In Grenoble, the local subtlety of the ZFE for individuals
Since 2019, the Grenoble metropolitan area has two low-emission zones: one for utility and professional vehicles, established in 27 of the 49 municipalities in the region; and the second for private vehicles, in effect in 13 municipalities at the heart of the metropolitan area since 2023. The latter has gradually banned the circulation of vehicles with Crit’Air stickers 5, 4, and then 3 in this area, during weekdays and daytime. In the larger Grenoble region, this represented, according to the latest available figures, nearly 75,000 owners.
Two ZFEs still in effect – but very little monitored – in line with the will of metropolitan officials and despite a subtlety. The Grenoble metropolitan area was no longer one of the territories required to implement these measures by the Climate and Resilience Law because it had fallen below pollution thresholds and was now simply classified as a “vigilance zone.” However, the territory has maintained the ZFE for individuals because it is still bound by the Grenoble Alpes Dauphiné Atmospheric Protection Plan 2022-2027, which mandated its implementation.
A gray area that adds to the possibility that the text could still, in the end, be censored by the Constitutional Council. After the first vote by parliamentarians on the subject in June, and pending clarification from the government, metropolitan officials in Grenoble suspended, in September, the incentives for renewing vehicles offered to individuals. And the president of the metropolitan area, Christophe Ferrari (Place Publique), did not hide his annoyance at the government’s disengagement and the cost of the scheme for the community. The future of the ZFE will therefore continue to be a challenge for metropolitan officials who had already planned, before the end of the previous term, to bring the matter back for discussion next year.
In Grenoble, Albane Pommereau
