Driving Restrictions Issued in Paris due to High Air Pollution and Smog Levels

Last month, Chinese officials issued an "orange alert" for Beijing's air pollution after smog levels reached an unbearable stage. Now, French officials are enacting driving restrictions because the city of Paris is experiencing dangerous levels of air pollution.

Public transportation in Paris has already offered free rides for three days to and from the city in order to help reduce the pollution, but now the French government is instituting gas crisis-esque driving limitations. People will be able to drive their cars into the city every other day, based on the odd or even numbers on their license plates.

Environmental experts reported that the smog levels in Paris have been the worst on record and are comparable to those in Beijing last month. French officials made the call earlier today because it was the fifth day in a row that the air pollution exceeded safe levels. Paris' high number of private car drivers is believed to play a role in this issue.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) recorded 147 microgrammes of particulate matter (PM) per cubic meter of air in Paris on Thursday. The safe limit is 80. The numbers have been increasing since Thursday, which has prompted officials to announce limitations on driving in hopes of clearing the air. This is the first such ban in 20 years, coming days before municipal elections.

Although a problem in Paris, these numbers haven't yet come close to Beijing's 239 PM per cub meter of air. The World Health Organization recommends that PM remain at 25 for a full 24-hour period, which has not been the case. Beijing's pollution was so serious that children and the elderly were suggested to stay in doors, in addition to commuters being recommended to take public transportation.

To read more about the smog issue in Paris, visit this BBC News article as well as this Reuters article. You can also read about the Beijing smog alert from February in this Bloomberg news article.