Grand Paris grants flexibility to Crit’Air 3 vehicles

These vehicles, prohibited from driving in the Greater Paris low-emission zone from January 1, 2025, will be able to deviate from the rule 12 days per year, as in Lyon and Toulouse.

Polluting vehicles classified Crit’Air 3, prohibited from circulation in the low-emission zone (ZFE) of Greater Paris from January 1, 2025, will be able to deviate from the rule 12 days per year, as in Lyon and Toulouse, announced Monday October 7 the metropolis of Greater Paris. Motorists owning a Crit’Air 3 vehicle, i.e. diesel cars registered before 2011 and gasoline cars registered before 2006, will thus be able to benefit from a “24 hour ZFE pass” which will allow them to circulate within its perimeter “within the limit of 12 full days per year”.

This pass can be activated “upon simple prior registration by the motorist”the metropolis specified in a press release, citing more “flexibility” for motorists. Around 422,000 private vehicles and 59,000 professionals in the Greater Paris metropolis are classified Crit’Air 3, according to a study by the Parisian urban planning workshop (Apur) in 2023. The ZFE concerns 77 municipalities of the 131 in the metropolis.

Following a consultation, the president of the Greater Paris metropolis Patrick Ollier will propose increasing the number of days per year of the “24-hour ZFE pass”. For its part, the Paris town hall, which is due to vote this week on an opinion on the metropolitan ZFE, has announced aid from the City for professionals, in order to “reduce the remaining cost for the purchase of less polluting vehicles”, particularly for VSEs and SMEs, said David Belliard, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of transport. This aid could be added to that of the region, according to the elected official.

ZFEs, very widespread in Europe where air quality is degraded, aim to encourage motorists to buy less polluting vehicles, hybrid or electric, or to use public transport and so-called “soft” modes of transport. . Twelve large French cities have already set up an ZFE: Paris, Lyon, Aix-Marseille-Provence, Nice, Toulouse, Montpellier, Strasbourg, Grenoble, Reims, Rouen, Saint-Etienne and Clermont-Ferrand.