Paris region imposes traffic limit as air pollution spikes
The Paris region is to limit traffic from Saturday morning in response to two consecutive days of heavy particulate pollution.
The Préfecture de Police is to introduce new rules in Île-de-France, a French region containing Paris, in response high levels of air pollution.
The following measures will remain in place from Saturday morning at 5:30am until pollution has dropped below the recommended limit:
- Only drivers with a Critic'Air class 0, 1 or 2 sticker (the lowest-polluting vehicles) will be allowed to drive within the A86 ring-road that surrounds Paris;
- Speed limits will be reduced across the region. 130km/h zones will be reduced to 110km/h, 110km/h zones will be reduced to 90km/h, 90km/h roads will be reduced to 70km/h
The police will be conducting checks to ensure that these rules are respected.
While the restrictions remain in place, authorities are calling for people to limit journeys, work from home and if necessary, car-share.
Can I drive in Paris?
As previously mentioned, only vehicles that are labelled as Critic'Air 2 or below will be able to drive within Paris itself. But what does this mean?
Critic'Air 0 vehicles are ones that are powered by electricity or hydrogen.
Critic'Air 1 vehicles can run on petrol but must have already been in circulation no earlier than 2011 for cars, by 2017 for motorcycles or by 2014 for heavy goods vehicles.
Critic'Air 2 vehicles can use petrol or diesel. Diesel cars must have been in circulation no earlier than 2011 and petrol ones no earlier than 2006. Motorcycles must have been in circulation no earlier than 2007. Diesel heavy-goods vehicles must have been in service no earlier than 2014 while petrol ones no earlier than 2009.
Even outside of heavy air pollution periods, it has been illegal for vehicles of a Critic'Air 4 category (two wheeled vehicles registered before 2000, diesel cars registered before 2001 and HGVs registered before 2006) to enter Paris.
From July 2022 Critic'Air 3 vehicles (two-wheeled vehicles from before 2004, petrol cars from before 1997, diesel cars from before 2006, diesel HGVs from before 2009 and petrol HGVs from before 2001) will be banned from entering the city.
The city will ban Critic'Air 2 vehicles from January 2024 and hopes to only allow 'clean' vehicles from 2030.
For a guide on the vehicle pollution categories, click here.
Most of Paris is already subject to a 30km/h speed limit, which we reported here.
Other useful information
Île-de-France Mobilités, the group responsible for public transport in the region are re-introducing a special pollution pass.
For €3.80 you can use unlimited public transport for a day. You can buy one via the Île-de-France Mobilités app, as a paper ticket from a transport station, or on your Navigo pass (including Navigo Découverte and Navigo Easy).
It is illegal to use individual wood burners while the pollution restrictions remain in place.
Farmers are banned from burning certain agricultural waste and are prohibited from cleaning silos for as long as the restrictions remain in place.
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The Préfecture de Police is to introduce new rules in Île-de-France, a French region containing Paris, in response high levels of air pollution.
The following measures will remain in place from Saturday morning at 5:30am until pollution has dropped below the recommended limit:
- Only drivers with a Critic'Air class 0, 1 or 2 sticker (the lowest-polluting vehicles) will be allowed to drive within the A86 ring-road that surrounds Paris;
- Speed limits will be reduced across the region. 130km/h zones will be reduced to 110km/h, 110km/h zones will be reduced to 90km/h, 90km/h roads will be reduced to 70km/h
The police will be conducting checks to ensure that these rules are respected.
While the restrictions remain in place, authorities are calling for people to limit journeys, work from home and if necessary, car-share.
Can I drive in Paris?
As previously mentioned, only vehicles that are labelled as Critic'Air 2 or below will be able to drive within Paris itself. But what does this mean?
Critic'Air 0 vehicles are ones that are powered by electricity or hydrogen.
Critic'Air 1 vehicles can run on petrol but must have already been in circulation no earlier than 2011 for cars, by 2017 for motorcycles or by 2014 for heavy goods vehicles.
Critic'Air 2 vehicles can use petrol or diesel. Diesel cars must have been in circulation no earlier than 2011 and petrol ones no earlier than 2006. Motorcycles must have been in circulation no earlier than 2007. Diesel heavy-goods vehicles must have been in service no earlier than 2014 while petrol ones no earlier than 2009.
Even outside of heavy air pollution periods, it has been illegal for vehicles of a Critic'Air 4 category (two wheeled vehicles registered before 2000, diesel cars registered before 2001 and HGVs registered before 2006) to enter Paris.
From July 2022 Critic'Air 3 vehicles (two-wheeled vehicles from before 2004, petrol cars from before 1997, diesel cars from before 2006, diesel HGVs from before 2009 and petrol HGVs from before 2001) will be banned from entering the city.
The city will ban Critic'Air 2 vehicles from January 2024 and hopes to only allow 'clean' vehicles from 2030.
For a guide on the vehicle pollution categories, click here.
Most of Paris is already subject to a 30km/h speed limit, which we reported here.
Other useful information
Île-de-France Mobilités, the group responsible for public transport in the region are re-introducing a special pollution pass.
For €3.80 you can use unlimited public transport for a day. You can buy one via the Île-de-France Mobilités app, as a paper ticket from a transport station, or on your Navigo pass (including Navigo Découverte and Navigo Easy).
It is illegal to use individual wood burners while the pollution restrictions remain in place.
Farmers are banned from burning certain agricultural waste and are prohibited from cleaning silos for as long as the restrictions remain in place.
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