Parisians are invited to vote, this Sunday, February 4, for or against “the creation of a specific rate for the parking of heavy, bulky, polluting individual cars”. An expected meeting, in particular for the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo who wants to reduce the number of SUVs in circulation in the capital. But the councilor would not have always defended this position, one of his detractors reprimands on X, with supporting video. In the nineteen-second extract, the mayor mentions “the uses of Parisians in relation to the car”: “It’s good to be able to transport several people, four is not bad. It’s good to have a trunk in the car to put packages and a stroller. It’s good to be able to allow people who have children to be able to take this vehicle”she explains.
However, contrary to what this short extract suggests, these comments have nothing to do with a defense of the large family car. The extract is taken of the opening speech of the “Smart City” forum, during its first edition in 2014. Anne Hidalgo discusses “the idea of car sharing launched during the previous mandate”or Autolib’, which allowed self-service electric cars to be rented between 2011 and 2018.
Here is the excerpt in context:
“We were told, they have to be two-seater vehicles, because (otherwise) it won’t work, or even three-seater vehicles including three in front. I remember at the time, I said no, let’s look at the habits of Parisians in relation to the car. It’s good to be able to transport several people, four is not bad. It’s good to have a trunk in the car to put packages and a stroller. It’s good to be able to allow people who have children to be able to take this vehicle. And so three seats, as you cannot seat a child under 10 years old in a car, that meant that it was forbidden for families. In this dialogue that took place between us and the companies that responded. One of them, Bolloré, won the market”she declared before greeting “a very good service and a great industrial adventure”.
Four years later, in 2018, faced with the economic failure of Autolib’, the Autolib’Vélib’Métropole joint union decided to terminate the contract, launching a legal battle with Vincent Bolloré. In December 2023, the Paris administrative court finally rejected the Bolloré group’s request for compensation of 235 million.