Paris to force SUV owners to pay more for parking to tackle 'auto-besity'

In a bid to reduce pollution in France's capital city of Paris, authorities will force owners of larger and heavier cars, such as Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), to pay more for parking. The increase in parking fees would come into effect on 1 January2024. Electric Vehicles (EVs) and those with large families requiring a bigger vehicle are expected to be exempted from this increase, a report by The Guardian on Tuesday (July 11) said.

The measure was approved by Paris councillors in a unanimous vote last month. “We would like the city of Paris to change the pricing of paid parking to make it progressive according to the weight and size of vehicles,” Frédéric Badina-Serpette, a councillor from the EELV ecology party said. Badina-Serpette added the aim of the measure was to focus on "auto-besity...the inexorable growth in the weight and size of vehicles circulating in our cities, and particularly in Paris.”

Number of SUVs in Paris up by 60%

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The number of SUVs in Paris has increased by 60 per cent over the last four years and they make up 15 per cent of the 1.15 million vehicles parked in the capital city every evening, according to officials. The officials hope that increasing the fees would put a brake on the increase (in SUVs) and encourage the ownership of lighter vehicles, The Guardian report further said.

David Belliard, a deputy mayor responsible for the public space and mobility policy, said SUVs are incongruous in an urban environment. Belliard pointed out that SUVs are absolutely useless in Paris. "They are dangerous, cumbersome and use too many resources to manufacture," the deputy mayor added.

'Number of SUVs rising because...': Drivers' group

A drivers' group, meanwhile, said that the number of SUVs in France has risen because of larger families buying them to replace their people carriers. Pierre Chasseray, a spokesperson for 40 Millions d’Automobilistes, told Le Parisien that SUVs are family vehicles used for going away at weekends or on a holiday.

"We’re pandering to a tiny minority of the very urban population who have decided to make the SUV the symbol of the battle against pollution,” Chasseray said.

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