The vote, to be held next February 4th, will be the second city-wide referendum on urban matters, after residents in April voted to ban rental e-scooters from the capital. An AFP news item on the Le Monde website discusses the upcoming referendum.
Paris will have residents vote on increasing parking fees for heavy SUVs
The city of Paris will ask residents to vote on a plan to increase parking fees for heavy SUVs, Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Tuesday, November 14.
City hall said in a statement that the overall space taken up by cars had diminished thanks to its “determined action” but that the average size and weight of cars had gone up. The vote, to be held in February, will be the second city-wide referendum on urban matters, after residents in April voted to ban rental e-scooters from the capital. Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) can weigh 2,700 kilos or more, around a third more than regular automobiles.
“They’re accident-prone, heavy, bulky and polluting,” the mayor’s office said, and had been identified as “the cause of many problems in the public space.” Quoted in the statement, Hidalgo said the fee increase would be “very significant.” She did not, however, give a figure, or say what weight threshold would make an SUV “heavy.”
If the vote goes in favor of the fee hike, it would not concern SUV owners with residential parking permits issued by the city. The mayor’s office said it hoped to send “a message” to auto companies inciting them to stop “their race to gigantism that is unsuitable to quality of life in the city.”
This, it said, would “allow an improved sharing of public spaces in favor of clean mobility, streets with schools and pedestrians.” SUVs accounted for 49% of new passenger car sales in the European Union last year, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
In April, Parisians voted overwhelmingly to banish for-hire electric scooters from the streets of the French capital. Turnout for the referendum was 100,000, representing just under 7.5% of the capital’s registered voters.
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The idea, that SUVs should pay more for parking is a good one. The question is, how much? The people that own these things are, for the most part, well off. Also, what is the aim of the action? To stop SUVs coming into the capital? Dissuade people from buying the wretched vehicles? What?
In the case of the Swiss, speeding fines are based on wealth. One guy had to pay a fine of circa €300,000 (nope I did not make a mistake).
Given the above, parking charges should be non-linear. The vehicles registration is linked to all the info on it. Thus it would be trivially easy for a parking meter to decide based on weight a suitable fee. Starting with 2000kgs, a parking fee of €10/hour seems reasonable. For each additional 100kg the price goes up by €10. You feel the need to drive a 3 tonne SUV. No problem, that will cost you €110/hour. That would focus minds. Also the legislation should cover ALL private parking that charges for parking.
Of course none of this will ever happen. But it would be great fun if it did. Suddenly the rich discover that parking their wank for an hour costs them a good meal!
Thanks. We can always hope it does happen.