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In Paris, the population can vote this Sunday on the introduction of higher parking fees for heavy city off-road vehicles. According to the city council’s plan, just one hour of parking for so-called SUVs will cost 18 euros in the center instead of the usual 6 euros, and in the suburbs 12 euros instead of 4 euros. The city council received strong criticism even before the vote.
The city’s argument for higher fees for SUVs: the heavy bodies caused more environmental pollution, took up a lot of public space and endangered road safety.
Only visitors have to pay the fee
The city emphasizes that the special rate for large cars is intended to limit the nuisance they cause. “This vote should be a message to car manufacturers. Their pursuit of profit, which consists of deliberately selling increasingly larger, more fuel-efficient and more expensive vehicles, endangers ecological changes.” With Sunday’s vote, the population could calm the public space and support a new social model.
Only visitors have to pay the special rate for SUVs. Residents should be excluded, as should traders and healthcare services. The rate should apply to combustion engine and hybrid models weighing 1.6 tonnes or more, and electric models weighing two tonnes or more. The scheme does not apply to private parking garages.
Germany is also playing with SUV taxes
Germany is also looking at the plans in Paris. The mayor of Hannover, Belit Onay (Greens), argued in favor of making parking for so-called SUVs more expensive. “The trend towards increasingly larger and heavier cars continues,” he told the Tagesspiegel (Saturday). “I therefore have great sympathy for a price scale for parking rates based on the length of the vehicles.”
The Paris citizen survey shows once again that the debate should be about limited public space and a more appropriate rate for parking. All major European cities are facing this challenge. He is very enthusiastic about the result.
“Monster SUVs block sidewalks”
Also with a view to Paris, the German Environmental Aid (DUH) recently called on all German cities to introduce higher parking fees for increasingly larger SUVs. “These monster SUVs are increasingly blocking sidewalks and green spaces, endangering people traveling on foot or by bike. The megalomania regarding SUVs must be stopped,” said Federal Director of DUH Jürgen Resch. The General German Automobile Club (ADAC) criticized DUH’s demand. “However, higher parking charges for vehicles weighing more than 1.6 tonnes cannot be a solution,” the report said. This would also affect vehicles that are not classic SUVs.
The German Association of Cities and Municipalities expressed skepticism. The municipal association said that categorizing parking fees based on vehicle size is difficult to implement in practice and has only been attempted by a few cities so far. In June 2023, the Federal Administrative Court ruled that the increase in compensation based on vehicle length should not be too large. Illegal unequal treatment must be excluded.
Automobile club is on the back wheels
In France, the automotive club “40 million d’automobilistes” has already launched a petition against higher parking fees for heavy cars, which are planned in Lyon, Bordeaux and Grenoble in addition to Paris. According to the automotive club, the victims of the increased parking rates are mainly families who treat themselves to a car with more space. It is foreseeable that restrictions will generally be tightened. “Don’t fool yourself: this war against SUVs is just a loophole to eradicate the car as a whole,” the club said.
In Paris, the fight against SUVs is part of a traffic turnaround that has been pushed for years by socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo and the red-green city council. As the business newspaper “Les Échos” calculated based on registration data, the higher parking rates would affect almost 900,000 cars in the capital region of Île-de-France, about 16 percent of the car population. (SDA)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
