Lyon to base parking fees on weight of car and driver income

The eastern French city of Lyon is to introduce parking fees based on vehicle weight and driver income “before the summer”, authorities have said.

City mayor Grégory Doucet confirmed the changes in two videos posted on X (formerly Twitter). He said the plans were part of “the transformation of our city”, which will “accelerate in 2024”.

He said: “[The system will be] fairer and take into account the economic and social situation of users, the weight and overall climate impact of the vehicle, as well as the space it takes up in a public place.”

Bienvenue 2024 !✨
Un mot pour vous dire ce qui nous attend à #Lyon.

PARTIE 1 pic.twitter.com/Ekf8bYIuJu

— Grégory Doucet (@Gregorydoucet) January 8, 2024

There will be a ‘tarif solidaire et familial’ of €15 per month for:

• Families with three or more children

• Residents with low income

• Vehicles weighing less than 1,000 kg

• Electric vehicles weighing less than 2,200 kg

The standard tariff will be €30 per month, and will apply to:

• Combustion vehicles weighing between 1,000 and 1,725 kg

• Hybrid vehicles weighing up to 1,900 kg

The higher tariff of €45 per month will apply to:

• Combustion vehicles weighing more than 1,725 kg

• Hybrid vehicles weighing more than 1,900 kg

• Electric vehicles weighing more than 2,200 kg

People who work in the city centre will also have access to a “simplified tariff” that is intended to help them find parking more easily, said Mr Doucet.

These tariffs do not apply to visitors and non-residents, who will continue to pay by an hourly rate based on the area of the city in which they park. You can consult these rates here.

More fuel, damage, space, and pollution

The changes in Lyon appear to dovetail with the conclusions in the report from the 2019 Citizens’ Climate Convention (la Convention citoyenne pour le climat).

It said that “heavier vehicles have a much greater impact on the climate…they consume more fuel, require more materials to build, and, in the case of electric vehicles, need much larger batteries”.

It also said that “the accidents they cause are more serious (particularly for tall vehicles such as SUVs, whose bumpers are at the same height as pedestrians' vital organs), braking emits more fine particles, and they take up more public space, to the detriment of other, less polluting modes of transport”.

Read more: French first as city brings in parking charges linked to car’s weight

Lyon is the first city in France to introduce more stringent parking fees based on both vehicle weight and income of residents. The mayor first spoke of the plans in May last year, in a clear bid to dissuade drivers from using larger, more polluting vehicles, and driving into the city centre.

However, it is already common for cities in France to limit access to vehicles based on how polluting they are, based on the Crit’Air sticker system.

Read also: A guide to Crit’Air stickers in France

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