Excellent. If only they could also ban drivers from the suburbs who panic and race through the city in fear it would be perfect. Other cities in France including Grenoble, Lyon and Aix-en-Provence will also test similar programs. As extensive and cheap as the Paris Metro system is, there's very little need for people to have a car of any kind outside of possible business uses.
Now, Paris may be the first city to experiment with such a policy. Next year, it will begin to test restrictions on vehicles that emit more than a certain amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) per kilometer--the measure of a car's contribution to greenhouse gases.
An official within the Parisian mayor's office, Denis Baupin, identified older diesel-engined cars and sport-utility vehicles as specific targets of the emissions limit.
"I'm sorry," Baupin said on RTL Radio, "but having a sport utility vehicle in a city makes no sense." He suggested that Parisian SUV owners replace their sport utilities with vehicles that are "compatible with city life."
