Paris planing to ban diesel cars
The French capital, Paris has announced through its mayor Anne Hidalgo plans to ban diesel cars from the French capital by 2020.
This follows a recent vow by French prime minister Manuel Valls to reduce France’s reliance on diesel cars, deeming the preference “a mistake”.
Revealed over the weekend, Hidalgo said that she wants diesel cars out of Paris by 2020 and if possible beyond the peripherique.
This will eventually see bikes, buses and taxis prioritized in Paris’ four central districts.
“the only (other) vehicles allowed will be residents’ cars, delivery vehicles and emergency vehicles” Hidalgo said in an interview with Journal du Dimanche.
The mayor of Paris also wants to limit traffic in pollution hotspots, by only allowing ultra-low emission vehicles within them. Speed limits may also be cut, so 18mph (30km/h) becomes “the norm in Paris”.
Traffic congestion and air pollution is a hot topic in Paris: last December, an air pollution spike forced authorities to lower speed limits and ban trucks from entering Paris. Free public transport was also introduced.
Around 80 per cent of the cars on French roads are diesel-powered, and latest stats reveal 65 per cent of new cars sold so far in 2014 were diesel.
From February 2015, France will start applying stickers to vehicles emitting the most pollution: diesel cars more than 13 years old will get a red sticker.
