{"id":13165,"date":"2014-03-17T02:24:12","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T02:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/paris-car-ban-set-to-start\/"},"modified":"2014-03-17T02:24:09","modified_gmt":"2014-03-17T02:24:09","slug":"paris-car-ban-set-to-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/paris-car-ban-set-to-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris Car Ban Set to Start"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/figure>\n

{{Hundreds of police will monitor traffic in Paris on Monday after pollution levels prompted the French government to impose major restrictions.}}<\/p>\n

Only motorists whose cars have odd-numbered registration plates will be allowed to drive.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, if the restrictions remain in place, it will be the turn of those with even-numbered plates.<\/p>\n

Ministers acted after air pollution exceeded safe levels for five days running in Paris and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

The smoggy conditions have been caused by a combination of cold nights and warm days, which have prevented pollution from dispersing.<\/p>\n

The measure has been tried once before, in 1997. Paris air quality monitoring body Airparif says it had a noticeable impact on improving air quality, although critics have disputed its findings.<\/p>\n

Motorcycles will also be covered by the ban, which runs from 05:30 (04:30 GMT) to midnight on Monday. There are exceptions for electric and hybrid vehicles, and for cars carrying three or more passengers.<\/p>\n

Those flouting the restrictions will face a small fine although there will be free parking for those with number-plates ending in an even number.<\/p>\n

Delivery companies are already complaining of lost income, BBC Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield says. Politically the stakes are high, with elections for Paris mayor due to start next week.<\/p>\n

Opposition leader Jean-Francois Cope complained that the ban “lacks coherence, explanation and on the ground it’s really panic”.<\/p>\n

On Friday, public transport was made free of charge for three days in an attempt to encourage people to leave their cars at home. This measure will continue on Monday.<\/p>\n

The capital’s air quality has been one of the worst on record, French environmental agencies say, rivalling the Chinese capital, Beijing, one of the world’s most polluted cities.<\/p>\n

On Friday, pollution levels hit 180 microgrammes of PM10 particulates per cubic metre, more than double the safe limit of 80.<\/p>\n

PM10 particulates are emitted by vehicles, heating systems and heavy industry.<\/p>\n

Pollution levels were said to have fallen on Sunday but were expected to rise again on Monday.<\/p>\n

The government is to review pollution levels again, before deciding whether to extend the driving restrictions for longer.<\/p>\n

Officials say one heavy rainfall would have more effect than a one-day ban.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n

BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

{{Hundreds of police will monitor traffic in Paris on Monday after pollution levels prompted the French government to impose major restrictions.}} Only motorists whose cars have odd-numbered registration plates will be allowed to drive. On Tuesday, if the restrictions remain in place, it will be the turn of those with even-numbered plates. Ministers acted after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2000050961,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[101],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-13165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-internationl","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":{"id":2000050961,"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton13165.jpg","alt":"","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":0,"height":0,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton13165.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton13165.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton13165.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton13165.jpg","width":1,"height":1},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/IMG\/logo\/arton13165.jpg","width":0,"height":0}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000050961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13165"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=13165"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=13165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}