As emissions restrictions grow tighter, riders across Europe and the United Kingdom have had to adjust to the implementation of designated low emissions zones (abbreviated as LEZ in the UK and ZFE in France). Beginning in 2024, drivers and riders in France will need to adjust to another big change: Limited Traffic Zones, known in French as zone à trafic limitée, or ZTL.  

The city of Paris plans to create a ‘quiet’ or ‘peaceful’ zone in the city centre sometime toward the beginning of 2024 (an exact date has not yet been declared). Here, pedestrian, cyclist, and public transport traffic will be encouraged—but the use of private vehicles, such as motorbikes, will be restricted. The official areas to be covered will be the Paris Center, as well as the part of the Left Bank located north of Boulevard Saint-Germain.

The true restriction here is on through traffic, not drivers and riders who have reason to stop in the quiet zone. If you live or work in the area, for example, you’ll still be able to commute to your home, work site, doctor’s appointment, shopping destination, or other stopping point within this zone. What Paris wants to curb is the additional traffic running through these busy areas that doesn’t plan to stop there. It’s worth noting that the rules on no through traffic in the affected areas will also apply to electric vehicles and are not solely limited to combustion vehicles. 

According to the City of Paris’ estimation, only around 30 percent of the traffic that currently passes through the Paris city centre actually needs to be in that location for some reason. Everyone else is merely passing through, as a way to get between points located outside the city centre—and that’s exactly the traffic that this new zone will seek to curb. 

Limitation of motorised traffic in the area is expected to reduce both air and noise pollution, as well as create a better traffic environment for pedestrians and cyclists in the city centre. As time goes on, the city also offers the possibilities of more places to sit, meet with friends, exercise, play, and otherwise enjoy being outside in the centre of Paris.  

Enforcement will involve random checks by police, to be carried out upon exiting this special traffic zone. Bicycles, taxis, emergency vehicles, residents with visible parking passes displayed in their windows, and other visually-identifiable exceptions to this rule will not be selected for checks, says the city. Full details of the plan are available on the official Paris website, which we’ll link in our Sources.