Falling into an illusion
If you’re a regular traveler to Paris, you’ve probably noticed that it’s getting more and more difficult. And this is because of Ann Hidalgo’s anti-car policy, which does everything to make life difficult for motorists. In fact, in a few years, the city of Paris has invested more than 70 million euros in bike lanes and eliminated tens of thousands of parking spaces. Lanes on the coast were also closed to cars as part of the “cycling plan 2015-2020” to reduce the role of the car in the city. The results of these actions are visible in fuel sales. According to data from Oil Professional Committee (CPDP), fuel sales in Paris have plummeted, recording a 10% drop between 2019 and 2022, or 24.7 million liters less petrol and diesel. However, it is important to note that this impressive drop is likely due to the closure of many in-house gas stations.
WARNING! Since 2015 and the appearance of Crit’Air stickers, traffic restrictions apply to some vehicles in large cities. Shall we summarize together? 🚙 #MyProjectMoreResponsible
— La Banque Postale (@LaBanquePostale) August 30, 2022
Not only in Paris
Between 2018 and last year, 14 stations were closed, leaving just 47 stations in operation at the end of 2023, according to Le Parisien calculations. But what about fuel sales on a wider scale, including the capital and surrounding departments? Here, too, fuel consumption continues to decline, with a 4.8% drop between 2019 and 2022. By comparison, nationally, gasoline and diesel sales fell by just 1% over the same period. However, CPDP data shows that fuel sales also fell in regions and departments that did not introduce certain restrictions on car traffic between 2019 and 2022. We can, for example, to quote Savoy, with a drop of 4.9%, while in Brittany it reached 4.7%. It’s only one step away from saying that Paris City Hall’s policies aren’t actually very useful. And the vaporization of cars she dreams of so much doesn’t really seem like a reality, at least not in such a radical way.
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Source: Auto Plus
Robert is an experienced journalist who has been covering the automobile industry for over a decade. He has a deep understanding of the latest technologies and trends in the industry and is known for his thorough and in-depth reporting.