The end of SUVs in Paris? The Mayor of Paris announced her punitive intention against SUVs on Friday, December 8th. Anne Hidalgo specified her desire to “triple” parking fees for these polluting vehicles. Parisians are called to vote on February 4th “for or against the creation of a specific rate for the parking of heavy, bulky, and polluting individual cars?” The organization of this citizen vote had already been announced on November 14th, according to Le Parisien.
If the yes vote wins, SUV owners will have to pay an hourly rate of 18 euros for the central districts and 12 euros for the outer districts, according to Deputy Mayor for Mobility, David Belliard (EELV). Gasoline or rechargeable hybrid vehicles over 1.6 tons as well as electric vehicles over 2 tons are affected by this price increase. They represent “10% of the car fleet in Paris,” according to the mayor. However, this tariff change is expected to mainly affect non-Parisians. Just a reminder, Parisians have a resident card and will therefore be exempt from this increase.
“Reclaiming public space”
“This question of SUVs arises because of air pollution,” says Anne Hidalgo. “The second issue concerns road safety since visibility is worse in a large vehicle. Children are the first ones we want to help. Finally, we want to reclaim our public space as SUVs exceed parking spaces. This is disturbing our public space,” says the mayor. Currently, the price of a parking space is 6 euros for a normal vehicle in zone 1. It is 4 euros in zone 2.
