What is the Crit’air sticker?
The Crit'Air sticker is a colored label that classifies vehicles according to their level of pollution. It is obligatory in ZFEs like the one that will be implemented in Bordeaux. It is mandatory for all vehicles, namely cars, trucks, but also two-wheelers. It can be obtained directly from the official online site (www.certificat-air.gouv.fr) for a few euros (between 2 and 6 euros). Once ordered, it must be stuck to the windshield.
How does it work?
Vehicles are classified into six categories, ranging from the green sticker for 100% electric or hydrogen cars to the 5 sticker for the most polluting vehicles. Some vehicles are “unclassified” and simply cannot obtain a Crit’Air sticker. Unclassified vehicles will no longer be able to drive or park within the intra-ring road from January 1. These are:
-
Cars registered before January 1997. Motorized two-wheelers registered before June 2000. Utility vehicles registered before October 1997. Heavy goods vehicles, buses or coaches registered before October 2001.
To find out whether or not your vehicle is eligible for a Crit'air sticker, simply access the following simulator. If your vehicle is eligible for a Crit'Air sticker (0 to 5), you will be able to drive and park in the ZFE. However, without a sticker, you will have to use specific lanes to access the park and ride areas. Around 8,000 Gironde households would be affected, according to Bordeaux Métropole, or 3.7% of households.
When will the various restrictions apply?
If the sticker is compulsory, its classification between 0 and 5 will only be useful in the event of pollution peaks, where traffic limits may be imposed, according to a classification ranging from one to five. There was, for a time, talk of banning, within the perimeter of the ring road, vehicles with thermal engines classified Crit'air 3 (petrols before 2006 and diesels before 2010). A third of vehicles circulating in Gironde would then have been affected, the Metropolis went back and relaxed the regulations.
To avoid penalizing the most vulnerable, a whole battery of exemptions is deployed:
The community is also launching a twenty-four day per year “ZFE pass” for unclassified vehicles, which allows occasional access to the intra-ring road.
Finally, for those not benefiting from exemptions, the automated control systems have not yet been deployed and will not be operational before 2027.
