18 euros/hour

Parisians vote for higher SUV parking fees

In Paris on Sunday evening, a vote was taken in favor of tripling parking fees for heavy cars.

(Bild: AP)

Parisians voted on Sunday evening in favor of tripling parking fees for SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles). The city council's plan thus prevailed. In future, drivers of heavy cars will have to pay 18 euros for an hour's parking in the city center.

In the outer districts, the charge is twelve euros per hour. Previously, the standard rate for all cars was six or four euros. Six hours of parking in the city center will now cost 225 instead of 75 euros for heavy vehicles. The city council had argued that this would lead to increased pollution, more space and a risk to road safety. Therefore, large cars such as off-road vehicles would have to pay a special rate, they said (see video above).

Residents etc. exempt
Only people who are visiting should pay the special rate. Residents, but also care services and tradespeople will be exempt. The regulation does not apply to private parking garages anyway. The more expensive rate will apply from September 1 for combustion and hybrid models weighing 1.6 tons or more and for electric models weighing two tons or more.

In Paris, parking fees for heavy cars will be higher in future.

(Bild: Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Hardly any participation
The city had called on 1.3 million residents to vote under the slogan "More or fewer SUVs in Paris?". Only just under six percent of them actually took part. According to the provisional final result, 54.5 percent of them voted for more parking fees and around 45.5 percent voted against the special tariff for heavy cars.

"Parisians are the vanguard of a movement, many cities will surely follow suit," said Mayor Anne Hidalgo after the decision. The result is good for the planet and for health.

Counter-petitions planned
According to an earlier survey, 70 percent were in favor of measures against large cars. However, only eleven percent said they wanted to take part in the vote. Slightly fewer Parisians actually cast their vote.

Criticism of the result came from an automobile club, which is already planning petitions against parking fees in various cities. "Don't kid yourself: This fight against SUVs is just a back door to eradicate the car as a whole," it said.

The increased parking fees will affect almost 900,000 cars in the capital region, accounting for around 16 percent of all vehicles.