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rando
03-17-07, 09:50 AM
got this from www.pps.org. it's my new favorite site. :)

Mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë has unveiled his plans to cut traffic in the capital by 40%. The plans, which also aim to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases by 60%, has met serious opposition with both drivers and right-wing parties.

Bertrand Delanoë's plans to reduce traffic in Paris by 40% have been provisionally approved by the town council thanks to the combination of votes from Socialists, communists and green party members. The UMP voted against the plans while François Bayrou's UDF abstained. The plans have taken two years to come to fruition, and represent what Bertrand Delanoë hopes will become his legacy for the capital.

The aim is that by 2020, emissions of greenhouse gases will be reduced by 60%. The project should be adopted definitively in 2008 after a public inquiry and a further vote by local mayors. Lauded by Denis Baupin, the plan includes the extension of the recently terminated tramway all the way to the Porte d'Asnières in the north-west of the city by 2013. The addition of "civilised thoroughfares" will give priority to buses and bicycles, while the troubled line 13 will see further trains and a new signal system. A sixth RER (express suburban metro) line has also been proposed (originally by the UDF party) which will link Saint Lazare and Montparnasse stations in the north-west and the south-west of the city respectively.

Transport will be free for those living under the poverty threshold, while the banks of the Seine will become fully pedestrianised. Indeed, a number of areas may become pedestrianised throughout the city, while speed limits will be reduced in areas such as Beaubourg.

The boulevard périphérique, the motorway the circles the city, will be forced to include a lane that allows the quick passage of buses, taxes and emergency vehicles.

While these plans have been adopted, they are not yet definitive and are subject to a further vote after the municipal elections in 2008. However, Delanoë is expected to win these elections against a weak opponent, probably Françoise de Panafieu.

Bekologist
03-17-07, 10:05 AM
boy, I wonder if such far reaching and progressive plans would ever fly in this country against the entrenchement of the american car lobby, and anti-cyclist advocates like those affiliated with the american dream coalition?

!

Bruce Rosar
03-17-07, 10:46 AM
got this from www.pps.org...
The addition of "civilised thoroughfares" will give priority to buses and bicycles, ... I wonder if the new scheme will avoid creating the sort of conditions that a Parisian cycling organization objected to during the scandal of Maréchaux (http://www.bikexprt.com/bikepol/facil/paris/mdb.htm). Quoting from a Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segregated_cycle_facilities#Road_traffic_legislation_and_its_implications):
Cyclists faced twice the number of traffic signals as motorised traffic and were expected to wait over one minute to get seven seconds of green time.

sbhikes
03-17-07, 11:47 AM
The future is coming. Look out motorist activists pretending to be bicycle advocates. The future is about to come crashing all around you.

Bruce Rosar
03-17-07, 12:19 PM
The future is coming... ...after you (http://www.universalorlando.com/usf_attr_t2.html) (and they're motorized!) :D

randya
03-17-07, 12:38 PM
The revolution will not be motorized.

unkchunk
03-17-07, 01:27 PM
The future is coming. Look out . The future is about to come crashing all around you.

I myself don't think it's coming. But if it does, I would love to see their faces when it happens. My biggest peeve are these, as you put, "motorist activists pretending to be bicycle advocates". From all the talk I hear, I should be seeing one utilitarian cyclist for each car. Most days, the only other cyclists I'll see is when I glimpse my own reflection in a store window as I ride pass.

Bikepacker67
03-17-07, 02:27 PM
The boulevard périphérique, the motorway the circles the city, will be forced to include a lane that allows the quick passage of buses, taxes and emergency vehicles.

A socialist slip of the tongue?

Bruce Rosar
03-17-07, 02:35 PM
A socialist slip of the tongue?Perhaps the taxi fares in Paris are so heavily taxed that the translator confused them? ;)

AndrewP
03-17-07, 07:07 PM
Paris neighborhoods generally have a good mix of residential, commercial and light industry so many people do not have to travel big distances. This makes a reduced car system easier to implement.

chemcycle
03-18-07, 10:50 PM
The plan might work in cities that have the highest densities (for example, parts of New York city, parts of Chicago) where, as the article states, one doesn't have to travel far to go to work, school, etc. But, for the rest of the US, the burbs....unless we want to build cities with higher densities, it's not practical. It's a nice, if naive, dream.

anti-cyclist advocates like those affiliated with the american dream coalition?

I think you give people too much credit. Most people don't even think about cyclists. It's not that they're against them, cyclists are just not on any one's radar.

sbhikes
03-19-07, 08:40 AM
But, for the rest of the US, the burbs....unless we want to build cities with higher densities, it's not practical. It's a nice, if naive, dream.
That is why many cycling groups work with sustainable transportation and smart growth groups. That is what that PPS web site is all about. Suburbs aren't some unstoppable force of nature. They are a deliberate design choice based upon heavy reliance on the personal automobile.

rando
03-19-07, 08:45 AM
pedestrianization of some areas, lowering speed limits, increasing public transit, banning cars in some areas, are things that can be done anywhere, I'd think. start small and work up as people see the benefits.