The Madrid City Council recently launched a project to reserve spaces exclusively for vehicles for the urban distribution of goods weighing up to 3,500 kilograms in public car parks in and around the Centro district.

In December 2022, in fact, the City Council had approved a moratorium allowing commercial vehicles up to 3,500 kg with environmental classification B to enter the Centro district for another year. In September 2023, however, the High Court of Justice in Madrid lifted the moratorium. Consequently, from 1 January 2024 vehicles will have to park in municipal parking spaces to access the Centre.

The first 32 placesall located on the -1 floor of the car parks, were assigned to five different car parks in the Centre (Benavente, Plaza Mayor, Pedro Zerolo, Villa de París and Plaza de España) and two located in its perimeter (Fuencarral and Recoletos) with the aim of facilitate loading and unloading.

In addition, the designated car parks are equipped with 7.4 kW electric charging points (managed via the Electro-EMT APP) and operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The project guidelines include a maximum dwell time limit of 45 minutes for these spaces, which are part of the DUM 360 intelligent charging and discharging system.

The Madrid City Council emphasises the importance of these measures to promote environmental sustainability, in line with the Madrid 360 Strategy. Indeed, the institution emphasises how these actions contribute to compliance with European air quality directives. It is also a change that affects a sector that is essential to the city’s economy, which accounts for 6 per cent of the Madrid region’s GDP and employs more than 120,000 workers.

Source: Logistica