This is a first, the number of vehicles (private cars, light commercial vehicles or heavy goods vehicles) has decreased in Ile-de-France in 2020. Behind these results, a study by APUR (Parisian urban planning workshop) . The figures relate to the period 2012 – 2021.
In Paris, the phenomenon dates back to 2012 according to the study. In question: a developed transport offer, ever more expensive new cars and the evolution of mentalities towards more ecology. It was enough for the capital to turn away from cars: 3,400 fewer vehicles per year for 10 years now. And it doesn’t stop there since – again according to the APUR study – the whole of Ile-de-France is following the movement and particularly the Greater Paris metropolis (which includes Paris, Essonne , Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne and Val d’Oise) where we have noticed a real drop since 2018: 6,300 fewer cars per year on average.
In question, the technical control
So how do you explain these numbers. For the Atelier parisien d’urbanisme, it is mainly because of the strengthening of technical control. Since 2018, it is no longer 400 but 600 faults which are now verified. Many cars therefore failed the test and owners were unable or unwilling to buy a new vehicle. Another reason, the increase in the price of cars or the Covid. Confinement, teleworking, rising fuel prices and shortages of certain components have put a brake on vehicle purchases. A more timid decline in certain areas of Ile-de-France, the furthest from Paris, where necessarily the car is more necessary.
“We see a lot fewer people in the garages”
This phenomenon, Rémi, mechanic in Bois-Colombes in the Hauts-de-Seine, noticed it well. His garage is in the inner suburbs, too far from Paris to walk to work but close enough to give up the car: “We see a lot fewer people in the garages. In question, the rise in prices and maintenance of vehicles. I have many customers who are asking questions with the stories of Crit’Air thumbnails. They wonder which vehicles to buy. In the Hauts-de-Seine, a small minority of people have the means to buy a new vehicle, but a large part of the population does not have the means at all. They prefer to maintain their vehicle and keep driving until they are caught by the police.” And the mechanic continues: “We also have a lot of customers who have the idea of leaving the vehicle at home to take a scooter or an electric bike instead and they also prefer to go on vacation with a rental vehicle.”
Crit’Air 3, 4, 5 and unclassified have been decreasing since 2012 according to the study, “passing for private cars from 74% of the fleet in 2012 to 32% in 2021 in the metropolis of greater Paris”. The Crit’Air 1 and 2 win in 2021 “with 67% of the private car fleet and 75% of the light commercial vehicle fleet.”
Ile-de-France has more than six million vehicles for 12 million inhabitants. As for electric cars, they represented last year, 2% of the car fleet of the Greater Paris metropolis.