How Paris is Leading a Sustainable Transportation Revolution
How Paris is Leading a Sustainable Transportation Revolution
Check out the first video in this series on how the Netherlands built a biking utopia – https://youtu.be/bnFYOvcOn_E
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Follow Marcel on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/marcelemoran
Creative commons Paris cycling footage by Streetfilms: https://www.youtube.com/@StreetfilmsCommunity
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All across Paris, streets that used to be choked with traffic and pollution have been converted to bike paths and protected lanes.
Riverside highways have been converted to cafes, playgrounds, and even beaches.
Streets that used to be filled with parked cars are now full of trees and bike parking.
So what’s going on in Paris and what can cities around the world learn from this massive project?
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**Sources**
Marcel’s study / maps on bike lanes in Paris: https://findingspress.org/article/33765-treating-covid-with-bike-lanes-design-spatial-and-network-analysis-of-pop-up-bike-lanes-in-paris
In 2015, Hidalgo announced a 150 million euro program for new cycling infrastructure:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-06/now-paris-wants-to-become-the-world-capital-of-cycling
Converting the Georges Pompidou Expressway to a biking and pedestrian area: https://slate.com/business/2016/09/paris-is-turning-the-expressway-on-the-seine-into-a-park-for-six-months.html
Paris removing 70% of on-street parking: https://www.brightvibes.com/paris-is-removing-70000-on-street-car-parking-spaces-to-free-up-space-for-people/
Paris’ most recent 250m euro investment in cycling:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-22/how-paris-will-become-100-cyclable
Between 2020 and 2021, cycling traffic in Paris grew by 70%: https://unfccc.int/climate-action/un-global-climate-action-awards/climate-leaders/city-of-paris
Car ownership has fallen from 60 to 35%:
Paris has cut its carbon emissions by 20%:
https://unfccc.int/climate-action/un-global-climate-action-awards/climate-leaders/city-of-paris
How Paris Kicked Out the Cars: https://slate.com/business/2023/03/paris-car-ban-bikes-cycling-history-france.html?utm_source=pocket_saves
If you want to read more about Paris urbanism and cycling infrastructure, I recommend following and read the work of Henry Grabar at Slate and Feargus O’Sullivan at Bloomberg. I wouldn’t have been able to make this video without their work.
Henry Grabar: https://slate.com/author/henry-grabar
Feargus O’Sullivan: https://www.bloomberg.com/authors/AUe6rwqGKkE/feargus-osullivan
Creative commons video usage
#biking #urbanism #sustainability
You’ll own nothing and be happy.
0:08 and there is already a mistake… you just had to check the map come on
Ehm… Now imagine all these cars rammed into the surrounding neighborhoods, away from the rich boulevards and in traffic jams like it never existed with insane levels of pollution, because of course the cars are stuck now. That’s Paris today, a living hell of stuck circulation, frustrated drivers and mad cyclists who respect no roadsigns and create major dangers. Your idea of Paris is very poorly documented, sorry, the situation is a disaster. You used pictures of the recent past during rush hour, but you probably don’t know that today, rush hour lasts pretty much all day. If you’ve been to Istanbul or Jakarta, you can get an idea of Paris traffic, really. Add to this the Parisian narcissist attitude and one of the highest density in the world and you get the most aggressive city. Hidalgo is the most hated politician too, because she’s a narcissist who just want to shine and who takes measures without solutions to balance them out, the list is endless. There are even traffic jams in bycicle lanes, it’s total anarchy, people are exhausted and worried becaus of very dangerous circulation paths too. Just to get one extra meter and get their subventions, you know that type of scheme. She has destroyed Paris and put us in debt of 10billion euros… We never voted for her, she gets elected by the mayors of the various arrondissements and she failed miserably at the last socialist elections, where people voted. Everyone hates her man, Paris has become a nightmare, ask Parisians and you’ll see.
Sure, bike lanes make a big difference…. also their soon to be 18 metro lines spanning hundreds of kms of track with more than 300 stations probably has something to do with it.
From my experience Madrid has one of the best transport systems…The metro, without a car you can more or less travel from one side of Madrid to the other….I hate driving….. But most people won’t give up their car….. Tony cuenca
nice
FYI : Velo’v created in Lyon in 2005 is the creator for Velib in Paris
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vélo%27v
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vélib%27_Métropole
I have ridden my bike in Kopenhagen and, yes, that‘s bike heaven. But this year I took my folding bike to Paris… and I was stunned. What a giant step ahead from 2019, when I last visited the city for more than a day in/out and had time to walk around. I rode from my hotel to the office, about 3km (actually, I planned it that way, to experience the rush hour on bike). It works.
