Upon assuming leadership of the Nice city hall, Christian Estrosi had announced a desire to improve public transport and purchasing power. Following the introduction of the €1 transport ticket and the Blue Bikes scheme, the Deputy Mayor wanted to experiment with paid residential parking. Already in place in some towns in the department like Cannes, Nice has been experimenting with it since the beginning of April. The mayor described the outcome as “very positive,” noting that Zone 2 (bounded to the north by Boulevard Dubouchage, to the south by Avenue St Jean-Baptiste, to the east by Boulevard Carabacel, and to the west by Avenue Jean-Médecin), “is today the district in Nice where traffic flows the best,” he claimed.
“80% of noise pollution is due to traffic”
Every day, 310,000 people enter and exit the city, and 80% of the urban noise nuisance is due to traffic. That’s why by offering residential parking at an attractive price, Christian Estrosi hopes to encourage residents and workers to use public transportation. Especially since Nice is the first city where the Azur line card is valid for the tram, bus, and Blue Bikes, and this for a duration of 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Thirteen zones have been defined to benefit from the scheme. Each zone will have resident lanes and commercial lanes. With a residents’ parking card, the rate will be €1.30 per hour, €1.50 for the day, and €7 for the week.
For merchants, the card allows an attractive rate from 6 PM to 9 AM the following morning (€1.50). On Sundays and public holidays, merchants can also benefit from this price for a 24-hour duration.
As of September 15, 2009, the residential parking will be extended to zone 11 (Old Nice). The extension to other zones will be carried out gradually. By the end of the first quarter of 2010, all zones should benefit from it.
