VIDEO. Demonstration against the ZFE in Toulouse: “Motorcycles should not be the pet peeves of air pollution”
More than 500 motorcyclists and forty motorists found on the ring road in Toulouse for a relaxation of the ZFE (Low Emission Zone).
The Low Emissions Zone (ZFE), for the moment at a standstill, is shaping a new world in Toulouse. That more than 500 motorcyclists and about forty motorists baptized “Boboland”. They recalled their opposition to its implementation during a demonstration this Saturday, November 6 in the afternoon. From 11 a.m., more than 100% of motorcyclists gathered in the parking lot of the TFC Stadium, on Île du Ramier, before heading to the starting point of the event.
In front of a huge parking lot in the Sesquière area, north of Toulouse, a biker indicated the meeting point to hundreds of bikers and motorists responding to the first call to demonstrate from the ZFE31 interclub, made up of biker associations, collection vehicles, professionals or stables. At 2:30 p.m., a startling roar of engines started hostilities. The procession congested the ring road for nearly three hours. The snail operation followed the perimeter of the ZFE, inside the ring road and the Arc-en-Ciel ring road. Three stops disrupted traffic in particular: near Ernest-Wallon, Purpan and the Cité de l’Espace.
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“We are asking for an exemption, bikers only represent 2% of the traffic,” said Johnny, president of the biker association The Templars on the road. Our two-wheelers make traffic easier ”.
Behind him, on his shiny motorbike, Alexandre castigates Toulouse Métropole. “I ride my motorbike every day. Come rain or shine. With the ZFE, I will no longer be able to lead it. I cannot afford to change vehicles. Motorcycles must not be the pet peeves in this race against pollution, ”notes the young man.
Two covered radars
As planned, the Low Emission Zone would hunt several hundred thousand vehicles. In 2024, Crit’air 3, 4, 5 and unclassified, that is to say gasoline vehicles prior to 2006 and diesels prior to 2011, banned from driving in the area concerned.
“We are not anti ZFE, we are simply reducing and easing. We must make efforts for the environment. But not for the benefit of social inequalities. Low-income households will find themselves harmed. We must match the premium of the metropolis and the State ”, slice Agnes Grillou, member of the French Federation of Motards in Anger 31. Like bikers, owners of vintage vehicles and vehicles that are rarely used ask for a derogate.
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For owners of cars affected by the ZFE, the candidates also want the part of the western ring road not to be included. They want an exemption on weekends and after 7 p.m., a decision taken in some cities. And ask for an experiment for a “leisure” use of all vehicles, that is to say outside the journey home to work.
The backfiring of the motorcycles ended around 5:30 p.m. During the rally, two radars were covered. That of Purpan and the Cité de l’Espace. The ZFE 31 interclub, which confides in being “force of proposal” and “ignored”, hopes to be received by the president of Toulouse Métropole, Jean-Luc Moudenc.