The measure to make vehicles weighing 1.6 tons and over pay 3x the parking rates for the first two hours has passed in Paris.
Now, let’s get that in place for London and many other other places to help slow, and even reverse, this trend towards massive personal vehicles.
I might be wrong but most people who live and work in Paris don’t drive. They have great public transit and there’s a huge walking culture. When I was in Paris the only large vehicles I saw where taxis.
Your impression seems correct. I haven’t manged to get to Paris yet, but the numbers I found align with your experiences. From a transport in Paris article:
“Paris has one of the most sustainable transportation systems in the world (private cars are only 12% of the overall traffic)”
“According to a 2018 INSEE survey, a majority of Parisians (64.3 percent) use public transport to get to work. Only 10.6 percent commuted to work by automobile. 10.5 percent walked or used roller skates; 5.5 percent commuted by bicycle; and 4.4 percent commuted by motorbike”
The local residents use public transit or walk/bike for work. They likely do exactly the same for daily errands, shopping, and entertainment. That’s how it was in Berlin, London, and Helsinki when I was in those cities and it’s wonderful.
TLDR: driving giant SUVs is ok as long as you’re rich.
No one drives in Paris who’s not already rich, the public transportation there is great
So then SUVs should just be banned right?
Should? Yes. Big doubt anything like this would happen in the current political landscape in France
As it should. Be the heavier the car the more dangerous it is for pedestrians and the more destructive it is for infrastructure.
