Paris pushes cars out of the city centre
The zone covers roughly to the 1st to 4th arrondissements of the city and covers 5.5 square kilometres in the immediate centre of Paris. The area includes sights such as the Louvre and the Tuileries Gardens. Since 4 November, only emergency vehicles, buses, taxis, people with reduced mobility and drivers who live or work there have been allowed to enter the area. Access is also granted to so-called ‘destination traffic,’ i.e. people who need to see a doctor, go shopping or visit a cinema, for example.
Transit traffic is no longer permitted. The town hall published a decree to this effect on 31 October, which came into force shortly afterwards. Those responsible expect a reduction in traffic volume of up to 30 per cent on the busiest roads in the defined zone, as well as a reduction in noise and an improvement in air quality. The ban will be enforced via a system of proof of residence and online notifications – with an initial grace period to get people used to the new rules, according to the town hall.
Although the project was announced in May 2021, it took more than three years to be implemented. This was partly due to delicate discussions with the Paris police prefecture, which is responsible for the controls. As a compromise, the zone is now also smaller than initially intended. As a sign of agreement, the police co-signed the decree published at the end of October.
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