Paris is tripling parking charges for heavier vehicles (including EVs)
February 12, 2024 by John Rawlings
Car changing is a big deal
Charges for non-residents to park heavier vehicles in Paris will triple from 1 September 2024 in an effort to deter people from driving into the city and reduce traffic to make it safer for pedestrians and cyclists, and to help improve air quality.
The cost to park in the centre of Paris for non-residents with petrol, diesel and hybrid cars weighing over 1.6 tonnes, and electric vehicles over 2.o tonnes, is going to triple from 1 September 2024 to €18/hour (equivalent to about £15/hour). This is to help reduce the amount of cars being driven into the city and to improve air quality and the safety of the city’s pedestrians and cyclists. There are exemptions for taxis, health workers, people with disabilities, tradespeople and residents of Paris.
This was decided by a referendum which asked Paris residents to vote, “For or against the creation of a specific rate for the parking of heavy, bulky, polluting individual cars?”. A total of 77,121 people voted, and 42,415 of them (a majority of 54.5%) voted in favour; however, critics of the new parking tariffs say that the majority only represents 5.7% of the total number of Parisians.
The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, commented: “The question asked referred to road safety, a question of public health and the calming of public space which cannot be managed to the detriment of the most vulnerable, namely children, our elders and people with reduced mobility. The question posed is first and foremost a subject of ecology, how to breathe better, have healthier air. While ecology becomes not a cause on which we must act, but becomes that of all problems, here in Paris we ensure that generations can live in a healthy environment.“
Paris was one of the first cities in Europe to bring in anti-pollution measures for cars. In 2017, it introduced its Crit’Air stickers that must be displayed on every vehicle (including those from outside France) driving into the city to comply with clean air ones. These have since been introduced in several other cities in France.
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