Paris wants to ask SUV drivers to pay: Anyone who parks a city SUV there will in future pay 18 euros per hour – three times as much as before. However, the new tariff should only apply to non-residents.
Parking in Paris could become significantly more expensive for SUV drivers from abroad in the future. It should cost 18 euros per hour for city off-road vehicles (SUVs) – that’s about three times as much as before. The French capital wants to let the residents vote on it first.
The city administration said that private car use in Paris has been declining for ten years due to the city’s transport policy. At the same time, the size and weight of cars have increased on average due to the growing proportion of SUVs. These caused environmental pollution as well as problems with safety and the fair distribution of public space.
18 euros in the city center, twelve euros in the outskirts
The city said the special tariff for large cars is intended to limit the nuisance they cause. The plan is to pay 18 euros per hour in the center and twelve euros in the outskirts. “This vote is intended to be a message to automobile manufacturers,” the statement said. “Their pursuit of profit, which consists of deliberately selling ever larger, more fuel-efficient and more expensive vehicles, endangers the ecological transition.”
With the vote planned for February 4th, the population can calm down the public space and support a new social model.
Special rate for visitors only
Only visitors should pay the special tariff for SUVs. Residents of the capital should be excluded, as should craftsmen and nursing services. The tariff should apply to combustion engine and hybrid models weighing 1.6 tons or more and electric models weighing two tons or more.
Voting for residents of the capital will only take place in person; postal voting or online voting is not planned.
Mayor wants to promote the transport transition
The same procedure was used to vote on the rental of e-scooters in Paris in April. With a very low turnout, a majority voted to ban rental scooters, which have disappeared from the cityscape since September.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo and the red-green city government have been pushing forward the transport transition in Paris for years. Riverside streets along the Seine were closed to cars and made accessible to pedestrians. The number of cycle paths is growing, new green spaces are being created and 30 km/h speed limits have been introduced almost everywhere in the city.