#PressRelease
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FNTV warns of the exclusion of tourist coaches from the centre of Paris from October 2024
The Fédération Nationale des Transports de Voyageurs (FNTV ) denounces the profoundly unfair, incoherent and discriminatory nature of Paris City Council's decision, announced at a meeting on 19 June 2024 on the Paris Centre Limited Traffic Zone (ZTL) by Ariel Weil, Mayor of Paris Centre, and Frédéric Hocquart, Deputy Mayor responsible for tourism.
The FNTV calls on Paris City Council and the Paris Police Prefecture to reconsider their decision to exclude tourist coaches, including electric coaches, from the possibility offered to all motorised vehicles to travel in the ZTL as part of destination traffic.
■ A blow for transport companies, tourism and the local economy
The ZTL, which will come into force in October 2024, will prohibit tourist coaches from entering the centre of Paris, with the exception of a few rare access points, such as the Louvre car park. This exclusion will have a major impact on an activity that is essential to the city's tourist and economic dynamism. Coaches play a crucial role in facilitating the mobility of diverse groups, including international tourists, school groups, senior citizens and people with reduced mobility. They are an efficient means of public transport, reducing the number of individual vehicles and thus helping to cut CO2 emissions per passenger transported.
■ Lack of consultation and hasty implementation
The FNTV deplores the lack of any real consultation with passenger transport professionals, particularly during the public enquiry in May 2024. Despite previous exchanges, the concerns of the coach transport industry were not sufficiently taken into account.
The FNTV did, however, take a constructive stance on rationalising traffic flows and strengthening controls on coach traffic and parking in Paris. With survey results showing that more than 40% of stakeholders are opposed to the ZTL, it is clear that Paris City Council's decision does not reflect a consensus.
■ Inadequate parking alternatives
The proposed parking solutions, such as the Louvre car park, are largely unsuited to the needs of coaches in terms of configuration and access for vehicles and passengers.
This ban comes on top of the reduction in the number of coach parking spaces, the forthcoming closure of the Bercy Seine bus station and the introduction of the Greater Paris low-emission zone.
■ Call for a reassessment of the decision
The FNTV is calling on Paris City Council to reconsider this decision and engage in constructive dialogue with passenger transport professionals to find balanced solutions. We are calling for a more pragmatic approach that recognises the virtuous nature of public transport and takes into account the efforts made by transport companies to reduce their ecological footprint.
A reassessment is needed to find a balanced solution [...]
Published on 24th June 2024
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