πšƒπšŠπš›πšŠπšœ π™Άπš›πšŽπšœπšŒπš˜πšŽ πŸš‡

THIS JUST IN:

Car ban begins in the center of #Paris.

Starting on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024: no through-traffic will be allowed in four central arrondissements on the Right Bank. (Home to the Louvre, Notre-Dame, and the Marais).

This is a big deal.

https://urbanaccessregulations.eu/countries-mainmenu-147/france/paris-limited-traffic-zone

Paris - Limited Traffic Zone

Paris will implement a limited traffic zone in its city center no more through traffic allowed.

Nov 1, 2024 at 2:13pmWeb
Show threadπšƒπšŠπš›πšŠπšœ π™Άπš›πšŽπšœπšŒπš˜πšŽ πŸš‡Nov 1, 2024

I honestly didn't think this was ever going to happen.

But it's real, babyβ€”and it's magnifique!

@carltonreid reports on Monday's seismic change:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2024/11/01/central-paris-to-ban-through-motor-traffic-from-next-week/

Central Paris To Limit Through Motor Traffic From Next Week

Paris will limit motor traffic in the city’s central district, starting next week, vehicles will be banned from transiting through the area, Paris City Hall announced ...

Forbes
Show threadDianora (Diane Bruce)Nov 1, 2024
@straphanger @carltonreid There is no way Mr. Beigepants or Frod would go for this here in #Ottawa
Show threadThom O'ConnorNov 1, 2024
@straphanger @carltonreid all
major cities (and even many smaller ones) should be considering this. Creating a walking district (+ perhaps small personal electric transportation devices plus also public transportation) would be a huge boon to revitalizing downtown areas and improve community engagement. Push the cars out to the perimeter to connect with public transport
Show threadLyle Solla-YatesNov 1, 2024
@straphanger @carltonreid β€œA study of people visiting shops in central Paris found that 54% arrived by public transport, 34% on foot, 7% by cycle and just 2% by car.”
Show threadThird spruce tree on the leftNov 1, 2024

@straphanger

Hey #Toronto! You next. Double dog dare you!

Show threadThird spruce tree on the leftNov 1, 2024
@straphanger im so jealous. That part of Paris is already nice, now it will be absolutely fabulous, a cycling and pedestrian utopia.
Show threadTonyNov 1, 2024
@straphanger
That's the right bank, not the left. The Seine flows west.
Show threadjcmortreuxNov 1, 2024
@straphanger awesome! Looking forward to an extension on the left bank, in areas around the Luxembourg park for example.
Show threadrag. Gustavino BevilacquaNov 1, 2024

@straphanger

Before someone asks why they didn't just dig tunnels, here is the complex underground situation of Paris:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mines_of_Paris

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catacombs_of_Paris

Mines of Paris - Wikipedia

Show threadSpace HoboNov 1, 2024
@GustavinoBevilacqua @straphanger Also if you dig tunnels to run the cars through, they'll just get queued up at the tunnels. The only solution to motor traffic is making every other option better, and this will do that.
Show threadmooopingNov 1, 2024
@spacehobo @GustavinoBevilacqua @straphanger Am I mistaking or was there some boring chap on the west coast who thinks that tunnels are the solution to urban mobility?!
Show threadSpace HoboNov 1, 2024
@moooping @GustavinoBevilacqua @straphanger What, like in Brest?
Show threadAsh_CrowNov 1, 2024
@spacehobo @moooping @GustavinoBevilacqua @straphanger
Given that after the city was entirely destroyed during world war II, they rebuilt using the technique of "let's just bulldoze the rubble over the unexploded bombs and rebuild the city upon that", they're not exactly fond of digging tunnels in Brest.
Show threadSpace HoboNov 1, 2024
@Ash_Crow @moooping @GustavinoBevilacqua @straphanger Yeah, I was just calling out the sudden context-whiplash that randomly took us from France to the US for no real reason.
Show threadrag. Gustavino BevilacquaNov 1, 2024

@spacehobo @Ash_Crow @moooping @straphanger

Actually Brest is on the French "west coast", but just as a geographical concept.

