Toulouse ZFE 2026: Crit'Air 3 Still Allowed, EUR 68 Fine
Zone a Faibles Emissions · France · Active since 2022-03-01
Source: official source · Verified: 2026-10-03
Toulouse bars Crit'Air 4, 5 and unclassified vehicles 24/7 inside the rocade, 72 km2. Crit'Air 3 is still allowed — that step is suspended. Petrol from 1997, diesel from 2006. Fine EUR 68.
Locally the zone is called Zone a Faibles Emissions Toulouse (France) — that is the wording on the boundary signs, on the official portal and on any penalty notice, so it is the phrase to search for once you are there.
Next
- Check your own car against Toulouse — enter your fuel and Euro class, get a yes or no in one step.
- Toulouse has a zone too — the nearest one to Toulouse, and the rules are not identical.
- If a fine arrives after you get home — who pays on a hire car, and what is actually enforceable across borders.
Practical answers for Toulouse
- When is the Toulouse zone active?
- 24/7 That means there is no free window — the restriction applies on Sundays and public holidays too.
- How much does it cost to drive into Toulouse?
- EUR 5.11 for a foreign-registered car, EUR 3.85 on French plates (including postage) · Crit'Air vignette Get it wrong and the penalty is EUR 68 (cars, motorcycles, light commercial), EUR 135 (HGV, buses, coaches).
- Do I need to register or buy anything first?
- Crit'Air vignette Official portal.
- Who is exempt in Toulouse?
- Electric vehicles (Crit'Air 0), Hydrogen vehicles, Emergency vehicles and Disabled badge holders. Exemptions are usually not automatic — most require registering your number plate in advance.
Didn’t France abolish its low-emission zones?
No — the repeal never took effect. Parliament did vote in April 2026 to abolish France’s ZFEs, which is why so many guides and news reports say they are gone. The Conseil constitutionnel struck that article down on 21 May 2026 (décision n° 2026-903 DC), so the ZFE provisions of the code général des collectivités territoriales (articles L. 2213-4-1 and L. 2213-4-2) stayed on the books.
The zone in Toulouse is therefore still in force and you still need a Crit'Air vignette on the windscreen. Turning up without one because you read that ZFEs were scrapped is the expensive version of this mistake — the penalty is EUR 68 (cars, motorcycles, light commercial), EUR 135 (HGV, buses, coaches).
One caveat most coverage misses: the article was annulled on procedure, not on its merits — the Council held it was a “cavalier législatif”, an amendment with no link to the bill it was attached to (Constitution, art. 45). Parliament can pass the same repeal again in a properly related bill, so this is settled for now rather than settled for good. Read the decision.
Toulouse Zone a Faibles Emissions Map
The shaded area is the zone boundary as mapped in OpenStreetMap — zoom in to see which streets fall inside, and confirm the signs at the edge on arrival.
Requirements
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Toulouse keeps out Crit’Air 4, Crit’Air 5 and unclassified vehicles, every hour of every day. The step that would have added Crit’Air 3 is suspended — Toulouse Métropole voted against applying it on 12 October 2023 and the city has not since breached the air-quality thresholds that would force a review (metropole.toulouse.fr). In plain terms: a petrol car from 1997 or later and a diesel from 2006 or later still drives in.
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Zone type | ZFE-m (Zone à Faibles Émissions mobilité) |
| Perimeter | All of Toulouse inside the rocade plus parts of Colomiers and Tournefeuille — 72 km², 430,000 residents |
| Banned | Crit’Air 4, Crit’Air 5 and unclassified, for every motorised vehicle |
| Crit’Air 3 | Allowed — the step was suspended by the vote of 12 October 2023 |
| Petrol cars | First registered from 1997 (Euro 2 and newer) |
| Diesel cars | First registered from 2006 (Euro 4 and newer) |
| Two-wheelers | First registered from 1 July 2004 |
| Operating hours | 24 hours a day, 7 days a week |
| Sticker | Crit’Air vignette, compulsory even with a derogation — EUR 5.11 |
| Fine | EUR 68 (car, motorcycle, light commercial) / EUR 135 (lorry, bus, coach) |
| Derogation | Pass ZFE, up to 52 days a year |
| In force for cars since | 1 January 2023 |
Can your car enter Toulouse?
Enter your vehicle's fuel + Euro class → instant verdict for Toulouse (ZFE). Fine if wrong: EUR 68 (cars, motorcycles, light commercial), EUR 135 (HGV, buses, coaches).
How the Toulouse ZFE Was Built
The zone did not arrive all at once. Toulouse Métropole’s own timeline (qualité de l’air) sets out three steps:
- 1 March 2022 — vans, light lorries and heavy goods vehicles carrying Crit’Air 5 or no sticker at all.
- 1 September 2022 — the same commercial categories at Crit’Air 4.
