Will large vehicles – SUVs – be more expensive to park in Germany’s municipalities in the future?
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The municipality
Editor | MUNICIPAL
February 5, 2024
In Paris, a narrow majority of residents voted in a referendum to make parking for large sports off-road vehicles (SUVs) more expensive. In Germany, too, municipalities want to ask owners of such vehicles to pay more.
The French capital Paris wants to triple parking fees for large cars – SUVs. From September 1st, parking fees of 18 euros per hour must be paid there. However, only visitors should pay the special tariff for SUVs, residents as well as tradesmen and care services park at the “normal fees”. Around 1.3 million Parisians were asked to vote on higher parking fees for SUVs in a referendum. Around 54.5 percent voted in favor of increasing parking fees, around 45.5 percent against. However, only just under six percent of citizens cast their vote. The new regulation will apply to cars that weigh more than 1.6 tons and to electric cars weighing more than two tons. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, wants to push the heavy, large SUVs out of the city, for environmental reasons and because of safety, as she said.
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SUV parking fees – what German municipalities are planning
Is the model also conceivable and feasible for municipalities in Germany? Hanover’s mayor Belit Onay is already checking whether the Lower Saxony state capital can also charge higher parking fees for SUVs in the future. “The current debate in Paris shows that there is a need to discuss the use of public space in cities, including Hanover,” Onay told KOMMUNAL when asked. “Vehicles that are getting bigger and bigger, especially SUVs, take up a lot of public space, which is very valuable.” The demand to be able to park in cities for free or at a low price is not sustainable. “In Hanover we will also have to ask ourselves the question of how we deal with vehicles that take up more space. Anyone who takes up a lot of space must also pay a fair price for it. And that must be reflected in the fee schedule.”
It remains to be seen what the implementation might look like in detail. Onay referred to a ruling by the Federal Administrative Court on the initiative in Freiburg. The court has thus shown clear limits with regard to the price differences in terms of magnitude.
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