Transport transition
Environmental aid for parking fees in Paris: Political pressure is increasing
In Paris, drivers of heavy cars now have to pay significantly more. (archive image) photo
© Michel Euler/AP/dpa
Visitors to Paris with heavy cars will in future have to pay three times the parking rate. Are German cities following this example?
After the introduction of higher parking fees for heavy cars in Paris environmentalists expect similar steps in German municipalities. “Something is moving in Germany – people are tired of larger and more dangerous monster trucks driving through their city and clogging up the streets,” said the Federal Managing Director of German Environmental Aid, Jürgen Resch, to the German Press Agency. The example of Paris has increased political pressure in many cities.
According to its own information, the environmental aid agency has so far submitted 324 applications for higher parking fees and parking restrictions for SUV vehicles in cities. “Over 21,000 people have commissioned us to submit an application in their cities – this shows the strong public interest in the topic,” said Resch. Environmental aid wants to get cities to take tougher action against heavy city off-road vehicles.
Implementation varies at different speeds, said Resch. Some cities have therefore significantly increased parking fees. Resch spoke of a growing willingness to introduce a fee scale based on vehicle size.
Environmental Aid also wants a resident parking permit to cost at least 360 euros per year. “Bonn is complying and will be introducing a fee of 360 euros from next year, but many other cities have so far only implemented increases to 120 euros – still far below the level necessary for a real turnaround in transport.”
The new regulation in Paris
Parking tariffs for heavy cars have been drastically increased for visitors to Paris since the beginning of October. One hour of parking in the center now costs 18 euros for heavy SUVs and other weighty vehicles, and 225 euros for six hours. Fares outside the center are slightly lower. Excluded from the regulation are, among others, residents of the French capital, craftsmen and people with disabilities.
The tariff should apply to combustion engine and hybrid models weighing 1.6 tons or more and electric models weighing two tons or more. The regulation does not apply to private parking garages. The city argued that the heavy cars caused increased environmental pollution, took up a lot of public space and endangered traffic safety.
Reactions in Germany
Germany is also looking at the Paris model – but in this country there is no indication that parking for heavy cars alone will become more expensive across the board. In Hamburg, for example, the Senate issued a new fee schedule in December. This does not include a change in the fee with a breakdown specifically based on size or weight.
Tübingen’s mayor Boris Palmer (independent) considers the demand for higher parking fees for heavy cars to be absurd. “In Germany that’s not possible at all. Such fees would be collected by the courts. And it’s not possible just for foreigners like in Paris,” the politician told the German Press Agency.
The Potsdam city administration says it has no plans for SUV drivers to have to pay more for parking in the future. A staggered fee based on the parking space used “could be considered sensible under certain circumstances”. However, this would then include all vehicles of a certain length and width and could not be enforced in a practical manner, it was said.
Environmentalists see progress
“The graduation of fees based on vehicle size has already been introduced in some cities, such as in Koblenz, Aachen and, from next year, in Cologne. Many others are considering it,” reported Resch from Umwelthilfe. A regulation like the one in Paris would also mean in Germany “that we would finally see smaller and lighter cars on the road,” said Resch. He also had discussions with mayors and local councils who wanted a registration tax like in France.