Are there too many SUVs in Paris? Mayor Anne Hidalgo (64) wants to ask voters this question in the run-up to the Olympic Games next year. It’s the latest salvo in their long-running campaign to make the French capital more walkable, environmentally friendly and less car-friendly.
People will be asked on Feb. 4 whether parking fees for SUVs visiting the city should be increased “very significantly,” Hidalgo said Tuesday in a video posted online. “Many of you complain that there are still too many large, polluting SUVs taking up more and more space on our streets and sidewalks,” she said. She hopes that the vote sends a message to car manufacturers to stop “selling ever larger, more expensive, resource-consuming and environmentally harmful vehicles.”
The town hall did not want to specify what a “very significant” increase in parking fees means, nor when it might come into effect. It is also not clear which vehicles would specifically be affected. However, residents with parking permits should be exempt.
Hidalgo has already voted on transport policy measures in the past. This caused a stir across Europe when people voted by a large majority at the beginning of this year voted to ban rental electric scooters in the city – and Paris subsequently became one of the first metropolises to ban scooter services.
Otherwise, alongside Copenhagen, Paris is now considered a role model when it comes to promoting cycling in the city. A number of streets were calmed and new cycle path networks were planned. The measures were intended to reduce car traffic in the city. However, according to the town hall, the actual number of cars has increased.
The first reactions to Hidalgo’s SUV proposal came quickly. Car owners complain that the referendum unfairly affects only SUVs. The pedestrian organization “60 Million Pedestrians”, on the other hand, cautiously welcomed the idea, according to the newspaper “Le Parisien”. And political rivals accused Hidalgo of a tactical maneuver: she wanted to use the referendum to rehabilitate her green image after a world trip to Tahiti financed by the city was met with widespread rejection.
Either way, it’s clear: getting around Paris by car will be particularly complicated during the Olympics, as additional security measures and other restrictions apply. Around half a million spectators are expected on the city’s quays for the opening ceremony on the Seine, and even more for the other events from July 26th to August 11th.