The World Briefly

February 06, 2024

Small Is Beautiful

France

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Parisians on Sunday voted to greatly increase parking fees for SUVs, a move intended to force the large, heavy vehicles out of the city center and help the 2024 Olympic host city become more green, the Associated Press reported.

In a mini-referendum, 54 percent supported the measure by socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo to triple the parking fees for SUVs coming from outside Paris, according to results released by City Hall. Despite a low turnout – just 5.7 percent of eligible voters went to the polls – the new fees will be enforced from Sept. 1 onwards.

Non-resident owners parking their SUVs in the French capital’s most central districts, featuring the historical center and landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and the car-clogged Champs-Élysées, will have to pay $19.5 per hour for the first two hours, and $243 for a six-hour stay. Fares for smaller vehicles remain at $6.40 and $80, respectively.

In the outer districts, home to the tourist draw of Montmartre, the cost will rise to $12.80 per hour for the first two hours and $160 for six hours.

Hidalgo has long criticized SUVs by saying they are too large for Paris’ narrow streets and have impacted public health and the environment.

Speaking to the AP, one young resident said she voted in favor of the additional fees because of environmental concerns and parking issues posed by large cars.

However, opponents of the measure highlighted the high costs for families depending on cars to drive out of the city. A drivers’ lobby group launched a petition to defend the freedom to choose one’s vehicle, Reuters reported.

The vote was the second of its kind:  Last year, residents banned for-hire electric scooters after many found them a nuisance, or worse, as dangerous for riders and pedestrians alike.

Since she became mayor in 2014, Hidalgo has implemented numerous measures to make the city less car-friendly and incentivize residents and visitors to walk, bike, or use public transit systems. In 2016, she closed a busy highway along the River Seine. The embankment is now used by pedestrians, joggers, and cyclists and turns into a beach in the summer months.

Ahead of the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games taking place in Paris this summer, City Hall has planned to add more bike lanes.

This story originally appeared in the February 06, 2024 newsletter, Growing Pains.