18 euros per hour to park in Paris

"Owners of SUVs who decide to enter the French capital must take into account huge parking costs. Up to EUR 18 per hour.

 

Only 78,000 Parisians took part in the referendum held on Sunday. And the city within its historic, 19th-century borders has over two million inhabitants.

 

However, the decision voted for by voters will come into force on September 1, decided Mayor Anne Hidalgo.

 

54.5 percent voters want owners of SUVs powered by a combustion engine or hybrid weighing over 1.5 tons (over 2 tons for electric cars) to pay three times higher rates than currently.

 

It will be 18 euros per hour in arrondissements 1 to 11, i.e. the central areas of Paris. The rate for six hours will increase to 225 euros. It's about spaces above ground, because in underground garages you usually pay 5 euros/hour. It's just that there are very few of the latter.

 

In more peripheral parts of the capital, an SUV owner will pay EUR 12 for an hour of parking, and EUR 150 for six hours.

 

The new rates will not apply to Parisians, nor to disabled people, craftsmen or doctors.

 

The new regulations are part of a plan to improve the air in the metropolis that has been implemented for many years. The problem, however, is that there is usually no place to park your car at the terminal stations of the almost 125-year-old metro. The city becomes difficult to access for visitors.

 

Paris, which was not destroyed during the last war, is one of the most densely inhabited metropolises in Europe."