How Paris Is Taking Back Its Streets From Cars
How Paris Is Taking Back Its Streets From Cars
Mayor Anne Hidalgo is waging "a war on cars." And she's winning.
Last month I published a newsletter and YouTube video about how the Netherlands built a biking utopia. To my surprise, it was one the most viewed and shared stories I’ve ever published.
I think the reason that story resonated with so many people was because it was about much more than biking or sustainable transportation. It was about the power of grassroots movements, how public policy shapes the world we live in, and what we can do to build better cities.
Today I’m excited to share a similar video with you all about a city that is following in the Netherlands footsteps: Paris.
I hope you all enjoy it.
Highlights from this video:
In 2015, Paris’ newly elected mayor, Anne Hidalgo, announced a 150 million euro program for new cycling infrastructure.
In addition to building bike infrastructure, Paris has also given residents money to buy new e-bikes.
In 2016, Paris closed a highway along the Seine and turn it into a pedestrian area and bike path.
A few years later, the city converted Rue de Rivoli, one of the busiest roads, into a cycling highway.
In 2020, Hidalgo announced that she would remove 72% of the city's parking spaces to accommodate cyclists.
During the pandemic cycling traffic in Paris exploded. To accommodate all the new cycling traffic, Paris built pop-up bike lanes.
The city’s transportation policies have been very popular. In 2020, Mayor Hidalgo promised to continue her bold redesign of the city during her successful re-election campaign.
The following year she made good on that promise when she announced a 250 million euro investment in cycling infrastructure.
Many of these changes seem to be working.
Between 2020 and 2021, cycling traffic in Paris grew by 70%.
Since Paris started this broader project about two decades ago, car ownership has fallen from 60% to 35%.
And all of this has helped Paris cut its carbon emissions by about 20% over that same period.