With a participation rate of only 5.7%, Parisians voted mainly for a controversial tax on SUV parkingsparking a lively debate on the fairness and environmental effectiveness of this measure.
On Sunday February 4, 2024, Parisians voted in favor of the introduction of a parking tax specifically targeting certain categories of vehicles, notably SUVs. With 54.55% of the votes cast in support of this proposal put forward by Anne Hidalgo, the decision is far from unanimous, especially given the low participation rate in the vote. In fact, only 5.7% of registered voters made the trip.
The 6th, 7th, 8th, 15th, 16th and 17th arrondissements voted against, while the 10th, 11th, 19th and 20th voted overwhelmingly in favor of this additional tax.
A tax that is debated
Scheduled to be implemented from May, this tax could triple the hourly parking rate for non-residents of Paris, while residents would only be allowed one “residential” vehicle per tax household. Vehicles targeted by this measure, including SUVs, must weigh at least 1.6 tonnes for thermal and hybrid models, and 2 tonnes for electric ones, with parking costs of up to €18 per hour, and up to ‘at €225 for six hours.
Families feel penalized
The reaction of the families interviewed in the morning of France Info this morning’s announcement of this measure is particularly critical. Some, notably those having invested in vehicles compliant with Low Emission Zones (ZFE) and classified Crit’Air 1, are particularly upset. They feel unfairly penalized by this additional tax, raising the question of the relevance of targeting electric SUVs, which are less polluting, instead of attacking diesel vehicles and other lighter, but more polluting vehicles.
In addition, the question of penalizing suburbanites who wish to come with their families to the capital also raises many questions in the face of a town hall which nevertheless claims to be left-wing.
A contested political measure
Paris City Hall is accused of not having provided an impact study or report showing that SUVs pollute more. One of the deputies of
David Belliard, himself an advisor to the Town Hall, tried to justify BFMTV the relevance of the measure by asserting that it was sufficient to “ take to the street to realize that SUVs are bulky “. An answer that seems to avoid the heart of the problem. In the same way, during an interview between David Belliard and the General Delegate, Pierre Chasseray, of the 40 million motorists association, the Deputy Mayor revealed himself incapable of precisely defining what a SUV.
Moreover, the implementation of a system of fines which would penalize cars weighing more than 1.6 tonnes for thermal and plug-in hybrids and 2 tonnes for electric ones seems to be a real headache.
Also, Marie de Paris is criticized for not understanding that the increase in the weight of vehicles today is due to the increase in comfort and safety elements necessary to obtain stars in Euro crash tests. -NCAP.
This decision to tax SUV parking in Paris raises many questions about the balance between environmental objectives and the needs of city dwellers. In particular, those who have no other choice but to travel in Paris by car and who do not necessarily have several vehicles in the household. The question of applying equitable urban mobility policies remains unresolved.
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