- Mayor Anne Hidalgo has stopped four popular Paris forecourts selling diesel
- She’s also introduced a 31mph citywide speed limit – it also impacts the ring road
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s war on motorists has shifted up a gear this month with fresh steps introduced to force drivers to ditch their cars.
The Socialist MP, who has been mayor since 2014 and inflicted a number of punitive policies on drivers, has banned the sale of diesel fuel at four popular filling stations on the capital’s ring road which had previously accounted for half of all diesel receipts in the city.
Hidalgo this month also slashed the speed limit on the Périphérique – the capital’s busy eight-lane ring road motorway – to just 31mph, a move that has made journeys into Paris increasingly arduous for the thousands of commuters travelling by car.
Her extreme measures have previously garnered admiration from London Mayor Sadiq Khan who has implemented anti-car restrictions of his own – namely the Ultra Low Emission Zone – in a bid to kerb air pollution levels.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has banned the sale of diesel fuel at four popular filling stations on the French capital ring road to deter drivers from entering the city. These forecourts account for around half of all Paris’ diesel receipts
As of 1 October, TotalEnergies forecourts located at Porte d’Aubervilliers, Porte d’Orléans and Quai d’Issy-les-Moulineaux have all halted sales of diesel.
This comes as a result of changes to its concession contracts with the city of Paris as the mayor continues her quest to reduce air pollution in the capital with the hope of killing off the use of diesel cars entirely.
According to French TV channel France 3, the move will ‘lead to a significant transfer of vehicles to neighbouring [refuelling] stations, which are not designed to handle this new influx of customers’ and therefore trigger further traffic jams and delays across other parts of the city.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s war on motorists has shifted up a gear this month with fresh steps introduced to force drivers to ditch their cars with a range of new measures
Four gas stations near the city’s gates and on the ring road have stopped selling diesel. As of 1 October, TotalEnergies forecourts located at Porte d’Aubervilliers, Porte d’Orléans and Quai d’Issy-les-Moulineaux have all removed diesel availability
According to French TV channel, France 3, the move will ‘lead to a significant transfer of vehicles to neighbouring [refuelling] stations, which are not designed to handle this new influx of customers’ and therefore trigger further traffic jams and delays across other parts of the city
Restricting availability of the fuel will disproportionately impact the working classes who are most likely to own diesel cars today because hybrids and EVs are too expensive for their budgets.
It is also going to cause headaches for commercial vehicle drivers and could potentially become problematic for the city’s emergency services who still largely run fleets of diesel vehicles.
Hidalgo has overseen a number of measures designed to drive cars out of Paris, including banning all vehicles from Rue de Rivoli
The restriction on availability of diesel fuel on the city ring road becomes the latest in a long list of measures introduced by the car-hating mayor to drive passenger vehicles out of the capital.
This includes the decision to close the Rue de Rivoli to cars entirely and instead pedestrianize the popular street littered with fashion brands – also adding three bike lanes.
This has seen a number of shop closures since 2020, with the local business association suggesting more than 40 retailers have disappeared since the change was made to not provide access to shoppers arriving by car.
Hidalgo is also the driving force behind higher charges levied on larger vehicles parking in the city.
In central Paris, SUVs face a staggering £190 for parking over six hours, which is more than three times the cost to park a smaller car (which is around £63).
Parking spaces have also been removed in favour of adding more cycle lanes and pedestrian zones.
Paris has, from 1 October, implemented a citywide speed limit of 50kmh (31mph). The decree also affects the 22-mile motorway that surrounds the French capital (pictured)
Paris ring road gets 31mph speed limit
This month has also seen the announcement of a new citywide speed limit of 50kmh (31mph) in Paris.
The decree also affects the 22-mile motorway that surrounds the French capital.
The speed limit on the route was last cut in 2014, when it was lowered from 80kmh (50mph) to just 70kmh (44mph) as part of an effort to reduce noise pollution for the 550,000 residents living near the urban motorway.
Hidalgo said that the latest reduction to the speed limit is ‘not a fresh issue’ and had been ‘planned for over 18 years’.
A construction worker loads a 70km/h road sign into a truck after installing a 50km/h speed limit sign on Paris’ ring road, the boulevard peripherique, at the Porte d’Ivry in Paris
Construction workers install a 50km/h speed limit sign on Paris’ ring road, the boulevard peripherique
The speed limit on the route was last cut in 2014, when it was lowered from 80kmh (50mph) to just 70kmh (44mph) as part of an effort to reduce noise pollution for the 550,000 residents living near the urban motorway
During the summer Olympic and Paralympic games, the mayor dedicated one of the four lanes in each direction of the busy ring road for exclusive use by athletes and staff
The left-hand lane on both sides of the eight-lane motorway will now become car pooling lanes that can only be used by multi-occupant vehicles. Cameras will be used to enforce these, with those travelling alone in cars fined if snapped in one of the designated lanes during operating hours
As well as reducing the speed limit, a car sharing lane has also been introduced in both directions of the busy ring road.
These lanes are already in place having previously been designated for athletes and staff to use during the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games for fast priority access into the city.
These will now become car pooling lanes only for cars transporting multiple occupants.
The car-sharing lanes will be enforced by cameras. If they identify a single-occupant vehicle using it, fines will be issued to the registered keeper during operating hours.
Some fear the extreme measures applied this month to deter driving in Paris could be replicated by London’s Mayor.
Sadiq Khan has previously expressed admiration for some of Hidalgo’s policies, particularly her decision to hike parking charges for SUVs.
In February, Mr Khan described the move as ‘innovative’.