Public policies

Social impact of a measure restricting car traffic in the city centre

The Rouen Normandie Metropolitan Area (MRN) is considering restricting car traffic in its city centre by setting up either a Limited Traffic Zone (LTZ) or a Low Emission Zone (LEZ). Such systems present risks of inequity because mobility practices and transport equipment differ according to the populations and spatial contexts considered. In order to prevent these risks from manifesting themselves on the territory of the metropolis and to ensure that the measure implemented is not detrimental to social and environmental justice, MNR would like an analysis of the impacts of a LTZ and a LEZ, as well as a reflection on public policies capable of mitigating their adverse effects.

Within this framework, the main objective of this study is to quantitatively evaluate the impact of the LTZ on the one hand and the LEZ on the other, and to describe the possible socially and spatially differentiated effects of each of these two measures. The analysis characterizes socially and spatially the populations affected by the LTZ and LEZ, comparing the effects of the two measures, and then focuses on their acceptability to poor or vulnerable populations. This analysis is conducted through a re-run of a 2017 quantitative survey on the acceptability of a LTZ or LEZ-type device on the MNR’s territory.