A Parisian vision could soon be shared by other cities around the world
A good article in Slate, “How Paris kicked out the cars”, explains the efforts of the French capital’s Spanish-French mayor, Anne Hidalgo, decarbonize her city by building new infrastructure, improving public transportation, and imposing restrictions on cars.
The ongoing project to turn the world’s most famous avenue, the Champs Elysées, into a car-free garden, begun two years ago, is backed by an ambitious plan to create more than 1,000 kms of bicycle lanes throughout the city, along with electric-powered transportation, which are dramatically reducing car use.
Between 2001 and 2018, car circulation was reduced by 60%, and by 35% between the city and its suburbs. Accidents have been reduced by around a third, and air pollution has fallen appreciably. In addition, providing new bus lanes, streetcars and metro lines has led to a 40% increase in the number of passengers over the same period. The bike lane infrastructure is also wide enough to be used by emergency vehicles, with the response time for firefighters, police or ambulances now reduced on average to less than seven minutes. Parisians can also get a 50% subsidy to buy an electric bike — up to €600 if it’s for transporting goods. There are also subsidies of up to €50,000 delivery vehicles.
