Photo: Nancy Wangue Moussissa Agence France-Presse Some 1.3 million Parisians were invited on Sunday to vote “for or against the creation of a specific rate for the parking of heavy, bulky, polluting individual cars”.
Pierrick Yvon – Agence France-Presse and Marie Dhumieres – Agence France-Presse in Paris
February 4, 2024
- Europe
Parisians approved on Sunday a plan to triple parking rates for tall and heavy cars, known as SUVs, but less than 6% of voters participated in this vote.
Out of 1.3 million voters, a little more than 78,000 people, or 5.68%, participated in this vote, which aims to create a specific rate for the parking of “individual cars heavy, bulky, polluting.”
Sport utility vehicles are specifically targeted, with characteristics combining “those of a passenger car with those of a utility vehicle”, and 4x4s.
According to the proposal from the socialist mayor, Anne Hidalgo, the user of a thermal or plug-in hybrid vehicle weighing more than 1.6 tonnes, or 2 tonnes for an electric vehicle, will soon have to pay 18 euros per hour for parking in the central districts from the capital, 12 euros for the outer districts.
Residents parking in their neighborhood and professionals, including taxis, will not be affected.
The deliberation will be presented in May for application on September 1, indicated Anne Hidalgo when the results were announced at city hall.
The mayor welcomed a “clear choice of Parisians” in favor of a measure “good for our health and good for the planet”.
In the capital, which has already pedestrianized the quays of the Seine and greened 200 streets by eliminating traffic, Ms. Hidalgo justified the vote by the fight against pollution, better sharing of public space and “road safety” , accidents involving an SUV being, according to the town hall, “twice as fatal for pedestrians as with a standard car”.
Antoine, 36, who came to vote with his family in the 10th arrondissement, in the north-east of the capital, regrets that the vote only concerns non-residents: “It’s a symbol, but it's a beginning. »
At the town hall in the 10th arrondissement, where large posters promoting the vote had been put up, people mostly voted “for”. In a “very banal way, for ecological reasons”, summarizes Caroline, a 51-year-old teacher. “And we don’t need an SUV in Paris, frankly…”
“It takes up too much space, it pollutes and it hinders bicycle traffic,” adds Jérôme, 59, bicycle helmet in hand.
“Aberration”
At the town hall of the very chic 8th arrondissement, where SUVs are well represented among the cars parked nearby, the majority were “against”.
“The question is very poorly asked,” laments Anne-Marie, 71, who came to vote with her husband. “We start with that […] and then we will ban anything. »
Jeannine, 75, is “fed up with [the] dictates of Ms. Hidalgo.” “We’re sick of all these environmentalists,” she says.
The NGO WWF describes SUVs as an “aberration” in the face of global warming: they are “200 kilos heavier, 25 cm longer, 10 cm wider” than a standard car. And require more materials to manufacture, consume 15% more fuel and emit 20% more CO2 than a sedan.
Unsurprisingly, motorists' associations castigated the town hall's initiative, recalling that SUV is a “marketing name” which “means nothing”, declared Yves Carra, spokesperson for the Mobilité Club France.< /p>
For the right-wing opposition, this “demonstrates the extent of the manipulation of the City, which targets SUVs in its communication, when in reality, any type of vehicle is likely to be concerned by the standards submitted to the vote.”
“It’s part of a form of punitive ecology”, even if we have to “move towards lighter vehicles”, Christophe Béchu, the French Minister of Ecological Transition, declared on RTL.
Owners of an SUV because otherwise, “with two children, going on vacation is complicated”, Stéphanie, 40, voted “against” in the 8th. As a resident, she is not concerned at the moment, but “can see it happening”. “If you want to have a city without cars and without streets, you have to go to the countryside! » blurted out her husband.
According to the town hall, the surcharge would concern “around 10% of the park” and could bring in around 35 million euros in additional revenue.
This vote is the second of its kind in the capital, after the one which ratified the eviction of self-service scooters in April 2023.