France will experience many changes on January 1st. Low-emission zones “ZFE” will notably grow, with stricter restrictions in certain cities. As a reminder, “ZFEs” aim to improve air quality in cities by reducing the number of polluting vehicles in circulation.
Only vehicles with a Crit’Air sticker (the numbers vary depending on the city) are authorized to circulate in the city center. Many metropolises are affected in France, and several have already set up “ZFEs”, with more or less strict regulations.
In many cases (Montpellier, Nice, Reims, Rouen, Toulouse and Marseille), no change will take place on January 1, 2025. The “ZFEs” already exist in these urban areas and they will neither be enlarged nor more restrictive. Only the cities of Paris, Lyon and Grenoble will tighten the screw from the start of the year.
Paris, Lyon and Grenoble: what changes to expect ?
Perhaps the biggest change concerns the Lyon metropolis. The city has in fact decided to prohibit access within its ZFE to all Crit’Air 3 cars. This corresponds to gasoline cars before 2006 and diesels produced before 2011!
In order not to paralyze these vehicles, the city nevertheless authorized them a “small driver” exemption. It will be possible to drive in the ZFE with a Crit’Air 3, but only 52 days a year. If this is your case, you will need to take steps before your arrival to comply with the law.
In Paris too, the modifications are numerous. As in Lyon, the Crit’Air 3 will be banned from the City of Lights. A ban that even affects the Greater Paris ZFE, which includes a section of the A86 and 77 municipalities in the inner suburbs.
Finally, the last city marked by strong changes, Grenoble. The Isère prefecture will, like Lyon and Paris, ban the Crit’Air 3 from 2025. If the City of Light and the capital of Gaul were obliged to follow this calendar, and respect the Climate law to the letter, Grenoble still had some room to maneuver (due to its size). It is the only metropolis not to benefit from this advantage given by the State.
The Élysée will create ZFEs by the dozens
But 2025 will above all be the year of the creation of ZFEs in many urban areas. As the Climate law clearly expresses, all metropolises with more than 150,000 inhabitants are concerned. They must ban “unclassified” vehicles (released before 1997).
In total, around thirty cities are in the sights of the Ministry of Ecological Transition. Here is the complete list (from north to south): Dunkirk, Lille, Douai-Lens, Béthune, Valenciennes, Amiens, Le Havre, Metz, Caen, Nancy, Rennes, Brest, Orléans, Mulhouse, Tours, Angers, Nantes, Dijon , Limoges, Annemasse, Annecy, Chambéry, Bordeaux, Nîmes, Avignon, Toulon, Bayonne, Pau, Perpignan.
