Parisians have voted in favor of tripling parking fees for sport utility vehicles (SUVs). The city aims to tackle air pollution and climate change by targeting wealthy drivers in large, polluting cars.
In Sunday’s referendum, which drew attention from other capitals including London, 54.6% voted in favor of special parking charges for SUVs, according to preliminary results. However, turnout was lower than Green campaigners had hoped, at around 5.7% of registered voters in Paris.
“The people of Paris have made a clear choice…other cities will follow suit,” said Anne Hidalgo, the socialist mayor of Paris, adding that road safety and air pollution were the main reasons for the vote.
Hidalgo has previously described efforts to curb the presence of SUVs through higher parking fees as a “form of social justice.” He said the aim was to deliberately target the wealthiest drivers in expensive, heavy and polluting cars who have not yet changed their behavior to address the climate crisis. Ta.
The new parking fees could come into effect in early September. Street parking costs for SUVs and four-wheel drive vehicles will rise to €18 (£15) per hour in central Paris and €12 per hour in other parts of the city.
This price applies to vehicles with an internal combustion engine or hybrid vehicle weighing more than 1.6 tonnes, and for electric vehicles weighing more than 2 tonnes. This measure does not apply to parking spaces for Paris residents.
“The result of the vote is a victory for the quality of life of Parisians,” said Tony Renucci, director of air quality campaign group Respire. He added that the city of Paris is sending a message that “we no longer want monsters on wheels on our streets.”
“Heavier, more dangerous, more polluting…SUVs are an environmental disaster,” Paris deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire wrote on X as voting began.
Last year, Paris held a similar vote on whether to ban rental electric scooters, then became the first European capital to do so. Turnout was 103,000 people, about 7% of registered voters, higher than the SUV vote.
Under Hidalgo, Paris has spent years increasing pressure on motorists, including raising parking fees and phasing out diesel cars, while expanding the capital’s congested cycle lane network. The city has reduced the number of on-street parking spaces in order to encourage drivers to use underground parking lots. According to City Hall, cycling usage has increased by 71% since the end of the coronavirus lockdown by 2023.
David Belial, the Green Party’s deputy mayor for transport in Paris, said the parking fee hike could hit around 10% of Paris’ vehicles and cost the city up to 35 million euros a year in revenue. .
Automobilists, a lobby group for motorists, says drivers should be free to choose the vehicle they like, calling the move to raise parking fees unjust, and saying, He warned that this was the work of a minority that opposes the attack.
France’s environment minister, Christophe Beche, told broadcaster RTL that the SUV surcharge amounted to “a kind of punitive environmentalism”, even though drivers should “choose lighter cars”.
