Owners of motorcycles will have to pay for parking in Paris

From 2022, owners of scooters and motorcycles will have to pay for parking in Paris. French lawmakers want to reduce noise in the streets of Paris. Reductions in traffic and pollution are also expected. Electric bikes can continue to park for free. While motorcyclists in the French capital have not yet had to deal with parking, they will pay for it from next year. The metropolis of the Seine thus wants to reduce noise and pollution and contribute to the fulfillment of the program of the socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo. This plan is part of a strategy to halve 140,000 parking spaces in Paris and use the space for bike paths, parks and terraces. The aim is also to reduce traffic congestion and pollution. From January 2022, motorcyclists who do not live in the area will pay three euros (about 76 crowns) and two euros per hour of parking in eleven central city districts and two euros in the city districts that surround the central ones, ie in the 12th to 20th districts. That's half of the new car parking tariffs. Electronic motorcycles can continue to park for free. Residents will pay 22.50 euros for an annual motorcycle parking fee, again half what car owners do. "A large part of Parisians have been looking forward to this new regulation for a long time," said the deputy mayor of Paris, David Belliard. According to him, it will force drivers to buy more environmentally friendly and less noisy means of transport. The plan is part of a strategy that aims to halve 140,000 Parisian parking spaces and use the space for bike paths, parks and restaurant gardens. Reductions in traffic and pollution are also expected.