Paris votes to triple cost of parking SUVs in city

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said the referendum was good for the city, good for the environment, and good for democracy, despite the 5.6% turnout.

An SUV car drives on the Champs Elysees avenue, near to the Arc de Triomphe. Picture: Michel Euler/AP

Paris has voted to triple the cost of parking large sports utility vehicles (SUVs) in an effort to push polluting vehicles out of the city.

However, the vote was not a landslide in favour of the move, as had been generally predicted, with 54.5% in favour of the move and 45.45% against. Turnout was very low at just 5.6% of the electorate, with 78,121 out of 1,374,531 people voting.