Today was the first day of the new "ecopass" in Milan, Italy, and many other cities are paying attention to how the new system will work out. So far, the news reports are all about how smoothly things went for the first day. Sure, some complained about the lack of retailers selling the pass to pollute, others complained when the website selling the passes crashed. Granted, even the people behind the ecopass say that only 60 percent of the normal weekday traffic was present the first day of the year-long trial, but still no major inconveniences were reported for Milanese drivers, according to Reuters.

This may be a good sign for Milan's new ecopass. What is ecopass, you may be asking. It is a daily pass (although multi-day passes are also available, at a 50 percent discount) to enter the city of Milan, with your dirty, dirty car. The daily pass can cost up to ten Euros or about US$15, but that price drops depending on the pollution-capacity of your vehicle. In fact, during the first few hours of the ecopass trial,

... 80,1% dei mezzi privati appartengono alle classi meno inquinanti, quindi non sottoposti al pagamento del ticket, mentre fra i veicoli per il trasporto delle merci la quota degli autorizzati al libero accesso è stata del 39,6%. -- ANSA

or for those of you who do not read Italian --

... 80.1% of private vehicles belong to classes less polluting, and not subject to the payment of the ticket, while among the vehicles for the transport of goods share of the authorised free access was 39.6%.

Milan's Mayor Moratti claims that the ecopass is meant to discourage people from bringing their cars into the city centre. But my question is how are you effectively going to discourage motorists if 80 percent of them are not paying anything? And what of the dirtiest offenders (commercial trucks) getting off scott-free? What message are you really sending? That it is acceptable to pollute as long as you are doing it in smaller amounts or for commercial purposes? Is this more of a regressive tax on the poor among those living outside the city, the ones who cannot afford to purchase a newer car with all the smog-containing-bells-and-whistles?

If you look at the hours in which the ecopass is enforced (with an 80 Euro fine), you might think there is something to my suspicions about the ecopass efficacy. The ecopass is only in force from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm. Yes, it's true that daylight hours are when the smog forms particulately well (get it, particul-ate-ly), and those are the hours in which regulations need to be in place. But smog usually builds over an eight-hour time span. So my question is why not on the weekends or overnight or simply all the time? Pollution is pollution, and it hangs out a while.

But seriously, kids, Milan is moving in the right direction. Trying to discourage people from using their cars for every trip is a worthy cause, and I guess that Italians love their cars (as much as Americans, even?), so persuading them to leave the Fiat at home and jump on the bus may be a daunting challenge. You are changing a culture, and that always takes some time. In all fairness, the ecopass program has set out smaller goals for the year trial. It plans on cutting 30 percent of particulate pollution and 10 percent of traffic. That may not seem that much, but every little bit helps.

However, time may not be on Milan's side in this battle for clean and healthy air. Just this summer, a mid-May report showed that Milan had exceeded particulate pollution on over 80 days. So that is high-levels of smog for nearly three out of the 4.5 month span evaluated. That is really quite bad, and the problem is not just in Milan, but all of the Northern Italian towns in the region.

By mid-May, Milan had already exceeded European Union and World Health Organization limits for particle pollution in the air on 80 days. Last year was bad, too. By the end of March, Milan had 64 such days, Turin had 77, Bologna 51 and Venice 49. -- New York Times

The same article explains that whereas Germany and Poland, the former EU big-time polluters, have cut their emissions over the years, Italy has increased its share of carbon emissions. And the EU is thinking of fining Italy for not doing something about it.

Which brings me back to the ecopass, and its lofty goals. Did I mention that Milan has a subway and trams and buses, so it is not as if commuters don't have other more ecologically-responsible options. Why isn't the ecopass being required of all drivers regardless of the pollution that their car produces? Ok, I can see reducing it for cleaner-burning cars, but exempting those cars? And in such a high percentage? Maybe Italy does need to be fined in order to make some real and significant cuts to the air pollution clouding its skies.

And then there are the groups against such real and significant changes, and for all the US readers, this may seem familiar. The Italian auto industry is fighting limits, of course, but then because the newer cars are exempt, the car industry is also selling more cars. Italian auto sales are up, but that may have something to do with the new incentives to buy the cleaner cars.

As a backstop, the Italian government offers tax incentives for buying conventional cars with cleaner engines. But that has not discouraged car use. To the contrary: the incentives have meant more new car purchases than in any other part of Europe, rising 9 percent a month. -- New York Times

So, really, what can Italy vis a vis Milan do? Make everyone driving into the city center pay the toll. All the time. In fact, Milan should base the toll not on the pollution caused by the car, but how much the car is worth. That way the Milanese wealthy will feel the need to use public transit much like the poor will. If anything, it will make people think about their trips into Milan, and perhaps every third or fourth time they think of it, they will find a different way to get downtown...or heaven forbid, carpool. The best thing about us humans is our ability to adapt. It's how we got through the last Ice Age, and hopefully avoid the next one.

Although, I am curious as to where the new toll money is going...Anyone? Bueller?