Paris transport chiefs have made all public transport free this weekend in a drive to cut pollution.

Transport in the Parisian region, known as Ile-de-France, will be free from Friday morning to Sunday evening, as an incentive for motorists to leave their cars at home.

Pollution levels in the French capital have been on “maximum alert” for the last three days.

“Considering the important risks for the inhabitants, I have decided, along with the government, to make all regional public transportations free during the pollution peak”, said in a statement Jean-Paul Huchon, head of the Ile-de-France region as well as of the regional public transport authority.

It was decided in 2011 to make public transport free when the concentration of fine-particle pollution tops 80 micrograms per m3 of air. In Paris, on Thursday, the fine-particle pollution level was 100mg/m3.

Photo credit CC BY Flickr/juanedc http://eurone.ws/1oQgt3o

(with agencies)