4 schemes in 4 cities. Every figure comes from an official source and is re-checked.
Poland has 4 driving restrictions that we have checked against an official source, in 4 cities. All are low emission zones.
This page lists no country-wide requirement for Poland. Anything owed before you reach a city is not covered here, so check the national road authority before you leave.
The sources for this country were read on 2026-09-14, from the authorities' own pages. Each check is repeated on a schedule, and a rule we can no longer confirm comes down instead of staying up.
| Scheme | City | Kind | Daily charge | Fine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strefa Czystego Transportu Miasta Katowice | Katowice | Low emission zone | not in our sources | 500.00 PLN |
| Strefa Czystego Transportu w Krakowie | Kraków | Low emission zone | 5.00 PLN | 500.00 PLN |
| Strefa Czystego Transportu w Szczecinie | Szczecin | Low emission zone | not in our sources | 500.00 PLN |
| Strefa Czystego Transportu | Warsaw | Low emission zone | not in our sources | 500.00 PLN |
Katowice has run a clean transport zone since 29 June 2026, over a small block of the city centre bounded by ul. ks. Piotra Skargi, ul.
Moniuszki, ul. Pańki, ul. Dudy-Gracza, ul.
Warszawska, ul. Francuska, ul. Mariacka Tylna, ul.
Dworcowa and ul. Słowackiego. The national act bans everything but electric, hydrogen and natural-gas vehicles, and the council's exemptions decide the rest.
A driver from outside Katowice needs Euro 3 or a build year of 2000 for petrol, and Euro 5 or 2009 for diesel; that holds until the end of 2033, when it becomes Euro 4 and Euro 6. Residents of Katowice have a gentler tier and anyone from the wider Górnośląsko-Zagłębiowska Metropolia who already owned the vehicle before the zone opened is exempt indefinitely.
There is no charge, no windscreen sticker and no day allowance: entitlement is read straight out of the national vehicle register. Motorcycles, public-service buses, special, veteran and historic vehicles are outside the ban. The fine comes from the misdemeanours code and is up to 500 zloty.
Penalty 500.00 PLN
Kraków has run a clean transport zone since 1 January 2026, and it is by far the largest in Poland: instead of a handful of central streets it covers every road managed by the Mayor inside a ring drawn from the city boundary and the motorways and trunk roads that skirt it, so most of the city is inside it.
The national act bans everything but electric, hydrogen and natural-gas vehicles, and the council's own exemptions decide the rest. For a car or van up to 3.5 tonnes the test is Euro 4 or a 2005 build year on petrol, and Euro 6 or a 2014 build year on diesel; above 3.5 tonnes it is Euro IV or 2005 on petrol and Euro VI or 2012 on diesel.
Motorcycles are outside the ban, and so are special, historic and certain state vehicles. Unlike Warsaw, Katowice and Szczecin, Kraków took the enabling act's payment option: until the end of 2028 a vehicle that fails the test may still drive in if it pays, at 2.50 zł an hour, 5.00 zł for the rest of the day in 2026, or a monthly pass that rises from 100 zł in 2026 to 250 zł in 2027 and 500 zł in 2028.
Entitlement is read from the central vehicle register, and several exemptions have to be registered first; a windscreen sticker costs 5 zł. The fine comes from the misdemeanours code and is up to 500 zloty.
Charge 5.00 PLN · Penalty 500.00 PLN
Szczecin's clean transport zone is the smallest of the three Polish ones: twenty-six named streets of the Old Town, listed one by one in the resolution. The national act bans everything but electric, hydrogen and natural-gas vehicles, and the council's exemptions decide the rest.
The emission test is the mildest in Poland and does not tighten on any date the resolution names — Euro 3 or a build year of 2000 for petrol up to 3.5 tonnes, Euro 4 or 2005 for diesel, and Euro III (2000) or Euro IV (2005) above that weight. Even a vehicle that fails it may still drive in on up to thirty days a calendar year, which makes this zone unusually forgiving for a visitor.
Motorcycles, special, veteran and historic vehicles are outside the ban, as are cars already holding a resident's or paid-parking entitlement in the city-centre parking zone. The sticker that proves an exemption costs 1 zł. Checks are by the municipal police or the police, and the fine, which is national, is up to 500 zloty.
One thing the resolution does not say is the day the zone opened: unlike Warsaw and Katowice it names no start date, only that it takes effect fourteen days after promulgation, which happened on 2 April 2026. We do not publish a start date we would have had to calculate.
Penalty 500.00 PLN
Warsaw's clean transport zone covers the inner city inside a ring of named streets and railway lines, and it has been running since 1 July 2024. The national act that creates these zones bans everything except electric, hydrogen and natural-gas vehicles outright, and then lets the city council write its own exemptions back in — which is where the emission standards live.
For a visiting driver the ones that matter run to the end of 2027: a petrol car or van up to 3.5 tonnes needs Euro 3 or a build year of 2000 or later, a diesel needs Euro 5 or 2009 or later, and a heavy vehicle over 3.5 tonnes needs Euro III (petrol, 2000) or Euro V (diesel, 2008). They tighten on 1 January 2028.
There is no entry charge — a vehicle either qualifies or may not drive in — but anything that does not qualify still gets four days a calendar year. Motorcycles, special and historic vehicles are outside the ban altogether. Checks are made against the national vehicle register and by the city police; the fine comes from the misdemeanours code and is up to 500 zloty.
Penalty 500.00 PLN