]The greening of Paris
( Manisha Gutman, The Hindu,Feb. 3, 2008)
Also discussed here: Slowth (Eric Britton, World Streets, Mar. 9, 2009)
Paris received an award recently for its Mobility Plan which was aimed at replacing its car culture with other and less polluting forms of transportation, including innovative bicycle and car sharing schemes, extensive information communication systems making known the availability of the alternatives and improved public transit based on the concept of “slowth”, not fast and growth.
Key Quotes:
“In a dense urban context, cars are the most inefficient system of transport, creating traffic jams and needing more and more parking space. The car culture in the city had to be replaced by alternative systems of transport”
“Priorities of the New Mobility plan for Paris:
- improving air quality and public health, with an emphasis on reducing carbon emissions.
- mobility had to be improved not only for the rich few, but for all, overcoming barriers of physical and economic handicaps.
- creating a beautiful city remained a priority.
- rejuvenate economic vitality, supporting commerce and tourism.
- regional solidarity, uniting the two million people who live within the city limits with the 12 million that live around the city, in the larger region of the Ile-de-France”
““autopartage” — public cars that can be hired successively by different users to cover different routes”
“a traffic system based on slowth is carefully calibrated to lower top speeds , but the entire system leads to far steadier flows and throughput, and, with it, greater safety, lower emissions, and higher quality of life all around”
Related articles
- Autolib: as successful as the Velib? Place your bet! (littlemeparis.com)
- Paris launches electric car scheme (telegraph.co.uk)
- Paris, Velib Bicycles, TERRIFIC (blogoath.wordpress.com)
- Bubble car self-service scheme launches in Paris (guardian.co.uk)
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