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Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

cnn.com

101–110 of 392 posts

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#101
post #76

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> the argument of "fewer cars make for cleaner air" is gradually losing weight. Particles from tyre wear are a big contributor to local air pollution from cars - while they don't travel as far as CO2 to cause the larger scale problems, it's still going to be a local problem from electric cars, and since electric cars are generally heavier than equivalent petrol cars, that does mean they give off more tyre dust. Large…

Yep, CO2 is a problem but pm2.5 pollution made many cities hell to live in - and much (not all, of course) of that comes from rubber tyres and asphalt roads.

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#102
post #80
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new large cycling strips that appeared in the last 5-6 years are so good. At commute time there are frequently jammed with /cyclists/, but let's face it it's miles better than being stuck in a car. I shudder to think about the alternative where each cyclist was instead alone in a small car, this wouldn't even fit on the roads.

On a nice day it's fantastic to be out, but Paris can be cold and rainy. They really need to have a plan for those days, too. Paris Metro is pretty nice, and reaches most of the car free area. But I'm not sure if it can handle all of the cyclists if they're all trying to avoid a déluge.

> Paris can be cold and rainy

I cycle in Paris every week, and the only annoying experience climate-wise is the extreme heat you can get some days in july and august. If it's cold or wet, you can just wear appropriate clothes and be comfortable. But if it's sunny and 35°C, you are going to be drenched in sweat no matter what! Of course, being in the metro those days is even worse...

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then public transport has to improve also. You cant make owning a car impossible without offering alternatives.

Generally, restrictions on cars make public transport better automatically, as they make buses work better.

It certainly helps the buses move more efficiently, but it can't do much about things like bus stop placement, or just generally sense of place as you start or end your trip.

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#104

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Why reclaiming city space is biased but covering the thing in parking lots is not?

Yeah, if there is any agenda, that's the pro-car agenda... It's absurd to call people wanting to get rid of cars taking space, polluting with noise, dust and emissions, and killing their children part of a 'green agenda'... What? Big Pedestrian is pushing for banning cars?

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#105

In an American city I would bet on the mobility impaired people to win the cage match against the fewer cars people. They are tougher than they look. Edit: The responses reasonably talk about the officially mobility impaired people. I was thinking more about the unofficially mobility impaired people by obesity, like me. French obesity rates are ~16% compared to ~42% in the US. That contributes to a fierce US constitu…

> I was thinking more about the unofficially mobility impaired people by obesity, like me

The vast majority of obese people are not meaningfully mobility impaired.

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#106

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Electric cars tend to be heavier than ICE cars. This means their tyres wear out faster, which is plastic dust being thrown up in the air. (We're still not sure of the health impacts of microplastics, but we do know they accumulate in various organs, including the brain.) They also throw up road dust, and we know that rock dust is really bad to breathe in. Air pollution is still present. Compared to ICE cars fitted wi…

We don’t really know if eating microplastics is particularly bad, but we do know breathing any pm2.5 and below dust is.

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#107

This article has such a weird framing. It keeps repeating how the cleaner air is so good for tourists. But tourists visiting Paris for a week don’t get the majority of the benefit from cleaner air. The Parisian residents living there throughout the year do. Maybe because it’s CNN, an American outlet, they’re focused on the “tourist”, but these benefits have mostly accrued to Parisians. Also, the 4% increase in traffi…

When did the fad for compact cars end? Where did all these SUVs come from? Why do drivers want to lug all this extra weight and space around with them all the time?

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#108
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a nice day it's fantastic to be out, but Paris can be cold and rainy. They really need to have a plan for those days, too. Paris Metro is pretty nice, and reaches most of the car free area. But I'm not sure if it can handle all of the cyclists if they're all trying to avoid a déluge.

I live in the Netherlands where the weather is arguably tougher than in Paris (rain, cold and wind for large portion of the year) yet everyone bikes year in year out. And not just young active people, it's a habit found across all age groups, parents bike their children to school (or with them if old enough, etc.) All that to say I wouldn't worry too much about the feasibility issue, it's really more of a mindset to…

Paris has one thing that Amsterdam does not that makes cycling more challenging: elevation. (Ok, Amsterdam has bridges but those are for the most part really short and momentum is enough to carry you across).

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#109
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A city with less cars is a net positive for mobility impaired people. It frees space for people (wider sidewalks...), reduce the risks of navigating the streets, and for the ones that have to use a car, there's less traffic and less people stealing dedicated parking spots. Less cars also means less mobility impaired people. Cars create them through crashes and a lifetime of sedentariness. Finally, it should be noted…

> they are not mobility impaired themselves and don't actually care about them. That's a baseless and false slur. My first thought was that visiting Paris would be difficult because of all of the walking. I fall in the large gap between disabled and fit. On the one hand I would benefit from more walking, on the other I would not get much enjoyment out of a city that way, and would tend to drive far to services where…

I think you’d have a fairly miserable time navigating any major European city _by car_, even before these policies. They’re largely not designed for it. For a start, where are you parking? It’s not like parking was particularly plentiful or conveniently located before this change.

These sorts of reforms are generally aimed at discouraging people from commuting in by car. People who _regularly drive around central Paris_ (except for delivery drivers etc) would be a fairly small constituency.

Re: Mayor of Paris removed parking spaces, reduced the number of cars

#110

This article has such a weird framing. It keeps repeating how the cleaner air is so good for tourists. But tourists visiting Paris for a week don’t get the majority of the benefit from cleaner air. The Parisian residents living there throughout the year do. Maybe because it’s CNN, an American outlet, they’re focused on the “tourist”, but these benefits have mostly accrued to Parisians. Also, the 4% increase in traffi…

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Here the large SUVs make everyone else drive slower in the city, because they're so big the driver has poor visibility and thinks they need several feet more than they do in clearance, and so drive almost in the middle of the road. Others then have to go real slow to not get dinged up on either side.
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