Parisians vote to hit SUVs with eye-popping parking costs in latest green drive before Olympics

By HELENA ALVES and JOHN LEICESTER
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Parisians have voted to muscle SUVs off the French capital’s streets by making them much more expensive to park starting next September. It’s the latest leg in a drive by Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo to make the host city for this year’s Olympic Games greener and friendlier for pedestrians and cyclists. The official results from Sunday’s ballot show that more than 54% of the votes supported the measure to triple parking fees for large SUV drivers from out of town to 18 euros ($19.50) per hour in the city’s center. Just under 6% of the 1.3 million eligible voters cast ballots at the 39 voting stations set up around the city, according to Paris’ City Hall.