In Paris, Anne Hidalgo loves the car... that hands out speeding tickets

Capable of recording up to 1500 cars per hour, the “flash car” is the preferred enforcement tool of the City of Paris.

Better to laugh about it. An openly auto-phobic city, Paris has been at the forefront of technology since 2018 with its flash cars. We are no strangers to inconsistencies, nor social issues. Governed by socialist ideals, the French capital has replaced its famous “pervenches” officers with these cars operated by a private company. For image and cost-saving reasons, these vehicles are electric, mainly Renault Zoe.

In 2023, parking violation fines for unpaid parking tickets brought in a whopping 179 million euros for Paris. These controls are carried out by a private contractor, Moovia, which reportedly takes around 25% of the fine amount to carry out its delegated enforcement mission.

Moovia (owned by the Transdev and Egis groups) also renewed its 4-year lease with the Paris City Hall in 2023. Moovia conducts controls in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 19th, and 20th arrondissements of the capital, as well as in Bois de Vincennes. Notably, the 7th and 16th districts are spared, which is surprising…

Seventeen electric vehicles are deployed across these 18 districts. They are all capable of reading license plates and communicating with the parking rights registration center, where each user must input their registration number. If your plate is not registered or if the payment has expired, the image review center based in Saint-Ouen automatically issues a post-parking fine (FPS).

What is an FPS?

The post-parking fee (FPS) constitutes a charge for occupying public land and is no longer a fine (criminal penalty). The FPS amount corresponds to the fee for 6 hours of parking, which is €75 in Zone 1 or €50 in Zone 2 for light vehicles. Since September 1^st, 2022, the FPS is €37.50 in Zone 1 or €25 in Zone 2 for a motorized two-wheeler. In the parks, the rate is the same as Zone 2.

Within 9 days of the send date indicated on the payment notice, the FPS can be paid at a reduced rate (-30%). It can be paid directly online.

The Paris City Hall praises the virtues

The ruthless crackdown on offenders aims to instill fear in motorists who, in turn, quickly return to their cars and flee. “These new parking control methods will lead to increased vehicle turnover, the possibility of finding a parking space more quickly, smoother traffic flow, and a reduction in cars in the city center in favor of public transportation and new mobility options,” reads the advocacy statement co-signed by Moovia and the Paris City Hall.

How to bypass the system?

The driver of the Renault Zoe, spending their day traveling the streets of Paris, mainly has to move the radar units mounted on the roof. They are not required to stop if a license plate is unreadable. In Paris, tricks to fool the radars are developing, as there are fewer human agents or they focus on ticketing two-wheelers. The latter are parked facing away from the road, thus protected from flash cars.

Warning: altering your license plate is a criminal offense in France. The fine can reach up to €3,750. Therefore, people look for tricks. In autumn, a fallen leaf covering the plate works very well, even to escape numerous fire radars.