One of the partial solutions for improving air quality in cities are low emission zones (LEZ). These are geographically defined areas. There is limited entry of cars to this areas based on the emission standards, i.e. emissions directly emitted by cars. Their goal is to improve air quality in cities. At present, low-emission zones are at a certain level of implementation in 70 European cities. LEZ can be introduced at several levels - for example in the form of entry fees, entry restrictions of vehicles at a certain time, or restrictions based on emission standards.
Currently, Slovakia is on the tail of Europe in the implementation of LEZ in cities. Slovakia is even overtaken by countries to the east of us - Bulgaria has established LEZ in Sofia and Romania, in addition to Bucharest, also in the city of Suceava.
Examples of successful LEZ implementation are not far away. Comparable to Bratislava in terms of population and even smaller in size, the city of Brno limited the entry of vehicles into the city center at certain times. Exception have public transport and supply vehicles, which have specific times to enter the zone.
The introduction of LEZ and the improvement of already bad air quality in agglomerations would also help Slovak cities a lot. We should take the examples of the surrounding countries and start using this tool to improve our quality of life.