Putting a price on parked cars to reduce deplacements ?
Putting a price on parked cars to reduce deplacements ?
> Charging for parked cars does not reduce deplacements.
> No significant improvement of public transport over the last 20 years.
> Volt Lille still believes a toll system based on number of passengers is a better approach.
In the last municipal council and according to their plan mobility, the city of Lille decided to introduce paid parking across the city. Faced with 5 million deplacements per day, 70% of which are done by car across the Metropole, the city will introduce three parking zones and different tariffs across in all quartiers execpt Lille Sud and Faubourg de Bethune. Volt Lille questions this decision since no alternatives for habitants and workers depending on their cars are provided. Worse, charging for cars parked will likely not affect the number of deplacements by car.
What improvements in public transport in the last 20 years?
The question must be asked, what improvements to our public transport systems have been made over the last 20 years in the Metropole to justify such a measure? The doubling of the Metro capacity is nowhere in sight and the new tram lines and highspeed busses will only come into service in 2035. The city speaks of an offer shock necessary before introducing free public transport in the future, but this offer shock would and should have been the justification for introducing measures such as paid parking. Without any improvements to the public transportation system, simply charging for parking spaces lacks justification. For everyone owning a car because of necessity, the measure is an additional financial burden. It is more a penalty than an incentive.
Putting a price on parked cars to reduce deplacements?
Volt Lille in their municipal programme proposed to introduce a city toll for trajets or entry into Lille city limits and the center. The toll would have been based on the number of passengers in a vehicle (eg 4€ for 1 passenger, 1€ for 4 passengers) with the recettes used to subsidize the increase of the public transport network. A measure like this would provide an incentive to not use the car for every trip and to seriously consider car sharing - both aimed at reducing the overall number of deplacements. Charging for parked cars will do neither and penalises everyone owning and depending on a car.
Sven Franck, co-responsible for Volt Lille: "We understand the city's ambition and the need to drastic measures as a consequence of lacking this ambition in terms of sustainable urban development and public transport infrastructure in the past. The approach is wrong: We fortify streets in front of schools to prevent parents to drop off their kids by car instead of building a bike network secure for children or having a bus network that children can use to get to school. And we charge everyone for having to park their cars somewhere instead of putting in place incentives and a public transportation network to be less dependent on these cars less. Finally, we also question the decision to exclude Lille Sud and Faubourg de Bethune. It is not fair to the other inhabitants of the city, since there are social tarifs in the parking scheme. We also believe neither quartier should turn into the city's parking lot and that such decisions should be free from any future electoral ambition."
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Contact
Sven Franck - Co-President of Volt France
Mail : sven.franck@volteuropa.org
Eric Galéra - Responsible de Volt Hauts-de-France
Mail : eric.galera@volteuropa.org
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