Pollution : the production of vignettes Crit’Air can barely keep up with demand – Release

While a new peak pollution particles affects a large northern half of the country, the production of the thumbnails Crit’Air runs at full speed. The frame rate had to be accelerated to meet the demand. At Monday, 23 January, more than 3 million of these certificates quality of air had been ordered in France – color-managed thumbnails which classifies vehicles in six categories according to their level of polluting emissions. Exactly 3 282 600, of which 2 671 000 for individuals and 611 400 for professional fleets, according to the latest figures provided by the ministry of the Environment to Release.

About one-half (1 625 200, excluding fleet) of these orders came from the Ile-de-France. Nothing surprising, since all motorized vehicles entering Paris must display since 16 January these thumbnails. The idea is to permit to regulate the flow of traffic in case of peak pollution to replace the alternating circulation system (according to the license plates, odd or even) to the effectiveness disputed.

Gold only a week after the introduction of these thumbnails, a new peak was there, forcing Paris to be put in place for the first time the “traffic ” differentiated” : vehicles which are not classified (for the most part dating from before 1997) and class 5 (registration between 1997 and 2001) have not had the right to move within the perimeter of the A86 Monday, a measure which was repeated on Tuesday and Wednesday. The access to Lyon and Villeurbanne was also limited on Monday, and the device will be renewed on Tuesday (the thumbnail is not mandatory, but “strongly recommended”). In Grenoble, the traffic will be prohibited on Tuesday, to cars registered before 1997.

One million certificates in production

a Result, all the drivers concerned are not yet equipped, far from it. On the certificates already ordered, only 1 798 000 have been shipped in total, of which 659 000 in the Ile-de-France. the “A little over one million certificates are in the process of production, said the ministry. in We had sized the system for the

manufacture of 500 000 certificates per week. But to cope with the demand, we turn today to 750 000 per week or more.” Idem for the web site on which the French are being asked to buy their vignette for a 4,18 € – “the cost of printing”, according to the ministry. This site, “had the ability to save 100 000 requests per day, but the frame rate had to be increased”. Nothing that Sunday, 165 000 applications of the thumbnails have been made. The applications have started to take off during peak pollution December and have accelerated with the approach of the new current peak. Where a slight traffic jam : “We are on a average time of receipt of ten days (instead of twenty-four to forty-eight hours in normal pace of production)”, said the ministry.

Evolution of the number of applications of Certificates of air quality. (ministry of the Environment)

For the people who have ordered the tile but have not yet received, don’t panic : a system of récepissé allows you to avoid being fined. A term, “approximately half of the fleet of vehicles” in French would be affected by the measure, the minister of the Environment Ségolène Royal who had asked at the beginning of January to the prefects to make it mandatory for the certificate Crit’Air in case of peak pollution in the urban areas covered by a plan of protection of atmosphere (PPA).

Coralie Schaub