Oxygen vignette imposed from 2020 in Bucharest, meant to save city from pollution

Bucharest is not a pollution-free capital city, like most of the European Union capital cities. In Bucharest and the surrounding areas there are more than 1.5 million vehicles registered, 600 000 of them having Euro 3 or lower standard.

Yet, Bucharest City Hall is taking important steps in tackling pollution, by imposing a vignette, called Oxygen, for all the polluting cars in the city.

This vignette simply forbids Euro 2 and lower cars to enter downtown Bucharest, while being let to enter the rest of the areas if they pay the tax. In the same time, Euro 3 cars will need vignette to enter the city center from 2020, while Euro 4 cars will need Oxygene from 2021.

The vignette costs, depending on the Euro standard, from a little above 100 Euros to roughly 400 Euros a year, but the fine for not complying with the regulation ranges from 300 Euros to 450 Euros.

The City Mayor, Mrs. Gabriela Firea, stated the City Hall will use the money collected from the vignette to buy electric cars, like buses and trolleybuses, for a green public transport.