Show threadSpace HoboNov 1, 2024
@GustavinoBevilacqua @Ash_Crow @moooping @straphanger yes, that's why I brought it up
Show threadrag. Gustavino BevilacquaNov 1, 2024

@spacehobo @Ash_Crow @moooping @straphanger

And the note about tunnels come to me because here there is people driving to France (less than 100 km from here), noticing underpasses for straight traffic below roundabouts and asking why the town hall doesn't make one here at the motorway exit.

Because under the roundabout there is a creek, you moron! And there is no space to make ramps long enough to underpass even the creek.

Show threadmooopingNov 1, 2024
@spacehobo @Ash_Crow @GustavinoBevilacqua @straphanger It was the tunnel that got us there πŸ˜‰
Show threadSpace HoboNov 1, 2024

@moooping @Ash_Crow @GustavinoBevilacqua @straphanger Ill-advised motoring tunnels exist in the UK as well.

Blackwall, for a start...

Show threadisolNov 1, 2024

@Ash_Crow @spacehobo @moooping @GustavinoBevilacqua @straphanger

Building over unexploded bombs? What could go wrong?

Just a month ago …

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/02/travel/wwii-bomb-miyazaki-airport-japan-scli-intl/index.html

American WWII bomb explodes at Japanese airport, causing large crater in taxiway

An unexploded American bomb from World War II that had been buried at a Japanese airport exploded Wednesday, causing a large crater in a taxiway and the cancellation of more than 80 flights but no injuries, Japanese officials said.

CNN
Show threadSpace HoboNov 1, 2024
@isol @Ash_Crow @moooping @GustavinoBevilacqua @straphanger I live in London, and have had my neighbourhood evacuated for WWII bombs in recent years. This is a fairly well-understood phenomenon, and largely it's magnet-fishers who uncover these things in riverbanks here.
Show threadsmolwaffleNov 1, 2024
@straphanger
Do you happen to know where I could see how much through traffic there is now? I'm curious how big of a reduction this is expected to be, since they still allow driving *to* everything in the LTZ. How many people are just driving through Paris and not stopping somewhere?
@spacehobo
Show threadSpace HoboNov 1, 2024
@smolwaffle @straphanger I think the circulation pattern of preventing Champs-ElysΓ©es traffic from going down Rue de Rivoli has kind of already been put in place, and this just strengthens it.
Show threadsmolwaffleNov 1, 2024

@spacehobo
https://parisjetaime.com/eng/convention/article/limited-traffic-zone-a1773 says 50% through traffic and a 15-30% reduction from this change (which does not yet cover all arrondissements).

All these changes really make me want to visit again. Last there in 2019 and it was thick with car traffic. Walking there has been great forever in many spots, but I expect it will be even nicer now, not to mention the biking improvements. Never biked there.
@straphanger

Show threadavronNov 1, 2024
@smolwaffle @straphanger @spacehobo I am also curious to see whether car drivers will really avoid going through there, since anyway there isn't any clear way to enforce this. I live there so I will see.
Show threadSpace HoboNov 1, 2024
@avron @smolwaffle @straphanger Are there any reasons that ANPR cameras couldn't be implemented?
Show threadavronNov 1, 2024
@spacehobo @smolwaffle @straphanger What for? Any car is allowed to come and visit any place in the area.
Show threadSpace HoboNov 1, 2024
@avron @smolwaffle @straphanger So the way these things work in the UK is that ANPR cameras note the entry and exit times of any motor vehicle at the perimeter. You then set a minimum amount of time that any car needs to be inside the controlled area. So if someone enters at one side and exits the other, they're allowed so long as they spent an hour or so between. If they cut through the area too quickly, they get a fine.
Show threadavronNov 1, 2024
@spacehobo @smolwaffle @straphanger Ah, I did not know that, interesting. I have not heard of such plans for here (and I read the local newspaper daily). Perhaps local authorities prefer to wait and see first.
Show threadSpace HoboNov 1, 2024

@avron @smolwaffle @straphanger Usually the rules are implemented following the Groeningen plan: http://pootler.spacehobo.com/destinations-vs-thoroughfares-closures-vs-filters.html

That is, the urban core is divided into slices, and barriers are erected so that you have to use the ring road to get from one slice to another. You can drive TO anywhere, but not THROUGH everywhere.

