Toll zones in Florence with a rental car?

Look for signs that say Zona Traffico Limitato, ZTL, Varco Attivo, and Bus or Taxi. Driving into any of these areas will almost certainly get you a ticket.

ZTLs are different from toll zones, as I understand the term, but I could be wrong.

"ZTLs are different from toll zones, as I understand the term, but I could be wrong."

No, you're correct. A toll zone is where entry is perfectly legal, but there is a charge. There are many tolls on highways in Italy, for example.

A ZTL is not legal to enter without a permit, and doing so is treated as a traffic violation. It's like running a red light, or speeding, or parking in a no-parking zone.

Arun: Be very careful - most GPS and mapping software does NOT take ZTL's into account. If you are going to driving anywhere near Florence's center, be sure to get exact directions. If Roberto does not answer you in this thread, you can send him a private message (he's a Florence native).

Here's a website showing what to look for, including the signage and warnings when you are about to enter the ZTL, as well as a ZTL map: https://www.visitflorence.com/tourist-info/driving-in-florence-ztl-zone.html

To the OP, don't think of a ZTL as a toll zone.
Think of it they same way you think of resident only or commercial only parking areas in your home state

Your GPS will not know that you are not a local resident of Florence so I cannot imagine will tell you not to drive in an area that is within a ZTL. If you lived in that area or a licensed taxi driver in that are of course you could drive there, just outsiders like you cannot. The GPS should keep you off of ZTL's where no cars are permitted or traffic is permitted at certain hours but the zones where it is local traffic only I doubt it.

Ask the rental place for very clear turn by turn directions how to get to the highway from their location and back, once onto the highway system it won't be a concern for the towns you are driving to. Park outside any city walls in the smaller towns and you don't need to be too concerned with ZTL's there just Florence.

I need to know the following:
- whether you intend to keep the car overnight for more than a day (if so how many days) or if you rent it for the day and return it to the rental office at day end.
- If you already have booked accommodations: Address of your accommodations.

We rented a car and also decided to rent the GPS $15 per day. Totally worth it just to ensure we didn't get stranded. We did not have google maps because we did not want to pay for overseas cellular use. (However, it would have been helpful for just walking around / taking city buses, etc).
Our GPS also told us when on the highway our speed was being monitored. If you were speeding in one of these zones, they supposedly alert your rental company and you get the ticket cost through them. We appreciated that our GPS alerted us prior to entering these speed watch zones.

And what everyone else says about ZTLs, it's more about where you're allowed to park and I doubt google map or a GPS would tell you. I know each city has signage for such and in most cities I think the white stripes are for free parking and blue is paid.

In Italy they do have areas that use a "tutor" system to track average speeds from Point A to Point B.
Your GPS or tracking app may pick these up and alert you if you are in one or are approaching an area where a speed trap camera is setup.

ZTL has nothing to do with parking,

Arun,

It's important to note that Florence is not the only place that has ZTL areas. Many towns and cities in Italy also have them, but not all are enforced with automated cameras. You will also encounter ZTL's in Siena, Montepulciano, Pienza, Assisi, Cortona and other towns. In some cases, these only apply during certain hours, on workdays, etc. You may find this website helpful......

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/driving/traffic_cameras_speeding.htm

You'll also have to be careful to avoid the automated speed cameras, including the devious Traffic Tutor system. You may find this website interesting.....

https://blog.italyrentals.com/2013/10/26/how-not-to-speed-in-italy/

Also don't drive in Bus lanes, as you'll get nicked for that too.

If you were speeding in one of these zones, they supposedly alert your rental company and you get the ticket cost through them.

That's not quite correct. If you have any sort of offense caught by camera, the local authorities send a demand for payment to the owner of the car, who they expect to pay the fine.

If it is a rental car, the rental car company will search their records for who had the car and provide that information to the authorities, and charge you in the vicinity of €40 to €50 (which you agreed to when you initialed and signed the rental agreement contract) for the privilege. That can be quite some time after you return the car.

The local authorities will then eventually send the demand to you, often many months later.

So don't expect that the mysterious charge on your credit card from the rental car to be the end of it all.

Further to Nigel's last reply, if you receive a letter from European Municipality Outsourcing, you'll know you were nicked at least once (and perhaps more than once). The letter can appear in your mailbox even up to a year after the offense occurred. Don't even consider appealing the fines, as......

1. You'll probably receive the notice after the period of appeal has expired.
2. Appealing anything through the maze of Italian bureaucracy is going to be complicated and probably expensive. The amount of the fine may be increased if you (inevitably) lose the appeal.
3. If the offense occurred in a camera-controlled ZTL area, they have your smiling countenance on a photo, so there's little chance you claim that you weren't there.

Please note that in the central areas of Florence, that is almost the whole city, blue stripes mean metered parking and white stripes mean residents only. If you wonder what is the color of free parking, well, there is no free parking...

Hi Roberto

Here are the particulars...

