Parking in Paris, not
for the faint-hearted
T hink of Parisian roads and you probably
have an image of aggressive, fast
driving and parking anarchy - double,
even triple parking, cars parked at crazy
angles, on pavements, down the middle of
the road, and across zebra crossings. And
nose-to-tail, so that you have to shunt
adjacent vehicles in order to get out. It is
certainly true that in the city centre, space is
at a rea! prem:um; it can take almost as long
to find a parking space as it does to eat a
meal or see a film!
That is a driver's eye view. But how is the
system run - and by whom? The Paris region
(Ile-de-France) can be roughly equated in
size with Greater London, while central Paris
'proper' covers an area about seven miles by
six - slightly bigger than central London.
However, as many roads are very narrow and
most people live in flats, driving and parking
are a major problem. A dustcart or removal
van can biock a Whole street, for' example,
- ---tea-v+ft§-fellewifl~rivers-to--ftrme-with-th'ei
thumbs (illegally) on their horns. Not
surprisingly, parking is an even bigger
problem and to own a parking space, any
parking space, is a big asset. It is not
unknown for people to buy inner urban
property just in order to get their hands on the
associated parking space!
Fortunately, Paris has a rather lower level of
car ownership than the rest of the country: 45
per cent of households own at least one car,
as against 79 per cent for France as a whole.
Who runs parking?
On-street parking and public car parks within
the city are under the control of the Mayor of
Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, who came to power
in May 2001. The present Socialist
administration, which gained increased traffic
powers earlier this year, has created an
'urban mobility' plan, the aim of which is to cut
traffic by 5 per cent by restricting access for
non-Parisians. Rather than using tolls, as in
London, the policy is to make parking cheap
for residents and expensive for others,
including commuters. In practice, this means:
controlling' traffic by standardising parking
fees; making underground car parks
attractive; encouraging Parisians to park close
to home; and freeing public space for
pedestrian use. This is balanced by the very
high subsidies to public transport and the
requirement for employers to reimburse 50
per cent of employee season ticket costs.
Current policy is biased in favour of
residents on the grounds that it is their city
and they should have freedom of movement
within it. A feature of the policy is that non-
residents are limited to two-hours' parking in
the city centre. High charges are re;nlly
designed to dissuade them from using their
cars at all - especially for travel between
home and work (currently 59% of all journeys
and BOOk of peak hour ones are by public
transport). In the suburbs there is a strong
emphasis on inter-modal journeys, primarily
through the provision of attractive park-and-
ride facilities at stations.
On-street parking
Some 236,000 controlled on-street spaces
(including 90,000 free ones) are available in
the city. Charges apply between 9am and
7pm, with free parking virtually everywhere on
Sundays and public holidays (Saturdays and
the whole of August are also free of charge in
many streets). There are a further 400,000
additional spaces in private garages and in
the courtyards of flats.The city is divided into
three charging zones. The basic hourly rate is
one euro (64p) and this is doubled for the
central area. The main business district has a
special rate of E3 (£:1.92) per hour while rates
for car parks are roughly the same. By
comparison, an Evening StcJndar:d survey of
central London car parks in April 2002, found
rates to vary from £:2to £15 per hour.
Speciai arrangements exist for residents
without garage space to park on the kerb-side
near their homes, for up to 24 hours, at a
lower tariff of 50 cents (32p) per day for up to
seven consecutive days. Payment can be
made on either a daily or a weekly basis.
Spaces cannot, however, be guaranteed. On
declared high-pollution days, residential
parking is free of charge.
Preferential rates also apply to commercial
travellers. They can obtain an annual permit
for E175 (£:117), with fl maximum two-hour
stay per location. Similar rules apply to local
ra es peop e and craftsmen who can buy
permits for E457 (£305) a year or E2.28
(£1.52) a day. Electric vehicles are allowed
free on-street parking, again with a maximum
two-hour stay. So far, 23 re-charge bays have
been provided. There are 1,260 free places
available for disabled drivers in the city, while
bicycles and motorcycles can use 'chained'
posts.
Pre-paid' chip cards ('Paris-Carte') are now
used for one-fifth' of all parking payments.
Sold in units of E15 (£9.60) and E30 (£:19.20),
the cards, of which almost a million are
purchased each year, can be bought from
council offices or from tobacconists who, in
turn, pass the revenue to the Treasury via
SEITA, the state-controlled tobacco monopoly.
Meters were introduced in 1971 and now
account for roughly 60% of total spaces. All
12,577 meters accept the Paris-Carte and
about a quarter, which are colour-coded,
take cash as well. The proportion with coin
slots has been cut partly to reduce the huge
losses sustained through theft from meters.
Managing loading and unloading is an
important issue in a city that is desperately
short of road space. The solution has been to
divide commercial vehicles into three
categories, according to their surface area,
and to impose limitations by size. All vehicles
can load and unload anywhere during the
night, between 7.30pm and 7.30am. Smaller
lorries and vans under 16 metres are banned
from bus lanes and key trunk roads during
rush hours, while those up to 24 metres also
face a total loading ban during the evening
peak. Commercial vehicles above this size
are prohibited from making deliveries during
day-time hours. In many parts of the city,
dedicated delivery bays have been marked
out. However, there is a major problem with
the number of motorists who use these for
overnight parking. A campaign to police the
bays more effectively has recently been put
in place.
