Paris has a plan to give SUVs the boot Angelique Chrisafis | News | February 13th 2024 Parisians have voted to triple parking costs for sports utility vehicles (SUVs), as the city aims to tackle air pollution and climate breakdown by targeting rich drivers in heavy, large and polluting cars. In a referendum on Feb. 4, which was closely watched by other capital cities, including London, 54.6 per cent voted in favour of special parking fees for SUVs, according to provisional results. However, the turnout — at about 5.7 per cent of Paris’s registered voters — was lower than green campaigners had hoped for.
“Parisians have made a clear choice … other cities will follow,” said Paris’s Socialist mayor, Anne Hidalgo, adding that road safety and air pollution were key reasons for the vote. Hidalgo had previously described the move to curb the presence of SUVs through raising parking prices as “a form of social justice.” She said the aim was to deliberately target the richest drivers of expensive, heavy and polluting cars who had not yet made changes to their behaviour to address the climate crisis. The new parking tariffs could come into force at the start of September. The cost of on-street parking for an SUV or 4x4 vehicle would rise to €18 (£15) an hour in the centre of Paris and €12 an hour in the rest of the city. The prices will apply to vehicles weighing more than 1.6 tonnes with a combustion engine or hybrid vehicles, and more than two tonnes for electric vehicles. The move will not apply to Paris residents’ parking. Tony Renucci, director of the air quality campaign group Respire, said: “The result of the vote is a victory for Paris residents’ quality of life.” He added that Paris was sending a message that “the presence of these monsters on wheels was no longer desirable on our streets.” https://www.nationalobserver.