In Lyon, SUV owners will have something for their wallet. From 2024, parking prices will be set according to ecological and social criteria. With this measure, the city wishes to “guarantee a fair sharing of public space, be part of the global health policy and respond to the climate emergency”, she explains. in a press release.
The ecological municipality thus plans to abandon the current single tariff, a monthly subscription of 20 euros for residents, in favor of three formulas. And to adapt the same principle for “visitors”.
Scalable price list
The first formula, at 15 euros per month, will concern “the most modest” households, as well as electric vehicles weighing less than 2,200 kg and thermal vehicles weighing less than 1,000 kg (i.e. the segment of small city cars). The “standard” rate, at 30 euros per month, will apply to thermal vehicles weighing 1,000 to 1,725 kg, as well as plug-in hybrids up to 1,900 kg.
Finally, an “increased” rate, at 45 euros per month, will apply to “the bulkiest” vehicles, i.e. thermal vehicles weighing more than 1,725 kg, a threshold which refers to vehicles concerned by the weight penalty of the State (tax on m in running order), specifies the city. This also applies to plug-in hybrids weighing more than 1,900 kg and “Green Crit’Air” vehicles weighing more than 2,200 kg.
“Issues of public space congestion and climate emergency”
“Faced with the issues of congestion in public space and the climate emergency, the observation is that of a heavier and larger size of motorized vehicles. This is an observation underlined by the Citizen’s Climate Convention and now incorporated into the law, ”recalls Valentin Lungenstr, Deputy Delegate for Mobility, Urban Logistics and Public Spaces, quoted in the press release.
In a interview with progress, the elected official specifies that the city of Lyon is the first to integrate both social and ecological criteria into its pricing. Yet other cities are also implementing progressive social tariffs. In Nantes, a new solidarity pricing is now applied. Some residents benefit from preferential rates, depending on their family quotient. Reductions of 30% to 90% depending on the situation of the household are available, i.e. subscriptions that can go down from 126 to 18 euros per car and per year, depending on 20 minutes.
In Strasbourg, a contested measure
In Strasbourg, next October, the price of resident parking will also become progressive according to household income. Concretely, if the reference tax income per unit is less than 14,089 euros, the price of parking will not change (15 euros/month). On the other hand, if it is between 14,089 euros and 22,983 euros, it will double. And, if it is higher than 22,983 euros, it will rise to 40 euros/month.
But the reform did not p: the elected opposition member Pierre Jakubowicz filed an appeal against the deliberation of the municipal council for several reasons. Among other things, the fact that the data retained is the taxable income, whereas the law provides for three criteria for modifying the rates: the duration of parking, the size of the vehicle or its environmental impact.
The fact that the City also asks households for their tax information from people to determine their reference tax income, while “tax secrecy is a constitutional principle”, according to Pierre Jakubowicz, reports Strasbourg News. Third point: the progressiveness of the tariff (for people who have higher incomes) and not its degressiveness (for people with modest incomes) are “not in the spirit of the law”, still according to the municipal councilor.
Still other municipalities only take ecological criteria into account, such as the city of Reims which offers a “green disc”, ie two hours of free parking, for ecological vehicles (LPG, electric, hybrid, etc.).