Tourist coaches are an even bigger
problem. During the summer, there are an
estimated 1,400 coaches on Paris's roads at
anyone time. To cope with this, the council
has provided 650 parking bays However, SAEMES (a public-private partnership, with
effort to build accessible off-street sites and
coaches must pay to use most of the on-
a requirement that new residential buildings 51 % of the shares held by the municipality)
street bays and underground car parks. are the largest. Both companies also operate
contain adequate underground parking. The
Coaches are banned entirely from certain
council's motto is "streets are not garages". private car parks in Paris.
busy areas. In others, the Highway Code sets
By moving parked cars underground and VINCI Park is re-evaluating its role in the
a maximum pick-up and set-down period of
out-of-sight, the city becomes visually more Paris parking market, although it is still
15 minutes, during which engines must be
attractive and public spaces are 'liberated' competing for additional contracts and the
switched off.
for the use of pedestrians, cyclists and public renewal of existing ones. Much depends on
Paris, along with Berlin, Brussels, Madrid
transport users. Not only does this allow the new team at City Hall - but the feeling in
and Rome, is part of the EU's Capitals ITTS
residents to park their vehicles in secure the company seems to be that no further
(Integrated Travel and Tourism Services)
conditions, it also frees the streets from underground municipal car parks will be built
project which, among other things, provides
illegal parkers making them safer and more and, as the largest player in the market, there
real-time availability of parking spaces and
attractive. At present, there are 122 is little chance of gaining more contracts or
recommended routings for coach drivers.
underground car parks, providing 70,000 even of keeping all the present ones. The
spaces. company's current policy is, therefore, to
Underground car parks Most of Paris's underground car parks are concentrate on the private sector, with an
Alongside the policy of managed charging run as concessions or on separate leases. Of emphasis on new car parks in upmarket
for on-street parking, there has been a major the 13 operators involved, VINCI Park and affi~. ~
 International review: Paris
Both of the major companies promote
themselves through the high quality of the
venues they control VINCI Park has a 10-point
customer charter. But circumstances can work
against the most perfect of promotions: on a
recent visit to one of VINCI Park's prime locations
in the Champs-Elysees, the burnt-out hulk of
what had once been a Renault Clio sat oozing oil
down the main driveway.
Parisian underground car parks have had a
terrible reputation for being gloomy, unsafe
places - an image encouraged by the French
cinema where they often feature in crime or
murder scenes. It is an expressed part of official
policy to rid them of this image. The Mayor's plan
to make car parks more attractive and
convenient has led to the creation of a quality
charter specifying strict standards for
construction, operation and ambience. These
standards give a quality-guarantee to users:
competent, helpful staff, an attractive
environment and site-vetting on an annual basis.
The environmental requirements dictate
distinctive colours for each level, as well as anti-
dust paint for floors and the application of non-
skid surfaces. Lighting must be consistent and
eliminate eerie, dark corners.
Signage is also to be standardised in white
and orange, with green for pedestrian access
and blue for vehicle routes. Way-out signs must
be clearly lit and good quality public address
systems employed - good enough for music to
be played in pedestrian areas, such as in lifts
and ticket machines. Video surveillance of all It has become a tradition that, following the have been tried. Motorists are up in arms about
public areas is to be universal, with disabled- election, the new president announces a range the barriers, claiming that they are causing
accessible lifts that have intercoms linked of motoring offences, committed prior to his chaos; while the new bus lanes are empty -
directly to on-site staff positions. Existing election, that will be wiped from the slate (see there are relatively few buses in Paris due to the
facilities are required to progressively adopt all page 21). extensive Metro system - car drivers sit fuming
these standards. in massive traffic snarl-ups. When asked, a
Bus lanes transport department spokesman was unable to
Enforcement The aspect of Delanoe's policy that causes most justify the current arrangements on traffic
Parking tickets are issued by city-employed conflict is probably the issue of bus lanes. In the management grounds, other than as an anti-
wardens and fixed penalty fines are paid with past, bus lanes were just that: a simple lane, pollution measure that cuts journey times for
fiscal stamps ('timbre-amende'). These are slightly wider than a bus, separated from the rest cycles, taxis and buses.
applied to a pre-addressed section of the ticket of the carriageway by a white line. The new Present policy is to make better use of road
and posted to the authorities Anyone who policy is to have combined bus and cycle lanes space (including the improvement of kerbside
chooses not to pay (or, as many do, throws the (wide enough for one to pass the other safely), discipline), extend bus lanes and introduce multi-
ticket away) faces an increased fine, which rises divided from the rest of the road by a concrete function parking cards compatible with the
rapidly the longer it remains unpaid. The barrier. Moneo electronic purse to give card holders
approach taken after a presidential election The bus and cycle lanes are 14 feet (4 metres) more flexibility when choosing their mode of
tends to undermine the system. wide, although widths of up to 18 feet (5 metres) travel .•