Paris heralds the
mobility turnaround
»I would like to share this online find by Peter Jelinek on LinkedIn with you. I was back in Paris myself in autumn after about 15 years and was quite surprised by the positive traffic situation. It was very impressive to move through the city on foot and by public transport; significantly fewer cars, more car-free zones, less to no traffic chaos, more bicycles, more green spaces, much better air, quieter and altogether much more pleasant and relaxed. A truly impressive example of a modern and sustainable urban policy. Chapeau for this trend-setting development and especially for the realisation power, dear Anne Hidalgo«, says BEM-Vorstand Christian Heep.
What you see in the picture is the air development in Paris or as Springer, CDU, CSU, FDP and AfD would say: »Ideological politics to improve the quality of life in a big city«. Paris has initiated the mobility turnaround and is getting ready for the climate crisis, as the city has already warmed up by an average of 2.3 degrees.
2 sectors are crucial: transport, which accounts for 13% of emissions in Paris, and the building sector with a whopping 72% of emissions. To change this, car parking spaces have been disappearing for years, motorways have been converted into bicycle and pedestrian zones, bus lanes and the underground have been expanded and green spaces have been added en masse. The aim: everyone can easily reach everything they need – i.e. supermarkets etc. – within 15 minutes, emissions are falling, the city is cooling down and the air is getting better. Mayor Anne Hidalgo (Social Democratic Party) has planned or already realised the following:
– Rededicate 70,000 parking spaces for parks, protected cycle lanes, playgrounds, public spaces
– 700 km of new cycle paths have been created since 2016, with a strong upward trend
– the end of the combustion engine is coming: by 2030 in all public vehicles
– the banks of the Seine have already been closed to cars. Previously, there were 40,000 cars a day
– 170,000 new trees are being planted
– over 170 ‘school streets’ where cars used to park have already been replaced by playgrounds and green spaces
– Water dispensers, public toilets etc. have been built
And just for context: the CDU won the last mayoral election in Berlin with posters such as ‘Berlin is for everyone. Also for car drivers’. Since the election, the 500 metres of traffic-calmed Friedrichstraße have been open to cars again. No trees, no cycle paths, but instead car parks, concrete and tar. We can see how things can be done differently in Paris.