Paris votes to crack down on SUVs | Non-Parisians will be charged almost $20 per hour to park large gas or hybrid vehicles within the city center in a bid to address pedestrian safety and air pollu…::Parisians have voted to increase parking charges for out-of-town SUV drivers as part of the city’s efforts to address road safety, air pollution, and climate change.
I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but where I live rent in the city works out to about two thirds of my annual income and I have a well paying job (above average for my city).
So - living in the suburbs is not really a life style choice. I can afford a very comfortable home in the outer suburbs, while in the inner city I could only afford to rent a small bedroom with a shared kitchen/bathroom/living space. And since we have a child, a share house isn’t really an option (I did live that way when I was younger).
And while I love cycling to work I can’t do it often, because it takes almost 4 hours (two hours each direction). I can take a bus, but that’s even slower (since I have to go to the CBD first, then take another bus across town to the non-CBD area where I work). The bus also costs more than twice as much as driving. Driving, by the way, takes 30 minutes.
Since I live in the outer suburbs anyway, with nice wide roads, unlimited free parking, I choose to take advantage of it by spending a lot of time outdoors where if you want a cold beer, you need to bring a fridge. If you want a hot meal, you need to bring a full kitchen. If you want to take a canoe out the water, you need to bring a canoe with you, etc etc. So, we have an SUV. And we’re not going to give it up. Sorry.
If my city banned SUVs, I’d probably just start taking taxis instead. I’m not sure that would be better for the environment or local traffic. Definitely wouldn’t affect my daily life, since I don’t live or work in the CBD.
The described use cases of SUVs way out in the beyond make sense to me - what doesn’t is the expectation that ANY vehicle is a one-size fits all. What if you want to go visit relatives in Alaska? Is an SUV really the most suitable thing for the trip? Obviously not - you’re taking a plane.
If someone is spending a lot of time in that sort of environment, and frequently needs to bring large items, I can almost kind of appreciate that need for a big vehicle. But no one, including that person, really needs to take an SUV downtown. There are many people out in suburbs that enjoy having a car, but still only take it to their closest train stop when getting into the city. And, the vast majority of SUV users don’t need to haul an entire kitchen for most of their trips; yet this still weighs against the risk of accidents those people have.
This is the most suburban description of spending time outdoors I’ve ever seen.