And it is well accepted – there were so many people taking their bike in the morning, some bike lanes are really narrow and you have crowds at every red light (if the red light is obeyed, that is). So there is quite some anarchy to it, as always in Paris traffic. Some parts of Rue de Rivoli are perfectly designed, some are still work in progress, yes. Other roads, like Boulevard de Magenta, have narrow bike lanes where you must constantly look for pedestrians. However, you can feel quite❤ safe there.
And for those, who think about the „lost space“ for cars: First of all, its people, not cars that live in a city. A street like Rue de Rivoli is now a place, where you can live, shop, sit in a restaurant, not a highway. And given the enormous number of cyclists in the city: each of them would otherwise fill the metro or add another car to the roads. So… more bike lanes mean more bike travels, less car travels – and that‘s positive for those who still need to use a car.
This is very beautiful
Certes, Paris est devenu un paradis pour les vélos … mais c’est aussi un purgatoire pour les entrepreneurs qui y travaillent !
0:10 That is not rue de Rivoli lmao…..
150 million for just 80 km of cycling tracks is crazy! Especially considering that as of now most of these new cycling lanes are just painted lanes on highways, not even properly protected
What BS…the shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line….. Anything else involves more time and distance….A no brainer really…..Do the maths…. Tony cuenca
Left liberal citys are the best to live in
“Paris” and “leading” in the same sentence 😂
This city is nothing but a combination of the worse from LA (cars) + a mess from Amsterdam (cycles everywhere).
Paris is maybe "leading" the rest, but are still way behind the Dutch, who figured out a long time ago how to build a proper integrated transportation network for multiple modes of transport.
It’s very hard to compare Paris with Amsterdam or Copenhagen, Paris is very dense and has more than thrice the population
"Those changes are useless if the city is filled with graffiti, trash, and rats everywhere."
Don’t wait but just close the streets for cars, they do that here in the Netherlands too. It’s not difficult.
What Paris is doing is absolutely amazing. But I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re ‘leading’, more like following. Still great. But as you said yourself, they only started to change things recently.
This is what Istanbul needs as well. It’s a terrible terrible city with lots of pollution thanks to cars and trucks
I think as a major European city, Paris should be less car-centric and accommodate more people who want to be on-foot or on bicycles
POSTOJE I ELEKTRIČNI ZA STARIJE LJUDE I MOŽDA NAPRAVE I ZA INVALIDE KAKAV BICIKL ❤
Bullshit, fake like never
Great for Paris! And great that it works! But… Paris is now only starting to implement what the Dutch cities are doing already for 30 or 40 years…
Getting around on foot in Paris has become hell. Cyclists and scooter riders believe that everything is permitted. Many drive on the sidewalks and do not respect pedestrians. Bike paths are poorly designed. Some are on the right side of the road. Others on the left. Some are one-way and go in the direction of traffic. Others in the opposite direction. Some are two-way. We no longer feel safe on the sidewalks and have to be very careful when crossing the street. Imagine the stress for an elderly person. Some major arteries allowing better fluidity of automobile traffic are now closed to cars. Imagine the traffic jams…🤔 Parisians are so exhausted that they voted 90% to abolish self-service electric scooters. All this makes the atmosphere of the city more aggressive than in the past. Paris with Hidalgo, an example not to be followed… A disappointed Parisian.😒
I can’t believe Paris doesn’t have rain,snow,sleet! Sounds like an amazing place to live 🤔
I always hated Paris but last time I went, a friend gave me his bike and it was amazing. I still hate Paris, but transport is now great!
Stop your BS. You’ve just moved traffic elsewhere. You’re not showing it because you know plenty of people don’t use their brains, are brainwashed, and are just followers. The parallel roads are insanely congested because of this stupid choice. Stop manipulating people. We will always need cars, that’s the truth. Everyone should do their best to use bicycles or walk whenever they can. I agree 100%. But when you built your cities or when you needed a car, you used it and it was nice. Now you all pretend to spit on cars, yet those who tell me we don’t need cars are the ones using them the most. Hypocrites!
