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How Paris beat the car
Though chaotic, the city’s car-lite transition has become a global role model.
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The first lesson: Pushing out cars improves life for most inhabitants.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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Simon Kuper
Each morning, as I cycle to my office along Paris’ new bike paths, my only aim is survival. In my decades here, I have absorbed the uniquely Parisian mix of officiousness and rule-breaking: One moment I’ll be yelling self-righteously at a truck chilling on the bike path, and the next I run a red light. In Paris, other cyclists get angry if you block them by stopping for red.
The city’s transition away from the car, though fantastically chaotic, has become a global role model. Under Mayor Anne Hidalgo, Paris was “the most influential city in the world”, says Canadian urbanist Brent Toderian.
