Mobility in Paris: Giving the City Back to its People
#nextvisions for a congested city
We sent podcast host and self-proclaimed “expert on everything” Markus Herrmann on a road trip across Europe to find out how cities embrace the future of urban space. In this episode, we’re in Paris, a city that has been struggling with congestion for a long time. But they also have a clear plan on how to make it human-friendly again.
Although the “city that never sleeps” refers to New York, this characteristic applies just as well to Paris. Unfortunately, this is also reflected in the city’s traffic. If you take a look at the live data of Google Maps during the rush hour, for example, there is almost no street in the city that is not congested and therefore highlighted in red. Reason enough to have a look around and find out how Paris’ authorities are trying to make a change.
With more than 2.2 million inhabitants, Paris is the fifth-largest city in the EU. And with over 12.5 million people, it is the second-largest metropolitan region in the EU after London.
With a comparatively small city area of only 105 square kilometers, Paris is the most densely populated major city in Europe with around 21,000 inhabitants per square kilometer.
Detailed information on mobility in Paris in a worldwide comparison can be found in the Urban Mobility Index.
Paris clears public space for cyclists
Along the Seine it is clearly visible how much work has already been done in Paris regarding a new human-centric infrastructure. Along the river, many streets and motorways have recently been closed to cars. Now cyclists will benefit from the newly available space as the city continues to build cycling routes along the river.
It is noticeable that Paris is rather in the lower third of the Urban Mobility Index in almost all categories, but ranks second in one: The ratio between average journey time by public transport and by car. One of the reasons for this is, of course, the density on the streets of the French capital, as already mentioned. But this is also contrasted by one of the densest underground railway networks in the world.
For the world exhibition in 1900, Paris not only got the Eiffel Tower but also its first metro line. In the meantime, the subway system has grown to 16 lines with a total of 303 stations. The density of the stations is so high that the average distance between them is only 500 meters. Châtelet-Les Halles station, where five metro lines and three lines of the RER meet, is even considered the largest metro station in the world. One station of the Métro is also the long-distance station Gare du Nord, which is the most frequented station outside Asia. Paris not only delivers record-breaking numbers on rails but also on two wheels. The Vélib’ Métropole public bike rental system was launched in 2007 and is the largest of its kind in the world, with currently over 13,000 bikes available at more than 1,200 fixed rental stations in Paris and surrounding communities. At peak times, the system had recorded an average of 100,000 rides per day in recent years, but after switching to a new provider, the figures have been declining.
Wide variety of transportation modes
Luckily, the are enough alternatives to get around in Paris. Lime, the American e-Scooter provider even used Paris as their first test ground in Europe. According to them, one percent of all journeys in Paris are now made on a Lime e-scooter. Such rapidly growing numbers are not without side effects. The city is also currently struggling with the flood of e-scooters in the streets and many of them get tossed in the river. Some still manage to benefit from this: The start-up “Guppy” made it its business to fish e-scooters out of the Seine.
In addition to the classic Vélib bike rental system, there are many other providers that operate without fixed stations. For example Mobike or Jump by Uber.
The world of e-scooters in Paris is currently just as colourful as in the rest of European cities, so it is difficult to keep an overview. Currently, you can find e-scooters from Lime, Voi, Bird, Tier, Hive, Dott and Flash on the streets.
With such a high density of stations, the Paris Métro is almost always a good option. In order not to be in a hurry to get used to the operation of the ticket machines, it is advisable to use the new Navigo Easy Pass. The pass is topped up and then simply validated per trip.
The Grand Paris Express project was created to accommodate the growth of the metropolitan area around Paris. The aim is to renew the existing mobility network by 2024 and add new, automated metro lines.
A new generation of entrepreneurs
Paris is not only the playground for the future of mobility, but for digital innovations in Europe. Since 2017, the start-up campus STATION F is located in the huge Hall F of the former Paris freight station. It’s now home to over 1,000 start-ups and numerous innovation departments of various well-known companies such as Facebook, Google, and Adidas. Where once containers were loaded, the world’s largest start-up hub is now located. More than 11,000 start-ups apply every year to get one of the coveted places in this unique project.
Digitalization is not the only way to light up old areas. The project „Parisculteurs”, which was initiated by Paris’ government, aims to make Paris greener. Since its founding in 2016, they are looking for ways to plant roofs, facades and walls. Furthermore, the initiative wants to bring back agriculture into the cityscape and therefore looks for cultivation areas. As a positive side effect, it doesn’t only encourage greening but also brings up innovative ideas in general. “La Caverne”, for example, is an urban farming project in which various types of mushrooms and salads are grown in an abandoned garage in the middle of the centre of Paris.
So there is no lack of creativeness and progress in Paris. It will be exciting to see how the city and its cityscape, as one of the pioneers in the EU, will change in the coming years.
To get a better view of STATION F, there are regular events open to the public. Registration under: https://stationf.co/fr/events/.
Some bus lines in the center of Paris are designed to take you to different places of interest. So you can easily check off the sightseeing with a public bus. For example, bus line 72 starts at the Hôtel de Ville and follows the course of the Seine past the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower.
Those who prefer to do their work in the fresh air and in the greenery are lucky: all parks in Paris have free WLAN. Just look out for “Paris-Wifi”.
Markus Herrmann is a blogger, author, and member of the successful podcast “Gästeliste Geisterbahn”. For Porsche, he is testing the mobility level of the Back 2 Tape metropolises in Europe.
The project “Back 2 Tape” is a cooperation between the Porsche Newsroom and music journalist Niko Backspin. It follows the tracks of hip hop in Europe. All further information on this project can be found in the Porsche Newsroom.
An important note: Markus’ trip through Europe as well as “Back 2 Tape” were produced before the outbreak of COVID-19. Porsche, Backspin and the involved agencies and artists are aware of their social responsibility and advise against such a trip at this time out of consideration for the health and well-being of all people.