I want to see all these “yes, let’s go green” idiots without food or goods because a vehicle didn’t bring it to the supermarket. They will be the first to cry for help. People, enough is enough. Stop saying nonsense. We’ve had 20 years of stupidity. Please open your eyes and see reality! For 20 years, most people have been pretending not to see. Now stop! Use bicycles as much as you can, yes, but enough BS about this. Instead, teach people to drive better:
1. Inflate tires properly.
2. Build elevated bridges at red lights to prevent stopping.
3. Use your brains while driving.
4. If there’s a red light 200 meters ahead, don’t accelerate. Focus when driving because cars anlre enoneered to do much better than how many are using them… like much much better in terms of gas saving, safety, longevity, general cost etc. THINK and study this and you will
Learn and apply a lot!
Let’s all work toward better and cleaner engines, but stop blaming engines 100% when they’re driven by low-brained people. Don’t you get drained from all the stupidity you’re watching, believing, and commenting on? They closed this road, and the parallel road is triple the traffic jam. It’s worse than ever!
Good. Now I can drive in peace without minding the air pollution I made just because everyone did it.
Amazing
Nevermind, my car gives me memories. No matter where, I go anywhere with my car, even when I’m going to heaven.
Yes, because I want to ride a bike to work and be extremely tired and sweaty when I get there.
BRAVO ZA PARIS MANJE ISPUŠNIH PLINOVA BRŽE PUTOVANJE ITD
I’m in Paris right now and it’s a huge difference from 10 years ago. There is so little traffic. And most of it in the congested areas are work trucks, buses and delivery trucks. The boulevards have much shorter crossing distances. Tons of bike parking now. It’s just amazing and much more pleasant and quieter.
Fact. Biking at an average speed of 12.8 miles per hour it will take 94 minutes or 1 hour and 34 minutes to travel 20 miles….so if you start work at 7am work out what time you will need to leave home….lol….Tony cuenca
The same is being done in Brussels, also thanks to covid, and it’s become much safer to bike even when there are no dedicated bicycle lane, because such changes make drivers aware of the bikes. Bikes are now part of the traffic and drivers know they have to drive accordingly!
The funny thing is people keep saying "You can’t just impose new laws and new cycling infrastructure to the detriment of cars" while admiring Amsterdam… Well, guess what? They did just that in Amsterdam, only 50 years ago!
You won’t make a city cyclable by waiting for car people to becom bike people. Force the change on the infrastructure and the rest will come 🙂
as a big proponent of cycling, i have to say i love the idea of 70% of onstreet parking being removed.
But you just need to guarantee some place/location of alternative solution for where some-most of those cars will go to park. some people will never be able to bike around due to age, medical condition or worst will. we do not need to exclude them from society. i am not saying this was done here. the video obviously doesnt go into enough depth to cover that. just saying we need to consider everyone in our changes. in every other aspect i love this kind of change
We did this 54 years ago in the Netherlands
RADOM REGIONAL RAILWAY in POLAND (EU)
https://youtu.be/VUHEtoWFaeA?si=wNIEjSTquxXtifZE
If your workplace is close to your home, riding a bike is a good idea. In America, our jobs are far away from home so riding a bike is not going to work. I have a few co-workers who live more than 50 miles away. That’s not a short distance at all.
That’s horrible thank god I don’t live in paris
Your map of Paris is wrong you took the wrong street, Rivoli is closer to the Seine
How does it take five years to study bike infrastructure in Paris
That’s how tthey are condition you to only afford a bycicle and eat plants . No more travel no meat. Jist like a communist paradose…😂
The French peasants are so gullible. Anne Hidalgo rides in a limo but you accept your servitude. No wonder france welcomed the Nazis with open arms.
La economía de la ciudad se irá para abajo
Running a bike in other cities maybe grateful but in Paris, it’s afwul! In Paris, bikers and scooter drivers are very obnoxious toward pedestrians. They never stop at the red lights and they are very indisciplined.
All counteu can be prefctly car free there will alawys be private cars and trucks. However I respect what Amsterdam does but they still have cars there I just hope people don’t becmome jaded.
I’m in Paris now and I noticed a big difference in the situation of 2 years ago. Now, I think, that the bicycles are more than cars! There are a lot of cycling paths, many of them are separated. There are a lot of parking for bicycles. This make easy moving by bike. And you see bicycles everywhere.
Besides there are at least 4 bike sharing systems, of which Velib is the best. Most of the deliveries are made by electric cargo bikes.
Let’s hope to see a 100% bikes city within 2026.
This is a demonstration that political and public participation can make miracles!