Photo: huffingtonpost.com
The future surely doesn’t look too bright for a lot of drivers and riders whose daily lives involve zooming along the streets of the French capital Paris. If you’ve been following us lately you should now that the Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo came with a bill project to help clean the polluted city. Despite strong opposition from motorcyclists, the bill passed yesterday, and funny times are expected. Funny in a not really funny way, of course.
The bill imposes several bans for various classes of vehicles, including cars, trucks, busses and even motorcycles. July 2015 sees the first restrictions, which apply to trucks and busses registered before October 2001, while July 2016 extends the ban to vehicles older than January 1997. Bikes older than 2000 fall under the same ban, which forbids access in the restricted areas between 8 am and 8 pm. Between 2017 and 2020, the ban will be extended even more, and will include even diesel cars registered before 2011.
Needless to say that when getting a decent electric or hybrid car, a 500 Euro ($565) is more of an insult than actual help. A lot of people are being affected by this bill, and especially riders are mad because bikes have never been mentioned as a major pollution factor in the studies which had been carried out. The biggest pollutants were indicated as being diesel cars and the local industry, with motorcycles and scooters further down the “blacklist”.
Something tells us this is not going to end well, at least not with some massive protests, a thing the French seem particularly good at.
One in seven vehicles is banned
According to lesechos, around one vehicle in 7 falls under this ban, and this will have a very serious impact on certain individuals whose income (and lives) depend on their vehicles. Apparently, the local authorities envisage a support plan which is limited to 500 Euros per application. This money is said to be directed to either support these guys pay for their Velolib’or Autolib’ electric vehicle sharing subscriptions or towards buying an electric vehicle.Needless to say that when getting a decent electric or hybrid car, a 500 Euro ($565) is more of an insult than actual help. A lot of people are being affected by this bill, and especially riders are mad because bikes have never been mentioned as a major pollution factor in the studies which had been carried out. The biggest pollutants were indicated as being diesel cars and the local industry, with motorcycles and scooters further down the “blacklist”.
Something tells us this is not going to end well, at least not with some massive protests, a thing the French seem particularly good at.
Google News