Paris to charge gas-powered motorbike drivers for parking – World Today News

PARIS: Drivers of gas-powered motorbikes will have to start paying to park in Paris from September as the French capital aims to reduce noise and pollution, but parking electric motorbikes remains free, a police official said on Monday. city ​​hall.

The new office fulfills a campaign promise from socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo and was due to begin in January, but the move was delayed as Hidalgo made a bid for the French presidency in the spring.

Paris mobility chief David Belliard, an environmentalist whose party is part of Hidalgo’s coalition, told franceinfo radio that the city aims to better regulate the use of public space.

“There is a lot of anarchy when it comes to parking. And we also need to reduce distracting noise levels as well as pollution,” Belliard said on Monday.

Parking for electric scooters and motorcycles is always free, he said. People who have no other choice than their thermal motorcycle to get to work could buy subscriptions for underground car parks, Belliard said.

He gave no details of the new parking fees, but said motorcyclists would pay less to park than motorists.

A year ago, the town hall indicated in a press release that from January 2022, non-resident motorcyclists would have to pay three euros (3.2 dollars) per hour to park in the 11 most central districts of the French capital and two euros in the outlying districts, corresponding to about half the cost of parking cars.

In recent years, Mayor Hidalgo has built a network of new bike paths and increased parking fees for cars to steer Parisians and commuters toward more environmentally friendly transport options.

Motorcycling organizations and the conservative opposition in Paris have called the motorcycle parking fee plan a new tax that will not reduce traffic congestion, while groups representing cyclists and pedestrians hailed the move, saying it was long awaited.