Announced in 2019, the commissioning of a low emission zone (ZFE) in Strasbourg is becoming clearer. The president of the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg, Pia Imbs, specified the schedule which will be common to the 33 municipalities that make up the metropolis. This schedule will be “progressive” to allow “changes in behavior”, and will be applied over time according to the different Crit’Air labels, she explained.
In detail, the ZFE will come into force on January 1 for the most polluting, those without a sticker or holders of a Crit’Air 5. After a period of checks without sanction and teaching, they will be definitively prohibited from January 1, 2023. Crit’Air 4 will be banned from the ZFE in January 2025, after a two-year transition period, while Crit’Air 3 and 2 will be banned in January 2027 and January 2028 respectively, in both cases after three years of transitional period. In other words, on this date, diesel vehicles will be completely banned from the territory.
Pedagogy and aids
The Eurometropolis insists on the fact that a period devoted to “pedagogy” will precede the prohibition of each of the vignettes. These periods “will be used to communicate, to support households and to organize change and will be accompanied by educational checks before sanctions”.
She recalls that the commissioning of this ZFA is accompanied by a number of aid: free public transport for those under 18, aid for the purchase of electric bicycles, extension of the 600 kilometers of cycle paths and tram lines. , a more extensive metropolitan express network, financial aid for the purchase of a clean vehicle for the poorest households, etc.
Annual evaluations will also be carried out to verify the impact of the measures on air quality, with a study reinforced between 2023 and 2024. Depending on the results of these evaluations, “it may be necessary to readjust the schedule, strengthen the control or advance (the) date (s) of ban ”, warned the mayor of Strasbourg and first vice-president of the Eurometropolis, Jeanne Barseghian.
“Confused” calendar
Hailed by some, this calendar has also been criticized by others who, in addition to its “confused” side, regret that it applies to the whole of the Eurometropolis. This is the case of Thibaud Philipps, LR mayor of Illkirch-Graffenstaden, who, in reaction, announced on Tuesday April 27 that he was leaving with his group of 5 elected the metropolitan majority to join the ranks of the opposition. He intends to propose a referendum on Crit’air 2 to the inhabitants of his municipality on June 27.
This calendar common to the 33 municipalities must now be submitted to the vote of the Eurometropolis council on July 12.
500 premature deaths per year
According to the Eurometropolis, the pollution levels recorded in its 33 municipalities regularly exceed the European thresholds and the recommendations of the World Health Organization, in particular the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and fine particles PM2.5 . According to the community, 60% of NOx emissions and 23% of fine particles come from road transport. Poor air quality is also responsible for 500 premature deaths per year on the territory of the Eurometropolis.
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