During a press conference at the main city hall in Nice, Christian Estrosi revisited one of his priorities: air quality. During this address, the deputy mayor announced his plans to reduce NO2 (nitrogen dioxide) emissions in Nice.
From the start of the press conference, Christian Estrosi set the tone. “I remind you that the objective pursued by the ZAPA (Priority Action Zones for Air) is to reduce pollution related to road traffic in urban areas and thus improve the health of the inhabitants.”
To reduce vehicle pollution, the deputy mayor advocates the benefits of the tramway. Recalling that Line 1 has already contributed to a decrease in unnecessary trips, Christian Estrosi announced that the effort will continue with the second line, which will be operational in 2016. “The implementation of Line 3 of the tramway alone will allow a reduction in atmospheric pollution by approximately 20%.”
Heavy trucks in the crosshairs
In his plans, Christian Estrosi has innovated. He wants a prefectural order to be implemented to prohibit heavy trucks from bypassing the city of Nice between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., and then in the evening between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Christian Estrosi also wants an ecotax to be implemented for heavy trucks crossing the French-Italian border. The deputy mayor cited examples of the Mont-Blanc and Fréjus tunnels, which utilize this ecotax system.
Old cars have nothing to worry about
Like seven other major cities, Nice was a candidate to ban vehicles manufactured before 1997. After studying the proposal, Christian Estrosi decided to abandon this project. “Cars dating from before 1997 represent only 2.5% of vehicles. We can expect that by 2016, this percentage will fall to something like 0.2%.”
