The announcement of the easing of constraints for certain already existing ZFEs is a boon for motorists driving in the Montpellier Metropolis. This means no control, so no fine before at least August 2024 and an extended Crit’Air vignette application schedule. This is a reprieve for the most polluting vehicles.
Of the 11 ZFEs currently existing in France, the government now makes a difference between the cities which regularly exceed the regulatory thresholds for air pollution, Lyon, Marseille, Paris, Rouen and Strasbourg and others including Montpellier and Toulouse.
The first remain “ZFE territories”, where traffic restrictions will apply in the years to come with a ban on Crit’Air 4 vehicles on January 1, 2024 and Crit’Air 3 on January 1, 2025.
The others become “territories of vigilance”, this is the case of Reims, Grenoble, Montpellier, Nice, Toulon et Toulouse.
The purpose of these ZFE is not to annoy the French or to manufacture yellow vests (…) it is to act on the number of deaths linked to air pollution.
Christophe Béchu, Minister for Ecological Transition.
Montpellier has halved between 2021 and 2022, the number of people exposed to sulfur dioxide fumes. These good results justify its classification in “territories of vigilance” and no longer in ZFE.
Map of “territories of vigilance” in France. • © Ministry of Ecological Transition
This is not the end of the ZFE, but in fact it looks like it. The State renounces the calendar defined in 2019 within the framework of the mobility orientation law (LOM).
This new designation of “territories of vigilance” is synonymous with the relaxation and streamlining of the system for low-emission zones. If the law does not go back, vehicles without Crit’Air and Crit’Air 5 stickers remain prohibited, as checks and fines are suspended until July 31, 2024, offending motorists risk nothing.
Ditto for cars in Crit’Air 4 which were to be prohibited from January 1, 2024 and Crit’Air 3 in 2025.
In the streets of Montpellier, this Tuesday, motorists and pedestrians are divided.
“My car is in Crit’Air 1 so it doesn’t matter to me” explains a young pedestrian who adds “Anyway, I walk a lot in town. I live not far from my work, it’s a luxury”.
It gives us some breathing room to change old cars, which is good. Especially at new car prices, that’s a budget!
“Me, I mainly drive around in the countryside so it doesn’t concern me too much, except when I come to Montpellier. So no fine, that’s good” admits a young driver.
“For old and very polluting cars, it’s a shame that there is a moratorium because air pollution in the city is bad for your health, but the problem is discrimination by money and the cost of cleaner cars” analyzes a passerby.
Montpellier therefore no longer has an obligation to reinforce the traffic restrictions planned until 2025, for the moment. But suspension of the calendar does not mean abandonment, especially since Europe is campaigning for the development of EPZs.
The ZBE, the Spanish version of the ZFE, has been in place in Barcelona since January 2020. • © FTV
Be careful, if you go by car to Barcelona, a ZBE, it is the Spanish equivalent of the ZFE, has been in place since January 1, 2020 and has already reduced the number of vehicles by 18%. pollutants. It also concerns tourists.
To enter the city, your car must be authorized. If you want to avoid taking a fine, you will have to register your vehicle on thee Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB) website. Please note that only petrol cars registered after 2000 and diesel vehicles after 2005 can be driven after requesting a sticker valid for two years.
2023-07-12 03:52:39
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