1. Renting from Hertz, via borgo ognissanti 137R, firenze.
2. Into Google maps what I put in was a route covering : Montepulciano, La Foce, Van Bignoni (sp), Pienza, back to Montepulciano, back to Firenze.
3. I am planning on returning same day. Pick up time : 8 am. Drop off time : 7 pm.

To everyone else : thanks for all your comments and suggestions. Very, very helpful!!

arun

I'm sorry to correct you Ken, do not get angry but future offenders and/or readers might find useful to know how it really works.

You'll probably receive the notice after the period of appeal has expired.

Loosing the right to appeal before receiving an official notification and knowing you were fined would be unaccetable both for the Italian Cassation Court and the EU Supreme one. I'd be quite suprised if in Canada things were different, the right to appeal is an unalienable one in western countries.

Appealing anything through the maze of Italian bureaucracy is going to be complicated and probably expensive.

The "maze of italian bureaucracy" in this case constits in sending a registered letter to a judge of first instance called a Giudice di Pace (you can also write to the Prefect, but I prefer Judges to Central government officials). In some cities they have an online system to appeal.
The real problem is that you must write in Italian, but you do not need a lawyer to appeal fines and it costs around 50 euros.

The amount of the fine may be increased if you (inevitably) lose the appeal.

From the moment you sign the registered letter with the official notification you have 5 days to "confess" and get a 30% discount; from the 6th to the 60th day you can appeal and the fine doesn't increase.

If the offense occurred in a camera-controlled ZTL area, they have your smiling countenance on a photo, so there's little chance you claim that you weren't there.

There was at least one case where a judge have consolited many ZTL fines into one because they had all been taken while driving past the same camera in a short period of time. Of course this doesn't mean that a Judge would accept the "we don't use that sign in my country" excuse.

I don't know if you intend to go to Montepulciano directly via the A1, or if you prefer to go via Siena and/or the Chianti (takes a bit longer but u might like it). But I'll send you toward the Firenze Impruneta A1 entrance, through the Via Cassia (SR2), then you decide whether to hop on the A1 or take the Raccordo toward Siena or the Via Cassia (SR2) all the way, or hit the Via Chiantigiana from the Via Cassia (through Ferrone).

Using Google Maps enter:
From: Hertz, Borgo Ognissanti....
To: Piazzale di Porta Romana.

Follow the yellow (actually blue) brick road on Google maps religiously. No errors allowed.
The ZTL camera is on the Lungarno Amerigo Vespucci just east of the bridge (Ponte Vespucci). You must turn right on the bridge just before the cameras (which are very visible and have a bright red street light). Once at Piazzale di Porta Romana you will follow Via Senese through Galluzzo to the freeways (autostrade).

Coming back, just set Google Maps the same way but in reverse. From Piazzale Di Porta Romana to Hertz. Then follow religiously. On the way back the ZTL camera is on Borgo San Frediano, just east of Via Sant'Onofrio. You must turn left toward the same bridge on via Sant'Onofrio. Once crossed the bridge go straight on via di Melegnano, then left on Borgo Ognissanti all the way to the multistory garage (across the street from the Hertz office). You can also arrange with Hertz a later return after hours if you wish (for a small fee).

Another thing to be aware. On the way back toward Piazzale Di Porta Romana from the freeway, Via Senese is bus lane only on the northbound direction between Via Del Gelsomino and Porta Romana (there is a Q8 gas station there). You must turn right on via Del Gelsomino and later left on viale Del Poggio Imperiale to get to Piazzale Di Porta Romana.

Go to Wikipedia, search the article on 'road signs in Italy' and become familiar with the international road signage system used in Europe.

darioalb,

Thanks for the additional information. I suppose one of the points I was trying to make but didn't articulate well, is that it's quite cumbersome to try and deal with traffic tickets and that sort of thing from 9000 km away. Most travellers aren't fluent in Italian nor do they have knowledge of Italian laws and procedures, which adds to the difficulty.

Thank you so much Roberto! These are excellent tips. I am sure a lot of the forum visitors with similar questions will get a lot of help from your response.

ciao!
Arun

Easy option: ask at the pick up office how to exit the ZTL. They get asked this roughly a dozen times per day and will give you a map.
Return: get back to Florence after 7.30pm (ZTL no longer applies). By the look of your day plan, including Montepulciano, Pienza, Montalcino, this should not be a problem. :)

Correction: get back after 8pm (on Saturday 4pm), ZTL times were recently extended,

If you ask Hertz for directions, they will give you the exact same directions as I did, because that is the only way to go. As a matter of fact, I still have a paper map with the directions Avis included in my contract a few years ago, and they reflect the same directions I gave. Avis rental return is in the same garage as Hertz.

If you decide to come back after 8pm, you need to make arrangements with Hertz, because they don't stay open that late at that location. Also consider that between April and the first weekend of October the Summer Nocturnal ZTL is in effect on weekend nights (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) until 3am the next morning.