Paris forces half cars off road in bid to tackle pollution problem
Print Edition
FRANCE deployed hundreds of police in Paris yesterday to enforce the most drastic curbs on car use in 20 years, as authorities sought to reduce health-endangering pollution.
Amid concerns of worsening air quality after a week when unseasonally balmy weather increased pollution, public transport was free and drivers with even-numbered licence plates told to leave their cars at home or face fines.
Paris is more prone to smog than other European capitals because of France’s diesel subsidies and its high number of private car drivers.
Some 700 police manned key entry points to the city from before dawn to enforce the scheme, in which drivers may only use their cars on alternate days depending on whether their licence plates finish with an odd or even number.
“This is a public health problem ... and we thank everyone who has fallen into line,” Transport Minister Frederic Cuvillier said.
Cuvillier said early results showed tailbacks had been shrunk by 60 percent during yesterday’s morning rush hour.
While nowhere near levels seen in some Asian cities, European Environment Agency figures showed last week 147 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter of air in Paris — compared with 114 in Brussels, 81 in Berlin and 79.7 in London.
The last restricted driving scheme was introduced in 1997 to combat pollution from diesel fumes. It lasted one day.
Minister Cuvillier said a decision would be taken later yesterday on whether to extend the curbs for a second day.
Early reports suggested police were being flexible, with exemptions to the ban including taxis and hybrid cars.
“It’s not our goal to jam up economic activity,” Thierry Pujol, a police officer at a checkpoint in southern Paris, told BFM TV. He said his team had stopped about 150 vehicles early in the day, waving many delivery vans through and fining about 30 of the drivers stopped.
Drivers who defy the curbs are fined 22 euros (US$31) on the spot.
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