Mayor Anne Hidalgo will propose a tripling of parking rates for tall and heavy cars called SUVs, during the vote organized on February 4 (AFP/Archives/DOMINIQUE FAGET)
Haro on the big hoods: the Paris town hall is organizing a vote on Sunday proposing the tripling of parking rates for tall and heavy cars called SUVs, without convincing opponents and motorists who cry “manipulation”.
From 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., 1.3 million Parisian voters are invited to go to one of the 38 voting locations to answer the question: “For or against the creation of a specific rate for parking individual cars heavy, bulky, polluting?
Specifically targeted are cars called SUVs, the English acronym for Sport Utility Vehicle, with characteristics combining “those of a passenger car with those of a utility vehicle”, and 4x4s.
If the “for” side wins, the visitor whose thermal or rechargeable hybrid vehicle exceeds 1.6 tonnes, or two tonnes for an electric vehicle, will have to pay 18 euros per hour for the central districts, 12 euros for the outer districts. .
The visitor only, in theory, because “Parisian residents and sedentary professionals parked in their authorized parking zone, taxi drivers in dedicated stations, craftsmen, health professionals” and disabled people will not be concerned, lists the town hall.
Why such a decision, in a capital which has already pedestrianized the banks of the Seine, banned general traffic on Rue de Rivoli and greened 200 streets, eliminating traffic there too?
“The bigger it is, the more it pollutes”, justified PS mayor Anne Hidalgo at the beginning of December, also putting forward an argument of “road safety”, accidents involving an SUV being according to the town hall “twice as fatal for pedestrians as ‘with a standard car’.
Cars parked in downtown Paris, February 1, 2024 (AFP/Dimitar DILKOFF)
Ms. Hidalgo also highlighted “better sharing of public space”, with large cars being singled out as taking up more space on the road.
According to the town hall, cars have gained on average around 250 kg since 1990.
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. In addition, they require more materials to manufacture, consume 15% more fuel and emit 20% more CO2 than a sedan.
– “Handling” –
Unsurprisingly, motorist associations criticize the initiative.
“More or less SUV, the question is terribly amateurish” because the acronym is a “marketing name” which “means nothing”, reacts Yves Carra, spokesperson for the Mobilité Club France. According to him, “compact SUVs will not be subject to taxation”, unlike family sedans and station wagons.
For the right-wing opposition, the Parisian vote “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 affected by the standards subject to the vote”.
As for the accusation of pollution, “a new modern SUV” does not “pollute more, or even less, than a small diesel vehicle from before 2011”, underlines the association 40 million motorists.
“If it were really a question of limiting pollution, a distinction would be made between thermal vehicles and hybrid or electric vehicles,” agrees MoDem MP Maud Gatel, Ms. Hidalgo’s opponent.
The centrist elected official also criticizes him for sparing Parisians, “even though SUVs + residents + in Paris, not affected by the measure, represent 26.6% of the fleet according to the AAA Data agency”.
“Only people who are not affected by these measures vote. (…) Anne Hidalgo only thinks about seducing her electorate,” laments Pierre Chasseray, general delegate of 40 million motorists.
In Lyon, the environmentalist town hall has planned the implementation in June of a “progressive rate with three incentive categories”, a principle valid for residents and visitors alike.
In Paris, according to Ms. Hidalgo and her deputy (EELV) for mobility David Belliard, the surcharge would concern “around 10% of the fleet” and could bring in around 35 million additional revenue.
This vote will be the second in the capital, after that of April 2023 which approved the eviction of self-service scooters.
The vote mobilized 103,000 people, or 7% of voters in the capital, at a cost of 390,000 euros.
© 2024 AFP
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