A Greens councillor in Sydney is asking for parking charges to be tripled for SUVs, calling them “huge issues, huge polluters, [and] huge killers”.
In a TikTok video with fellow councillor Olivia Barlow, Councillor Matthew Thompson introduced he’ll introduce a movement at at present’s Metropolis of Sydney council assembly calling for parking charges to be tripled.
This may apply to “essentially the most harmful, polluting SUVs… to disincentivise their use on our roads”.
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The present most hourly parking price in Sydney is $8.20 an hour, so this might pressure homeowners of affected SUVs to cough up $24.60/hour.
“It’s daring, and the petrol-guzzling nut jobs over at The Each day Telegraph are going to hate it, however different international cities reminiscent of Paris have already tripled parking charges for SUVs to large success and recognition. It’s time we joined them,” he stated in his TikTok.
“As greater, dirtier vehicles get rolled out onto the street, the features that we’ve comprised of switching to electrical autos are being quickly undone.
“They’re additionally actual harmful, with their measurement and weight that means they’re far more prone to kill a pedestrian or bicycle owner in a collision.”
Within the video, the Greens councillor additionally claims {that a} baby is eight occasions extra prone to be killed if hit by an SUV fairly than a passenger automobile (per a University of Illinois study in 2022) and that if SUVs have been a rustic, they’d be the fifth-largest supply of CO2 emissions on this planet (per the International Energy Agency final 12 months).
He additionally cited gross sales knowledge displaying that over half – or 57 per cent – of recent autos offered final 12 months in Australia have been SUVs.
In his discover of movement, Cr Thompson additionally notes “heavier autos enhance harm on inner-city roads, thereby growing upkeep prices on roads, with the most important SUVs doing 16 occasions extra harm than small vehicles on Australian roads”.
“The rise of larger, heavier, dirtier SUVs is wiping out the local weather features from the swap to electrical autos,” the discover continues, “and the transport sector is projected to develop into the most important supply of emissions by 2030.”
What Cr. Thompson doesn’t point out, nonetheless, is that the time period SUV applies to every part from a hulking Toyota LandCruiser or Nissan Patrol right down to autos just like the Jeep Avenger and Mazda CX-3 that are smaller than a typical hatchback.
The councillor doesn’t specify whether or not all SUVs can be impacted by this variation. Within the discover of movement, he calls on the Chief Govt Officer to “examine and report again on the potential for instituting a Paris-style system imposing larger charges for parking bigger and heavier autos reminiscent of SUVs, together with the potential to triple the price of parking for the heaviest, most polluting, harmful and hulking autos”.
Regardless of growing criticism of full-size pickup vehicles, the councillor makes no specific point out of utes in both his video or discover of movement.
He additionally says the tripling of parking charges wouldn’t apply to tradespeople or those that want their autos for accessibility causes.
Cr Thompson has known as on state and federal governments to additionally assist reverse the pattern in the direction of SUVs.
“Till they discover the braveness to push again towards huge producers, it’s on us on the native stage to indicate actual management and preserve our streets protected,” he stated.
Final 12 months, Paris tripled parking fees for petrol and hybrid vehicles, in addition to SUVs weighing greater than 1600kg and electrical autos (EVs) weighing 2000kg or extra.
Residents are exempted from the elevated charges, as are sure employees reminiscent of emergency companies personnel.
Comparable penalties towards heavier autos have additionally been proposed in Melbourne.
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