Destinations vs. Thoroughfares, Closures vs. Filters

There's been a lot of good coverage of Dutch cycling infrastructure in British media lately, which I find encouraging! The most recent article I enjoyed was The Guardian's history of Groningen's revolutionary re-engineering in the 1970s. While it characterises the move as "anti-car", perhaps suggesting erroneously that ...

Space For Pootling
Show threadsmolwaffleNov 1, 2024

@spacehobo
From what I've read, there will be cameras in the future. Not sure what algorithm they'll use.

Seems tricky to catch everyone driving through and not catch people who make a short stop. Seeing someone going back out the same direction they came from is a good indication that they went to a place. And if they're there for 3h then it doesn't much matter which way they come out - they stopped for a while.

Maybe the 10min cafe stop en route isn't desirable anyway.
@avron @straphanger

Show threadSpace HoboNov 1, 2024
@smolwaffle @avron @straphanger Yeah, if people exit from the same place they entered, usually that's fine. There are distance/time algorithms that work it all out.
Show threadSpace HoboNov 2, 2024

@smolwaffle @avron @straphanger
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2024/11/01/central-paris-to-ban-through-motor-traffic-from-next-week/

> The new ZTL will be enforced, at first, with signage rather than CCTV cameras. There will only be light enforcement during the first three months of the scheme’s introduction. After this period of education enforcement will entail random stops of motor vehicles leaving the ZTL with motorists able to provide any justifications for their journeys.

Central Paris To Limit Through Motor Traffic From Next Week

Paris will limit motor traffic in the city’s central district, starting next week, vehicles will be banned from transiting through the area, Paris City Hall announced ...

Forbes
Show threadavronNov 2, 2024
@spacehobo @smolwaffle @straphanger Self declarations (you print and sign yourself a paper, or the online version) were mentioned as a valid evidence, like we had during covid. Besides, there is very rarely any police to monitor traffic, so I don't expect much here.
Show threadmooopingNov 1, 2024
@straphanger This is great! Any insights on how "destination traffic” is going to be policed? Presumably it's going to be quite easy to claim to have business in the zone and therefore be able to drive into it...
Show threadharmoneNov 1, 2024
@straphanger Are cars that run 100 percent on electricity also banned in that large area? I mean those would not pollute in the area if driven inside it?
Show threadbenNov 1, 2024
@harmone @straphanger yes, according to the linked page electric vehicles are also affected by the ban. After all, electric vehicles still cause congestion and other problems β€” emissions aren’t the only issue to be addressed.
Show threadharmoneNov 1, 2024
@benjamineskola @straphanger OK, thanks for letting me know.
Show threadCitizencatNov 1, 2024
@straphanger
Where do they park?
@TheSwiv
Show threadCarmen ZedlerNov 1, 2024
@straphanger #deutschland mutiert derweil zum #fossil old & sick man mit #merz als #Zukunftsvision πŸ₯±
#verkehr #stadt #opnv #Wissing #lindner #cdu #fdp #autolobbyismus #vw #inkompetenz #Politikversagen #moderne #berlin #cduberlinstoppen #radwege #tempolimit #suv
Show threadArtemesiaNov 1, 2024

@straphanger

I've experienced this in downtown Firenze--it's fantastic. The motor vehicle tailbacks working around it, not so much, but if you're using a car in Firenze you're #doingItWrong

Show threadI stand against genocideNov 1, 2024
@straphanger 😲
Show threadMeercat βœ… 
Nov 1, 2024
@straphanger Very good news
Show threadDrewNov 1, 2024
@straphanger But what about those cute hi-lo French car horns that enliven the atmosphere? Prmp, prmp - prmp, prmp.
Show threadVeeNov 1, 2024
@straphanger 🀦
Show threadPeter BrownNov 1, 2024
@straphanger β€œto not through” is the way forward for cities
Show threadobscurestarNov 1, 2024

@straphanger It's a great start but I'm worried if they expand the exclusion zone, someone's going to start screaming that they're increasing their car-ban footprint.

... I'll show myself out.

Show threadGeorge 🍦🚲 πŸ₯Ύ ✌️🌎 🌌Nov 2, 2024
@straphanger #Boston are you watching?
Show threadJerseyBlueNov 2, 2024
@straphanger Apparently it will also affect parts of the 5th, 6th, and 7th arrondissements, north of Blvd St Germain, on the Left Bank. (Perhaps not as soon as Monday. IDK.)