Anne Hidalgo keeps her seat as Paris Mayor and consequently, cars could grow rare in town. After a first mandate marked by the pedestrianization of the Seine riverbanks, Paris mayor – now re-elected – could turn things up a notch. The goal? A greener Paris, less polluted in order to host Paris 2024 Olympics as well as possible.
Paris Mayor already announced major measures in case she was reelected. For instance, she said she wanted to make bikeways durable when they have been set up during lockdown. She also intends to limit traffic within the capital to 30km/h. Moreover, among the first actions of the second mandate of Paris mayor is set the pedestrianization of the Canal Saint-Martin.
As for the mobility matter, Anne Hidalgo is helped by David Belliard. He has been named deputy mayor for the transport. In an interview with Le Parisien, he says that even though he wishes Paris to become a 100% cyclable city, the goal is not to make cars disappear completely. Actually, it would be more into letting go of useless cars.
He says the generalization of the traffic limited to 30km/h would be passed in the next couple of weeks. Even though he denies the idea of an urban toll booth, limiting the beltway to 50km/h remains one of the goals, and could be implemented by the half of Anne Hidalgo’s mandate. Parking places will also be reduced within the French capital and these spaces will be refitted for pedestrians: an idea that reminds us of the parklet that have been experienced already in Paris.
But what about alternatives? For those living outside Paris, David Belliard says this is one of the stakes. For instance, he speaks about the creation of park and ride stations to make the city still accessible to commuters.
Cars are yet not the only mean of transport that will have to be rethought. Even though making bikeways durable after lockdown is one of the most urgent matter, the regularization of self-service scooters is a priority as well. Fleets are subjected to a stricter control since they have been set up. Yet, you can still notice for instance scooters abandoned carelessly on sidewalks. Among the solutions considered, there are the set up of spaces devoted to parking them (special parking lots were already set up) and their charge. Last but not least, for two-wheelers, the time of free parking is said to come to an end. Electric vehicles might yet still enjoy this benefit.
