Parisians say ‘oui’ to hefty SUV parking fee
Paris – Voters in Paris have backed a proposal from socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo to triple parking charges on hefty SUVstyle cars, according to official results from city hall.
Parisians voted 54.55% in favour of charging cars weighing 1.6 tons or more €18 (about R370) per hour for parking in the city centre, or €12 further out.
But only 78 000, or 5.7%, of the 1.3 million eligible voters bothered to vote at the 39 voting stations set up around the city.
Hidalgo hailed a “clear choice of Parisians” in favour of a measure that is “good for our health and good for the planet”.
Fully electric cars will have to top two tons to be affected, while people living or working in Paris,
taxi drivers, tradespeople, health workers and people with disabilities will all be exempt. “It’s an ecological issue, but it’s also a societal issue, and it’s about how cities
need to evolve in a changing environment,” said Gregoire Marchal, a 43-year-old cinema distributor, after voting in favour of the measure in Paris’s 10th district.
“I do have a car, but I think it’s great that we can ask ourselves the question and change our behaviour.”
Not all voters were happy. “I’m sick of all these diktaks from Mrs Hidalgo,” said Jeannine, 75, in the wealthier 8th district, where more of the cars appear to be SUVs.
Hidalgo herself voted at a school in the city’s 15th district.
On Hidalgo’s watch, Paris has pedestrianised many streets, including the banks of the river Seine, and built a network of cycle lanes in an effort to discourage driving and reduce harmful transport emissions.
Environmental group WWF has dubbed SUVs an “aberration”, saying they burn 15% more fuel than a classic coupe.