Paris Is Banning Thousands Of Older Vehicles To Clean Up Its Smog-Filled Streets

Last December, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo made headlines across the world when she stated “I want diesel cars out of Paris by 2020.” Sounds drastic, but for a city with dangerously high levels of pollutants such as NO2 - something many diesel vehicles have a habit of belching out - drastic measures are needed. The first round of these emission-cutting plans have been unveiled, but it’s not just diesel vehicles which are affected.

English language French publication Connexion reports that starting this summer, large groups of vehicles will be banned from Paris’ roads. The vehicles affected include:

• Coaches, buses and HGVs registered before 30 September 2001
• Motorcycles registered before 2000
• Vans and light trucks registered before 30 September 1997
• Cars registered before 31 December 1996

The restrictions won’t stop there, either; the plan is for them to get tighter and tighter each year. In the coming years, the roads of Paris could look very different…