Paris Begins Limiting Diesel Vehicles

On Monday Paris launched the first phase of its “Crit'Air” anti-pollution program that regulates the use of diesel-powered vehicles in the city.

All vehicles in Paris must now display color-coded Crit’Air stickers on their windshields. The stickers, which assign vehicles into categories based on when they were produced and their corresponding Euro emissions levels, cost about €4 ($4.30).

Drivers who don't display the stickers could be fined as much as €68 ($73).

Initially all diesel-fueled vehicles registered between January 1997 and December 2000 (Euro 2 emissions) will be banned. Such vehicles, which will have grey stickers, represent about 6% of France’s vehicle fleet. Diesel vehicles registered before 1997 already are banned.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also wants to ban diesel models registered between 2001 and 2005 (Euro 3), which account for about 14% of the country’s fleet. These cars are identified by brown stickers.

Paris has tried several ways to curb vehicle emissions in recent years, including a one-day ban on all non-emergency vehicles throughout the city last September. The city also provides free public transportation on days with high smog levels, and is turning a highway on both banks of the Seine into a riverside park.

Last month Hidalgo and the mayors of Athens, Madrid and Mexico City committed to banning the use of diesel-powered vehicles in their cities by 2025.