- 1 January 2023 — “tous les véhicules motorisés certifiés Crit’air 4, 5 et non-classés”, which is where private cars entered the scheme.
The fourth step, Crit’Air 3 from 1 January 2024, was announced and then dropped: “Contrairement au calendrier prévu, la vignette Crit’Air 3 restera autorisée au 1er janvier 2024” (Toulouse Métropole, 11 July 2023). The suspension is conditional rather than permanent — it must be reconsidered if three years in any five exceed the permitted threshold.
Where the Boundary Runs
The perimeter is the ring road: everything inside the rocade, plus a slice of Colomiers and Tournefeuille, 72 km² in all, home to 430,000 people. Entry and exit points carry signs. The national consolidated ZFE register lists the Toulouse zone under identifier 243100518-ZFE-004, in force since 1 January 2024 with no end date and a Crit’Air 4 threshold for private cars, 24/7.
What You Need on the Windscreen
The Crit’Air vignette is a round sticker classing the vehicle from 0 to 5. Toulouse Métropole is explicit that it “est obligatoire pour circuler et stationner à l’intérieur du périmètre, même si des dérogations spécifiques peuvent être autorisées” — obligatory to drive and to park inside the perimeter, even where a specific derogation applies. Order it from certificat-air.gouv.fr for EUR 5.11; nothing else sells it legitimately.
Fines
Driving or parking inside the perimeter with a banned sticker, or with no sticker at all, costs EUR 68 for a light vehicle or light commercial vehicle and EUR 135 for a lorry. A foreign plate is not an exemption — the vignette requirement applies to every vehicle in the zone.
Driving in Toulouse — Quick Reference
| Road Type | Speed Limit |
|---|---|
| Urban areas | 50 km/h |
| Rural roads | 80 km/h |
| Motorways | 130 km/h |
Note: 80 km/h national default; over 50 departments have reinstated 90 km/h on selected secondary roads where signposted
| Details | |
|---|---|
| City centre rate | EUR 1.50-2.50/hour |
| Park & Ride | P+R at metro/tram stops |
Tip: Capitole square pedestrianised; use Tisseo P+R system
- Rush hours: 7:30-9:00 and 17:00-19:00
- Watch out for: Peripherique ring road congestion, tram construction
- One-way streets: Capitole area pedestrian; Victor Hugo one-way loop
Traffic in France drives on the right side of the road.
| Service | Number |
|---|---|
| General emergency | 112 |
| Police | 17 |
| Ambulance | 15 |
| Fire | 18 |
When driving in France, your vehicle must carry: Warning Triangle, Reflective Vest, First Aid Kit (recommended), Fire Extinguisher (recommended), Spare Bulbs (recommended).
Recent changes to this page
- Crit'Air sticker price corrected to EUR 5.11 for a foreign-registered car (EUR 3.108 certificate + EUR 2.00 postage, certificat-air.gouv.fr price service); EUR 3.85 applies only to French plates.
- Breathalyser removed from the French equipment list: it is not compulsory .
- Re-read against metropole.toulouse.fr (page updated 12 June 2026) and the national consolidated ZFE register. Three corrections: the body and summary demanded petrol Euro 3 / diesel Euro 5 while the rule is petrol Euro 2 / diesel Euro 4; the FAQ asked for Crit'Air 0-2 when Crit'Air 3 is allowed and its ban is suspended; the perimeter, the 1 January 2023 start for cars and the 52-day Pass ZFE were missing.
- Title, description and introduction rewritten from this page's own data (no shared template wording).
- Corrected the Crit'Air threshold and the dates against the French government's consolidated ZFE database.
- Aligned the dates on this page with TyreMap zone data after it was re-verified against the official register.
- Re-verified Toulouse Métropole ZFE-m: Crit'Air 5 banned 2024, Crit'Air 4 banned 2025 — confirmed against metropolis portal.
- Updated fine structure (EUR 68 minor / EUR 135 aggravated) and confirmed Mon–Fri 8am–8pm operating hours.
- Logged Crit'Air 4 ban taking effect in 2025; expansion planned for ZFE-m perimeter into 2026.
Part of the TyreMap Emission-Zone Dataset — 596 verified European emission zones, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crit'Air 4, Crit'Air 5 and unclassified vehicles may not circulate or park inside the perimeter. Crit'Air 3 remains allowed — Toulouse Métropole voted on 12 October 2023 not to apply that step, and the suspension has not been reopened.
A petrol car first registered before 1997 and a diesel car first registered before 2006 cannot enter. In Euro terms that is petrol from Euro 2 and diesel from Euro 4. Two-wheelers registered before 1 July 2004 are also excluded.
EUR 68 for a car, a motorcycle or a light commercial vehicle; EUR 135 for a lorry, a bus or a coach. The vignette itself is compulsory to circulate and park inside the perimeter, even for an electric car or a vehicle holding a derogation.