Parking Fees for Oversized Vehicles in Paris
“Parisians Vote to Triple Parking Fees for Big S.U.V.s and Other Hefty Cars” is the headline from the February 5, 2024 NYT…“The city authorities had argued that big S.U.V.s and other large cars emit more greenhouse gases than average cars and are more dangerous for pedestrians because of their bulkiness, citing a report that suggests that pedestrians are twice as likely to be killed in a collision with an S.U.V. than with a standard vehicle.”
My reaction…
The excessive size of many motor vehicles, in addition to the excessive speeds motor vehicles tend to be driven, are far worse societal and urban problems than the emissions they create or the fuel they consume. Healthy town centers require slow speeds and smaller, human-scale dimensions. Motor vehicles tend to severely undermine those essential needs. I therefore applaud this effort to go after size with fees.
Such efforts need to be coupled with actions that reduce the space allocated to motor vehicles (for example, by shrinking the width of streets and lanes and intersections). Meaningfully reducing the space allocated to vehicles is one of the most effective ways to achieve the important objective of reducing vehicle speeds.