Paris voters on Sunday, February 4, backed a proposal from the city’s socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo to triple parking charges on hefty SUV-style cars, according to official results from city hall. Parisians voted 54.55 percent in favor of charging cars weighing 1.6 tonnes or more 18 euros ($19.50) per hour for parking in the city center, or 12 euros further out. But only 78,000, or 5.7 percent, of the 1.3 million eligible voters bothered to vote at the 39 voting stations set up around the French capital.
Fully electric cars will have to top two tonnes to be affected, while people living or working in Paris, taxi drivers, tradespeople, health workers, and people with disabilities will all be exempt. Environmental group WWF has dubbed SUVs an “aberration”, saying they burn 15 percent more fuel than a classic coupe and cost more to build and purchase.
Great, but could we also just have, globally, liveable, walkable, public transport, accessible transport options in our cities?