Sport utility vehicles might be among the most popular on the road, but Paris is getting fed up with them. And other cities could be as well.
The French capital has enacted a referendum that will require SUV owners to pay parking fees roughly threefold what they used to pay. People who drive an SUV into the center of Paris will now pay 18 euros (roughly $19.50) per hour, while those parking in other parts of the city will have to pay 12 euros per hour.
One city making things inconvenient for SUV owners isn’t likely to have a big impact on the category. But Paris is hardly alone. Lyon, France, plans to introduce a similar measure, and the German city of Tübingen increased the cost of resident parking permits 600% for combustion vehicles that weigh over 1.8 metric tons.
London’s mayor and other officials have also said they plan to monitor the Paris bill to see how effective it is. (No U.S. cities have expressed interest in the higher parking fees for SUVs so far, however.)
The higher rates in Paris apply to SUVs (both hybrid and gas-powered) that weigh more than 1.6 metric tons and electronic SUVs that are over 2 metric tons. The move is meant to discourage use of the vehicles, which city officials say increase pollution and whose bulk makes it harder to navigate the city.
“This vote is intended to be a message to car manufacturers,” the city said in a statement. “Their race for profit, which consists of deliberately selling ever larger, more energy-consuming, and more expensive vehicles, endangers the ecological transition. With this vote, Parisians can choose to calm their public space but also defend a new model of society.”
