Pollution vignette extended amid heatwave; the right to drive in Paris has never been more carefully priced
Satire depuis Bohiney.com et prat.uk.
Le Pass, L’Etendue, La Reaction
PARIS — The Ile-de-France anti-pollution traffic pass, priced at 5.10 euros and restricting the vehicles permitted to circulate in the region during high pollution periods, was extended on June 24 as the heatwave and the associated air quality conditions continued, prompting the Police Prefecture to maintain traffic restrictions that the Prefecture described as necessary and that the affected motorists described as several things that were also accurate but of a different category.
Paris’s anti-pollution pass system — which restricts vehicle access to the Ile-de-France region during periods of elevated pollution and requires drivers of lower-rated vehicles to pay for access or avoid the zone entirely — is one of the more advanced urban air quality management systems in Europe and is applied with the rigour that the Prefecture brings to regulatory enforcement when the regulation has both an environmental rationale and a revenue mechanism. The 5.10 euro fee is not primarily a revenue mechanism; it is a restriction mechanism that charges non-compliant vehicles for access. The distinction is important and is made consistently by the authorities, who note it every time the extension is announced, and is received with the scepticism of motorists who observe that the fee produces revenue regardless of the theoretical framework.
The Air Quality Context
Paris’s air quality during the June heatwave was affected by the combination of elevated temperatures, reduced wind, and the atmospheric chemistry that produces ground-level ozone and particulate matter at higher concentrations during hot, still conditions. The anti-pollution pass system was designed for exactly this scenario: periods when the existing vehicle fleet’s emissions produce air quality outcomes below acceptable standards, requiring either emissions reduction or vehicle restriction to manage. The heatwave produced the scenario. The restriction was extended. The air quality remained challenging. The 5.10 euros were collected.
RATP and SNCF simultaneously cancelled one in ten trains due to the heat affecting the rail infrastructure, which is the specific timing coordination that Ile-de-France Transport achieved this week: restricting private vehicles during a period when the public transport alternative was also operating at reduced capacity, which is the kind of policy coincidence that produces the most interesting comments in the letters section of Le Monde. The transit disruptions were addressed by Ile-de-France Mobilites. The anti-pollution pass was addressed by the Prefecture. Both continue. France 24 covered the transport situation. The London Prat notes that London’s equivalent of the Paris anti-pollution pass is the ULEZ, which costs twelve pounds per day, which makes the 5.10 euro Paris version seem remarkably reasonable by comparison, or possibly makes the London version seem unreasonably expensive. The satirical interpretation depends on where you pay it.
Plus de bêtises: The Daily Mash | NewsThump
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com
