Toulouse ZFE: heavy goods vehicles and Crit’Air 4 vans banned from circulars from September 1
New stage for the Toulouse Low Emission Zone this Thursday, September 1: Crit’Air 4 trucks and vans can no longer circulate.
Condemned by the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Council of State, the State has activated, in the Orientation Law for Mobility of 2019, Low Emission Zones (ZFE), which have become compulsory in the Metropolises for reduce air pollution. This is a distancing which gradually prohibits, between 2022 and 2024 in Toulouse, the oldest vehicles, replaced as the most polluting. Coming into force on March 1, the Toulouse ZFE takes a new step this Thursday, September 1.
1. What perimeter.– The vehicle exclusion perimeter corresponds to the sector included in the ring road. It also encompasses part of the ring road, to the west, between Les Minimes and Bordelongue, and extends as far as the Arc-en-Ciel ring road and the Fil d’Ariane. The western ring road and part of the expressway to Auch are therefore in the ZFE. This perimeter concerns 430,000 inhabitants, 8,000 of whom live in areas where pollution thresholds are exceeded.
2. Who can no longer circular.- Since March 1, heavy goods vehicles, vans and vans classified Crit’Air 5 and unclassified have been concerned. From September 1, again for these vehicles, the Crit’Air 4 will be added. That is to say diesel heavy goods vehicles registered before September 30, 2009. 2001 have been banned since March.) Vans and diesel vans from before 2005 can no longer be driven either. This was already the case since March for gasoline before 1997 and diesel before 2001.
3. Private vehicles and two-wheelers from 2023.- For private vehicles and two-wheelers, the ax will fall on January 1, 2023. The ban will apply to petrol cars from before September 30, 1997 and diesel cars from before 2006. And motorcycles and scooters from before June 30, 2004. On January 1, 2024, a new and final step will be taken with the banning of Crit’Air 4 cars and two-wheelers.
4. What aids.- Faced with this upheaval, the State, the Metropolis and the regional council have set up aid conditional on the level of income. “They can go up to €5,000 for individuals and €10,000 for professionals”, emphasizes François Chollet, vice-president of Toulouse Métropole. Aid for the purchase of a bicycle is also offered. Information can be found on the toulouse.metropole.fr website.
5. How many vehicles affected.- The Métropole estimates that 47,000 vehicles will be affected in 2024, i.e. 16% of the vehicle fleet. Mobilians, former National Center for Automotive Professionals, speaks of 38% and even 46.5% with neighboring intermunicipalities. Hence the great concern of this sector of activity.
6. What control.- In the event of driving or parking with a prohibited vignette, the owner of a light vehicle is liable to a fine of €68, that of a heavy vehicle to €135. Checks are random before the arrival of a license plate reading device.
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7. How to buy your vignette.- The easiest way is to go to the certificate-air.gouv.fr website. It costs €3.70 to receive your vignette by post.
“We remain in an educational phase”
Interview with François Chollet, vice-president of Toulouse Métropole in charge of ecology.
Is the message about the implementation of the Low Emission Zone getting through?
I think the message is getting across a bit, but I see that there are still a lot of vehicles that don’t have Crit’Air stickers on their windshield. So that remains a concern. We receive letters, we have exchanges… We have done a lot of education. We always have to talk about it… However, there are still unresolved elements in our eyes. This is the case for the category of motorists called small riders, those who travel less than 3,000 km per year. They are few. This particularly concerns the elderly. We would like to exempt them but we lack the legal tool that will allow us to grant this exemption. We are working on this subject with other cities.
Do you fear the return of a challenge on the eve of the entry into force of the system for individuals, in 2023?
We have done our best to make the device socially acceptable. And the game is worth the candle in terms of the fight against air pollution. But I understand that some are bothered like these little rollers.
How will vehicles circulating in the ZFE be checked?
We remain in an educational phase for the moment. The controls are carried out randomly by the national police and the municipal police, that is to say during the usual road control operations. The presence of the sticker is then checked, as the possession of the various papers of the motorist is avoided. Ultimately, the principle adopted by the State is control by automated reading of license plates, the same type of system as that which is currently in force in Toulouse for the control of paid parking (this is cameras on board a vehicle that read license plates, Editor’s note). This system will be national and applied in all ZFEs.
Permits
The ZFE provoked several demonstrations by a collective of associations and professionals. And an appeal was filed before the administrative court by an association of bikers. Pending a possible return of the challenge, many exemptions have been granted: for vehicles of solidarity companies and charities, emergency vehicles, disabled people holding the CMI card, producers of foodstuffs who supply markets and shops in the ZFE but also construction vehicles… The Métropole has also granted an exemption to vehicles with a “collection” gray card.