Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s war on motorists kicked into high gear this month with new measures to force motorists to ditch their cars.
The Socialist MP, who has been mayor since 2014 and has imposed a number of punitive measures on drivers, has banned the sale of diesel fuel at four popular petrol stations on the capital’s ring road, which previously accounted for half of all diesel revenue in the city. .
Hidalgo also this month reduced the speed limit on the Périphérique – the capital’s busy eight-lane ring road – to just 50km per hour, a move that has made traveling to Paris increasingly difficult for the thousands of commuters who travel by car.
Her extreme measures have previously won admiration from London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has introduced his own anti-car restrictions – namely the Ultra Low Emission Zone – in a bid to curb air pollution levels.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has banned the sale of diesel fuel at four popular petrol stations on the French capital’s ring road to deter motorists from driving into the city. These gas stations account for about half of all diesel revenues in Paris
From October 1, TotalEnergies’ forecourts in Porte d’Aubervilliers, Porte d’Orléans and Quai d’Issy-les-Moulineaux have stopped selling diesel.
This follows changes to the concession contracts with the city of Paris, as the mayor continues her quest to reduce air pollution in the capital, hoping to completely end the use of diesel cars.
According to French TV channel France 3, the move will “lead to a significant movement of vehicles to neighboring (gas) stations, which are not designed to cope with this new influx of customers” and therefore lead to further traffic jams and delays in other parts lead the world. the city.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s war on motorists has stepped up a gear this month with new measures aimed at forcing drivers to ditch their cars with a series of new measures
Four petrol stations near the city gates and on the ring road have stopped selling diesel. From October 1, TotalEnergies forecourts in Porte d’Aubervilliers, Porte d’Orléans and Quai d’Issy-les-Moulineaux have all stopped diesel availability
According to French TV channel France 3, the move will “lead to a significant movement of vehicles to neighboring (gas) stations, which are not designed to cope with this new influx of customers” and therefore lead to further traffic jams and delays in other parts lead the world. of the city
Restricting fuel availability will disproportionately affect the working class, who are most likely to own diesel cars today, as hybrids and electric cars are too expensive for their budgets.
It will also cause headaches for commercial vehicle drivers and could potentially prove problematic for the city’s emergency services, which still largely operate a fleet of diesel vehicles.
Hidalgo has overseen a number of measures to drive cars out of Paris, including banning all vehicles from Rue de Rivoli
The restriction on the availability of diesel fuel on the city’s ring road will be the latest in a long list of measures introduced by the car-hating mayor to drive passenger cars out of the capital.
This includes the decision to completely close Rue de Rivoli to cars and instead make the popular street full of fashion brands car-free – as well as adding three cycle lanes.
This has resulted in a number of store closures since 2020, with the local business association suggesting more than 40 retailers have disappeared since the change was made to deny access to customers arriving by car.
Hidalgo is also the driving force behind higher charges on larger vehicles parking in the city.
In central Paris, SUVs have to pay as much as €190 for parking for six hours, which is more than three times as expensive as parking a smaller car (about €63).
Parking lots have also been removed in favor of adding more bike lanes and pedestrian zones.
Paris has introduced a citywide speed limit of 50 km/h (31 mph) from October 1. The decree also affects the 35 kilometer long highway that surrounds the French capital (photo)
The Paris ring road will have a speed limit of 50 km per hour
This month there has also been the announcement of one new citywide speed limit of 50 km/h (31 mph) in Paris.
The decree also affects the 35 kilometer long highway that surrounds the French capital.
The speed limit on the route was last reduced in 2014, when it was lowered from 80 km/h (50 mph) to just 70 km/h (44 mph) as part of an effort to reduce noise pollution for the 550,000 residents living in to reduce living near the urban highway.
Hidalgo said the latest speed limit reduction is “not a new problem” and had been “planned for more than 18 years.”
A construction worker loads a 70 km/h traffic sign into a truck after installing a 50 km/h speed limit sign on the Paris ring road, the boulevard peripherique, at the Porte d’Ivry in Paris
Construction workers place a sign with a speed limit of 50 km/h on the Paris ring road, the boulevard peripherique
The speed limit on the route was last reduced in 2014, when it was lowered from 80 km/h (50 mph) to just 70 km/h (44 mph) as part of an effort to reduce noise pollution for the 550,000 residents living in to reduce living near the urban highway.
In addition to lowering the speed limit, a car-sharing lane has also been created in both directions of the busy ring road.
These lanes are already in place and were previously designated for athletes and staff to use during the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games to provide faster access to the city.
These will now only be carpool lanes for cars carrying multiple occupants.
The car-sharing lanes will be monitored with cameras. If they identify a vehicle with one occupant, fines will be issued to the registered keeper during opening hours.
Some fear the extreme measures implemented this month to discourage driving in Paris could be repeated by the mayor of London.
Sadiq Khan has previously expressed his admiration for some of Hidalgo’s policies, particularly its decision to increase parking fees for SUVs.
In February, Khan described the move as “innovative.”
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