Seuls les véhicules diesel devraient être menacés par la ZFE à Bordeaux
Through Nicolas Gosselin
Published on
The outlines of the low emission zone (ZFE) take shape at Bordeaux. Whether public consultation to continue until mid-2023the president of the Métropole anticipated his assessment and advanced, this Wednesday, January 11, 2023, on the scenario which should be retained and applied from 2024, for a first year of pedagogy before moving on to verbalization in 2025.
Given the current economic context, as well as the first feedback from the general public, Alain Anziani and the elected metropolitan officials are initially considering (until when?)prohibit access to the intra ring road – which constitutes the ZFE – only to Crit’Air 4, 5 and unclassified vehicles.
Economy hinders ecology
Roughly speaking, only diesel vehicles registered before 2006 would be affected by the ban. All others would then be allowed to drive in the low emission zone (diesel vehicles registered from 2006, petrol, hybrid, electric, gas, hydrogen, bioethanol).
From the start, we knew that the arbitration is done around the Crit’Air sticker 3, as in many other French cities. Claudine Bichet, vice-president of Bordeaux Métropole in charge of the file, recalled in an article bynews.fr in March 2022 thata ban on Crit’Air 3 vignettes in the ZFE could reduce nitrogen dioxide emissions by almost four and fine particle emissions by three (based on the figures of the Girondin car fleet in 2022).
Unsurprisingly, the elected official – Pierre Hurmic’s right-hand man at the town hall of Bordeaux – favored at the time choosing the most beneficial solution for the environment, in the face of the climate emergency and the 150 annual deaths linked to fine particle pollution in the Bordeaux metropolitan area. At the beginning of January 2023, the inflation which weighs on households – and slows down the ability to invest in a new car – makes him say that it is necessary to “take the time”.
5% of the metropolitan car fleet concerned?
Knowing that she feared that many people had anticipated the ZFE in their budget, planning to change their vehicle or convert it: “There is a major lack of communication. The device remains largely unknown or misunderstood by the general public. »
Alain Anziani is on the same wavelength, he who repeats over and over again that he fears a social movement of the “yellow vests” type if the ZFE is too restrictive. “Beyond the environmental issue, it is a health issue because our life expectancy decreases due to pollution, he said. But we also have to act in the interest of the population. »
By sparing the Crit’Air 3, the services of the Metropolis estimated that only 5% of the metropolitan car fleet would be affected by the circular ban on the intra-ringroad in 2025 and according to the trend, we would be around 1% in 2028.
Retrofitting, a sector to be developed
To arrive at these conclusions, it suffices to look at the evolution of the car fleet in the metropolis of Bordeaux. At 1uh January 2022, there were 29,612 Crit’Air 4, 5 or unclassified cars out of a total of 437,677 vehicles (i.e. around 7%) even though there were 5,000 more the previous year (34,858 on 1uh January 2021).
On the other hand, if we take the whole of the Gironde, the share of cars classified Crit’Air 4 or 5 and not classified is greater (85,921 out of 987,913 vehicles, or about 9%) and above all, the departmental car fleet is renewed much less quickly than that of the Bordeaux metropolitan area.
“It sticks to the social issues of the department”, slips a manager of Bordeaux Métropole. In summary, in areas where poverty is higher, motorists cannot afford newer vehicles.
Too many overrides kill the override
Admittedly, not all these cars are intended to enter the inner ring road of Bordeaux, but the elected officials of the Metropolis know that ecology must not take precedence over economy if they want the EPZ to be accepted by the population.
Also, it is important that the device is clear. In certain metropolitan areas such as Strasbourg, a myriad of authorized allows motorists to circumvent the ban Corn there are so many that the measurement becomes unreadable. Worse, the low emission zone of the Grand Est metropolis is threatened by an appeal.
“We are inspired by what is already done in other cities, but we have to find the right balance between assists and canceled »Claudine Bichet reacts to this.
Utilities, a thorny subject
The opposition group Métropole Commune(s) proposed to draw inspiration from Toulouse and to set up an annual derogatory pass (with 12 authorizations against 52 in the pink city), arguing that many craftsmen or sedentary traders – who came to the markets – would find themselves stranded at the entrance to the Bordeaux conurbation.
For her part, Claudine Bichet would prefer to help her professionals by focusing on retrofitting, which transforms a combustion engine into an electric one. “We would like to move the sector forward,” she slips.
In fact, the question of commercial vehicles is a thorny subject in the ZFE dossier because 16% of the Girondin park is classified Crit’Air 4 or 5 and not classified in 2022 (10% for the metropolitan park) and the renewal of the park is not as fast as for the car.
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