The people of Paris have decided that some drivers will soon have to pay significantly more for parking spaces. The debate is also taking place in Germany.
Munich – France's capital has declared war on cars in traffic. Last year, Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced measures to restrict traffic in the city. Now, in a survey on Sunday, the citizens of Paris decided by a large majority to take another step: parking fees for SUVs will be tripled.
The regulation should apply from September 1, 2024. Hidalgo declared after the vote: “Parisians are the vanguard of a movement, many cities will surely follow suit.” The regulation is a special tariff for visitors. An hour of parking in central Paris will then cost 18 euros instead of six. Anyone who wants to park for six hours will have to pay 225 euros in the future.
SUV parking in Paris is becoming more expensive – Hanover's mayor welcomes the reform
Residents, tradesmen and care services are exempt from the increased parking fees in Paris. Only combustion engine and hybrid models weighing 1.6 tons or more and electric cars weighing two tons or more are affected. This regulation does not apply in private parking garages.
The idea of a parking fee based on car size seems to be met with approval not only in Paris. Hanover's mayor Belit Onay from the Greens also told the Daily Mirror: “The trend towards more and more larger and heavier cars continues.” He therefore has “great sympathy for a price scale for parking fees based on the length of the vehicles,” said Onay.
Paris decides to increase parking fees – “shows once again that the debate needs to be held”
With higher parking fees it is possible to break the dominance of space-consuming cars in the city. “The referendum shows once again that the debate must be held about the limited public space and more appropriate pricing for parking,” said Onay. Other major cities in Europe would also face this challenge.
Compared to the NDR Onay explained that the Paris measures could not simply be transferred to Hanover. First, a traffic planning office should make suggestions as to how a legally compliant classification of vehicles could be implemented.
German environmental aid: “Monster SUVs are increasingly blocking sidewalks and green spaces”
This is intended to ensure legally secure pricing – especially with regard to resident parking. In Freiburg, the Federal Administrative Court had already declared a fee statute for resident parking to be unnecessary due to a legal error.
The German Environmental Aid (DUH) supports the plans to increase parking prices and rails against ever larger SUVs in urban areas: “These monster SUVs are increasingly blocking sidewalks and green spaces and endangering people who are traveling on foot or by bike. The megalomania in SUVs must be stopped,” said DUH Federal Managing Director Jürgen Resch NDR.
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