As one of the measures to counter the worsening air pollution in Paris, the authorities made all modes of public transport free in the city for the third consecutive day. The French capital has also barred half of the cars from travelling as the city witnesses the worst pollution levels in 10 years.
Reports state that a similar scheme will be implemented in Lyon on Friday as the pollution across the country is becoming worse. Paris also adapted the odd-even scheme to control the pollution levels in the city. The scheme requires all cars of even number plates to commute on one day and the ones with odd number plates to commute on others.
According to reports, the ban scheme imposed by the government was not followed by all residents on the first two days and certain disruption in transportation services also caused local politicians to argue over the new rule. Some of the right-wing politicians asked the government to lift the ban on cars till the time issues with local trains were resolved.
On the first days of the car ban, a limited drop in car emissions was recorded between 5 to 10 percent because only half of the vehicles in the city followed the odd-even scheme, Airparif reported. According to the rule, any driver who does not abide by the scheme faces a fine upto 22 to 73 euros.
To curb the increasing levels on air pollution in the city, Paris had made Velib bike-share Autolib electric cars, Paris metros and bus services free for commuters on Friday.
In many regions of the Northern France, authorities have encouraged drivers to opt for car pooling and the residents in the region have been asked to avoid wood fires. According to Airparif, the escalation in the pollution levels in the country is caused because of accumulation of pollutants due to anticyclonic conditions in the region.
