They denounce an ineffective measure from an environmental and socially unjust point of view. the Collective for free public transport in the Grenoble conurbation calls for demonstrations this Tuesday, November 8 at 6 p.m. in front of the temporary headquarters of Grenoble Alpes Métropole, on Place André-Malraux, against the extension of the ZFE, the Low Emission Zone, to individual cars from July 1, 2023. On this date, private vehicles with a Crit’Air 5 sticker will no longer be able to circulate in the 17 municipalities within the perimeter of the ZFE. In 2024, Crit’Air 4 vignettes will be banned; then Crit’Air 3 in 2025.
The poorest penalized
This ZFE would be inefficient according to Michel Szempruch, a member of this collective which brings together trade unions and left-wing parties, because of the ecological cost of building new cars to replace the old ones. Above all, the device is considered unfair. “If we compare the distribution of cars in criteria 5, 4 and 3 and the poverty index of the municipalities, there is a very strong link, and obviously the most working classes, the most modest, will have the highest criteria and therefore it is these environments that will be the most penalized by this measure” denounces his colleague Mariano Bona, who adds: “Only in the municipalities concerned, it is estimated that there is 50,000 vehicles that will have to be scrapped by 2025.__” And for him the aid provided by the State and the Metro will be insufficient for the most modest…
As its name suggests, the collective advocates the development and above all free public transport to reduce CO 2 emissions. Michel Szempruch is betting on the ripple effect of such a measure. “There are 350,000 cars crossing the agglomeration to go from home to work, he said. We think that a very large percentage of these trips should be directed to public transport, that’s the future. When we put money into the new ring road, when we put money into aid for electric cars, etc. We think it’s short term, and that it won’t solve the problems. So all public money must go towards an efficient public transport system (…). We can clearly see with regard to global warming that we need to encourage, that we encourage, but not in a punitive way as is the case for the ZFE. We think people are smart, everyone has understood that we have to make an effort, but on the other hand we have to offer people alternatives that allow them to live better.
Dunkirk
And Mariano Bona cites the example of Dunkirk: “In 2019 they started by making it free on weekends to see what it was like, and then after they made it completely free. And total free with an improvement in the network, it’s a doubling in 2 years of attendance. The results are there: it’s a doubling of attendance, an improvement in quality, less incivility in the buses, and it’s also another vision of the city.“How to finance all this? The collective turns to the State for investments in the network, and to companies to finance free transport, because they take advantage of these transport networks. “We think that the mobility payment that companies pay should be increased, believes Mariano Bona (…). It’s 2% of the payroll today, we think we have to go to at least 3%, which would allow, for example, to finance free healthcare.”