wrt the sticker program, it's so complicated that I suspect many of those who may be affected haven't figured it out yet. Many cities have been reluctant to commit to the introduction of environmental zones or a date when that might happen. Others argue, with some justification, that air quality problems cannot be solved at all at the level of individual cities.

Many Germans consider the law an example of bureaucracy gone mad, perhaps because access restrictions would sharply reduce the residual value of their vehicles. Some will conclude that the time has come to scrap the old clunker after all and upgrade to a newer, cleaner car. However, as you rightly point out, that is a luxury not everyone can afford. Public transport systems are generally well-developed in German cities but for the most part their mayors are not at all enthusiastic about enforcing this unpopular new law.

However, it is also possible that these restrictions will permit a new form of transportation services to emerge, based on dynamically routed vans. These would be based on approximate solutions to the traveling salesman problems using dynamically updated traffic information systems at a central dispatch location that manages the fleet of vans. This would create jobs - albeit low-paying ones - and ease congestion as well as parking problems.

I stand corrected. I thought Eintritt referred to entrance in general. Einfahrt as entrance with a vehicle was not in my dictionary, but who needs a dictionary when you've got a native speaker?

I am surprised the law has gained as much traction as it has given its unpopularity with the public and local governments. Hopefully it can be managed well so that people's perceptions will change and they will see the benefits of reducing auto congestion in cities.

Mo -

you seem to be confusing a few things:

(a) back when Euro 4 limits were set, wall-flow DPFs were one of those promising technologies just over the horizon - where they had been since the late 80s. When Peugeot finally figured out a way to make the things last for the lifetime of the vehicle, German automakers decided they would stick with their strategy of meeting the limit without an expensive filter. They were actually successful and it was consumer demand which ultimately forced them to offer wall-flow DPFs regardless. So in Germany, Austria and many other places new diesel vehicles are offered with DPFs either standard or as an available option.

(b) The Euro 5 standard that will be phased in starting 2009 calls for PM10 levels 5 times lower than those required for Euro 4. With diesel HCCI not yet ready for series production, the only way to meet that will be with a wall-flow DPF.

Euro 6 (~2014) is expected to maintain PM limits while lowering those for NOx. If clean diesel takes off in the US, the NOx treatment systems will become cheaper and European legislators could decide to accelerate the timetable. For now, the primary goal beyond Euro 5 appears to be CO2 mitigation.

(c) PM10 is still used because PM2.5 is far more expensive to measure and, because all particles smaller than ~9 microns are believed to be capable of passing through the alveolae directly into the bloodstream. By 2010, diesel fuel will also be down to 10ppm sulfur content throughout the EU, rendering what particles remain much less dangerous to respiratory health.

However, you are right to point out that particle count measurement systems will likely replace the current gravimetric system in the next decade.

I find this legislation cool - nothing being said about cars holding a foreign license plate. I work in Munich and drive a Prius - probably I get fined some time because my car is in the same category as EUR0 & EUR1 class vehicles. (Actually, despite the Prius in europe being sold with much less emissions reduction systems (ie. 2nd cat, fuel bladder, etc) it's still the cleanest readily available car around here... The US Prius is even (much) cleaner then the EU Prius.

Richard

It was proved many times over that the best and cheapest way to reduce vehicular emissions is to buy out old vehicles and scram ‘em.

Shaun:

The poor in Europe do not own cars.

Scrappage? Much better to

Retrofit
Refuel / Repower

many of them. A questionable source, but don't scram the problem as such!:

http://cnwmr.com/automotiveenergy

This time I'll include the svo-link:

http://www.bgfa.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pdf/Rapsoelemissionen.pdf

Sorry for the links beeing inactive, don't know the code.

Fje:

US do not have friends. Only allies.