Paris wants 18 euros per hour for parked SUVs
For years, the Paris city council has been pushing ahead with an ecological turnaround in transportation. Streets are being turned into pedestrian zones and more and more cycle paths are being created. Now the red-green government is declaring war on some drivers and wants to drastically increase the price for parking SUVs.
Paris is planning to triple the parking fee for SUVs to 18 euros per hour, but wants to put this to a public vote first. According to the city council, private car use in Paris has been declining for ten years due to the city's traffic policy. At the same time, the size and weight of cars has increased on average due to the growing proportion of SUVs. These caused pollution as well as problems with safety and the fair distribution of public space.
The special tariff for large cars of 18 euros per hour in the city center and 12 euros in the outskirts is intended to limit the nuisance they cause, the city announced. "This vote is intended to send a message to car manufacturers. Their quest for profit, which consists of deliberately selling ever larger, more fuel-efficient and more expensive vehicles, is jeopardizing ecological change." With the vote planned for February 4, the population could calm the public space and support a new social model.
18 euro parking fee should only apply to visitors
The special rate for SUVs will only apply to visitors. Residents of the capital are to be exempt, as are tradespeople and care services. The tariff is to apply to combustion and hybrid models weighing 1.6 tons or more and electric models weighing two tons or more. The vote for the capital's residents will take place exclusively as an in-person vote; there are no plans for postal voting or online voting.
The same procedure was used in April to vote on the rental of e-scooters in Paris. With a very low turnout, a majority voted in favor of banning the rental scooters, which have disappeared from the cityscape since September.
For years, Mayor Anne Hidalgo and the red-green city government have been driving forward the transport revolution in Paris. Riverside roads along the Seine have been closed to cars and made accessible to pedestrians. The number of cycle paths is growing, new green spaces are being created and a 30 km/h speed limit has been introduced almost everywhere in the city.
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Source: www.ntv.de
