Mayor of Paris plans city-centre car ban

On alternate weekends I start work at 07:00, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

I commute from Woking to Waterloo and then onwards to Liverpool Street.

On Fridays and Saturdays this is not a problem. However on Sunday the first train from Woking is not until 06:36 and arrives at Waterloo at 07:30. As you will all appreciate that is not a whole lot of use, especially as South West Trains and Network Rail have an irritating habit of cancelling the first 2 trains on a Sunday morning.

During the summer I use my motorbike to get to work on the necessary Sundays and in the winter I use the car.

I drive or use the motorbike because I have no choice, I would much rather use the train as would many others in the same position.

Perhaps if the Department of Transport and TFL can lean on the train companies and Network Rail it could happen.

Once again I would much prefer to be able to use the train on Sundays when I am doing early turn, but at present it is not an option.

We can do this too in London....banprivatecarsinlondon.com

Going from Calais to pretty much anywhere on the A75 south of Clermont Ferand will see Google route you through Paris via the periphique.

The last 3 times we've driven that route, we've gone through Paris at 1am, straight through at 70kmh, then back onto the 130kmh toll roads, which as others have said are brilliant.

Diesel ban between certain hours? I could go with that. Blanket ban - not so much.

Quote:

Who exactly does that remove???

The way I read it, it means only the people who actually live on those particular streets would be able to drive on them, not residents of other parts of Paris. That would exclude an awful lot of people.

Quote:

she proposes that only local residents be able to drive private cars,

The only other motor vehicles allowed there would be those belonging to the emergency services or

the city’s public transport network,

plus ones making local deliveries.

Who exactly does that remove???

The French do seem to see a problem and then fix it (unless it's public servant benefits...).

The English was, at least in transport, has been: "Hmm, motorised vehicles are problematic. It clearly will get better by having more of them".

Any sane person going N-S across France would plot a route avoiding the Paris area. Even if it was unavoidable, there's sufficient AutoRoute in the outer environs to avoid even going in as far as the Peripherique. Driving through the middle on a through-journey would be utter madness, so it is ridiculous to be upset about the prospect of not being allowed to do so!

IIRC, a previous mayor of Paris introduced cycle lanes in a sort of "make it so" fashion one August while all the natives with money were off holidaying in the south. He had large timbers placed on streets as designated bus/cycle lanes (so instant segregation, unlike London's constant moaning). There were complaints, of course, but apparently he wasn't in the pocket of the rich so he persevered and now Paris is quite a much better cycling city (the drivers are still French, though, so it pays to stay on your toes).

I guess it comes down to who comes first in cities - the people who live there (of whom over 50% will not own a car and 90% will not drive one daily) or to the fat-cats who are chauffeured in and out daily and expect the road to be cleared for them.

The thing is, you can have both. There will always be rich people unwilling to use public transport - the trick is to make them pay for that privilege - not make the other 99% pay for infrastructure which mostly serves the 1%.

Isn't this just classic displacement though?

If I need to get from North to South of France and I can't do it via Paris, then I just have to do 90kms more somewhere else, and then in the grand scheme of things, no one is a winner.

I hope this makes it to fruition. It's the type of scheme that other large cities will look at and think 'we can do that'.

I hope it does happen, and that it works, just to show the London naysayers that they're the problem...
Just think how amazing central London would be without all the cars...

It’s all Guff and Bluster though, isn’t it? You know what the French are like, the farmers will be blockading the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and burning bales of hay at the first sign of this even being implemented and the Mayor will bottle it. Dont get me wrong its a great idea, but tbh I doubt it will happen, I mean in real terms what about people who live in Paris and own a car? They will be made to sell it, I doubt it very much.

Paris may be a better place to cycle than Darlington shocker!

This is the sort of thing a city with a view to the future does. London, despite all the talk, still prefers to look to the past.