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In Bordeaux, parking price according to income
The environmentalist mayor of Bordeaux, Pierre Hurmic, is considering a “social and solidarity” rate for resident parking.
Charge parking based on income. This is one of the first measures that the new ecological municipality of Bordeaux, led by Pierre Hurmic, intends to take, which must be part of a broader framework of parking policy in the city. Only resident parking would be concerned, i.e. subscriptions paid monthly by the residents of each district. The objective is first of all to extend the areas where parking meters are located, many sectors of the city being free for the moment, and to give a social flavor to this measure which could otherwise quickly prove to be unpopular.
Moreover, the mayor of Bordeaux preferred to delay on the issue during his back-to-school conference this Thursday, September 10, contenting himself with indicating that the project was under the examination but “that it was still too early” to specify the terms. In 2018, the rebellion of several neighborhoods – the wealthy Saint-Augustin and Caudéran, in particular – had forced Alain Juppé to give up such an extension. The idea of social pricing would probably make it easier to pass the pill, but this project has many unknowns about its feasibility.
Grenoble defeat
The first thorny subject to settle, the income criteria that will be taken into account: modeled on income tax, on the family quotient? Then, the prices themselves: will they increase for those who do not benefit from the future “social and solidarity” tariff, and will it be a degressive system that would go as far as free? Finally, its practical implementation could quickly resemble a gas factory and its legal framework today seems rather shaky. Such a measure put in place in 2016 in Grenoble ended up being declared illegal by the Lyon Administrative Court of Appeal in early 2019, because this system would be “discriminatory”, not respecting “the principle of equality of users”. The dispute is still ongoing, the city of Grenoble contesting this judgment.
For Pierre Hurmic, who has hammered home his “pragmatism” even if it means going back if certain choices prove to be impossible, the niche seems very narrow. Especially since this project should be part of a broader scheme of social pricing of municipal services, which was one of the axes of his campaign. Then candidate promised the implementation of “Bordeaux my card”, a system allowing access to numerous infrastructures – swimming pools, transport, shows… – at prices determined according to income. The “few months” indicated by the municipality to study the implementation of this new grid will not be too much to avoid the Grenoble mishap.
