NBC Nightly News just finished a segment about the new bicycle program in Paris. One thing they mentioned is that with the new encouragement of bicycling, the local government is taking steps to ensure that cyclists obey traffic laws. Police on bikes, and standing near bike lanes, hand out tickets for running red lights and for other infractions.
The program is proving quite popular, and numerous American mayors are taking notice: less pollution, less congestion, are likely benefits of success.
Yes, it is true that the police are handing out tickets to cyclists. I saw it happen when I was there in August. And it is probably a good idea. One of the problems with Paris's bicycle program is that a whole bunch of people who hadn't ridden a bicycle in decades suddenly started cycling ... but they didn't really know how.
When I was there, we had to really watch out for the people on the taupe bicycles because they tended to be erratic and wobbly.
However, I do think that over all it is a good program.