When athletes from all over the world will flock to Paris for the Olympics in the summer of 2024, they will be able to train or enjoy a leisurely bike ride in the city without the risks of running into traffic. That's the idea, at least. Shortly before being re-elected in January 2020, the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo announced a forward-thinking plan to make “the city roads entirely bicycle-friendly by 2024”.
The French capital administrators realised that the mobility revolution is an opportunity and that a less polluted and less congested city is a more prosperous, safer and happier one. Paris is not the only world capital city to have taken important steps on the way towards smart mobility but it certainly has one of the most ambitious projects pivoting on electric and conventional bicycles.
The vision is clear. All major services should be reachable within 15 minutes on foot, bike or at most, on electric public transport. Several important decisions have been made over the past seven years on the way towards an increasingly green and bike-friendly Paris. The most recent lowered the speed limit to 30 kilometres per hour on most streets, except for a few main roads, such as Boulevard des Maréchaux, the Bois de Boulogne and the Champs-Elysees (although the latter is set to be entirely pedestrianised in the near future).
As European Coordinator for Road Safety and Sustainable Mobility Matthew Baldwin told Pirelli on the sidelines of the UNRSSF Global Safety Week, the introduction of the so-called 30 zones in city centres is crucial on health, environmental and social grounds. A pedestrian or cyclist hit by a car travelling at 30 kilometres per hour has a 90 per cent chance of survival. If the car is travelling at 60 kilometres per hour, the probability drops to 30 per cent. Lowering the limit also reduces air and noise pollution.
Some 100 kilometres of new cycle lanes were created in Paris during the lockdown alone and new bicycle parking spaces are springing up almost daily. Several linear parks have been opened on the main roads running along the Seine, where bicycles are allowed to go, while private cars have already been banned from streets such as Rue de Rivoli.
Within the next few years, the aim is to reduce city traffic by at least 55% and to create other car-free zones, especially near schools. Strong of huge investments and awareness campaigns, Paris is changing its image from a busy, car-dependent city to the European capital of bicycles, the latter being the by-word for green transport and an excellent a formidable remedy for modern-day sedentary lifestyles.
Today there are more than a thousand kilometres of bicycle lanes in Paris and 650 more are already planned. Last spring alone, the number of cyclists increased by 70 per cent and discovering the Ville Lumière with a romantic bike ride is also becoming a popular activity among tourists. Of course, there is still a long way to go, both metaphorically and in practice. Many bicycle lanes are incomplete and temporary, and many citizens still rely on their cars in their daily lives. What is sure is that Paris is showing how bold choices can drive the green mobility transition in a major city.
