Special thanks to Altis Play who showed me around Paris! You can see his video about our ride in Paris here (French with English subtitles): th-cam.com/video/JuwDiKWEBgY/w-d-xo.html His channel is here: th-cam.com/users/AlTi5play If you are interested in Francophone cycling content, be sure to check it out!
Any Americans here (or anyone living in the suburbs) binge watching this channel lately? As someone who's used to car dependency, Im fascinated that such a bicycle infrastructure can actually exist. Wish we had more dedicated bike lanes here in the US
That's the only way to escape the chicken or egg dilemma (no cyclists due to bad infrastructure, but no infrastructure expansion is incentivized due to a lack of cyclists).
@@r.d.9399 they should indeed follow Dutch design as most often it will be the best in regards to cycling infrastructure, but I do think Paris' mad dash with slightly haphazardly and unoptimised designed infrastructure is something many other cities should follow too. It is cheap, and fast. Well, cheaper and faster compared to just starting with Dutch Design right of the get go. Using this Paris Style fast to get and build momentum and build up biking in general, ie. force the change, it allows them to them to have infrastructure everywhere. I mean a few Dutch style routes are nice and all, but if you don't have a network, it's pretty bad and biking won't be all that popular. This Paris Style haphazard network is in fact a network. And once that network is more or less in place, change gear, and start going for the proper Dutch Design, whilst also using Paris' Style and expand the network out, and fast. Long term, it technically is building infrastructure twice, but it does prevent the pitfall of "It's so expensive" and "our pilot projects don't work" with the inevitable wrong conclusion that there just won't be any demand for biking in the city in question (see London and many US cities). By getting the network in place, demand will grow big enough to then actually get good infrastructure built wholesale
I live in the Denver metro area. Actually, I grew up here, went away for twenty years, came back. I can't believe the walking/cycling infrastructure that sprang up in my absence. You can travel pretty much anywhere by bike or on foot. It's amazing.
@@vnixned2 Doing things in a slightly haphazardly way is very Parisian anyway :) And I fully agree that plonking it down right now while the political momentum is there is the way to go, and optimization can be done later.
Living in the US, in Austin TX, and seeing changes like these, makes me extremely envious. Meanwhile here in Texas, the Department of Transportation is planning another widening of I-35 through the middle of the Downtown core. It's basically an insult at this point.
Same here. It’s not *as* bad here on Long Island, but I remember visiting cousins in Plano, TX. Without a car it’s like being on house arrest, it’s normalized there to go to things as simple as the grocery store at 75 mph
I haven't been to Austin, but my experience with driving through Texas was a traffic nightmare, and with cities like Houston appearing to go out of their way to make walking and cycling unnecessarily difficult and dangerous you don't really have another choice.
I watched this with envy since I live in a city that is actively reducing public transportation and allows bike lanes fall into disrepair. While Paris action aren't perfect - at least there has been some action was taken.
It's so refreshing to see something that's pro-people. Being American it feels like torture being a citizen, as if our existence here in the states is purely for the benefit of a small rich few. Idk why but this just makes me so happy that at least somewhere isn't a complete hell hole
Anne Hidalgo get a lot of hate from cars owners for what she did in Paris. But you got to give her credit for what she did to massive places like Bastille or République now completely pedestrian and bycicle friendly
1 thing to take note is whether the environment becomes more public bus-unfriendly too e.g. when my country turned our main shopping street pedestrian-only, it meant buses that usually operate there ended up skipping the bus stops there, with the next nearest stop 1 whole metro station away to the east in some cases. Other cities' pedestrian streets may still allow trams there e.g. Zurich, Melbourne but my country doesn't operate them
Sorry, but Bastille is one of the worst places to cross with a bike in Paris. If there's more than 2 bikes that want to cross the street, they block the whole bike path, and they need to wait 2 times for the green light to pass 1 road. The "island" in the middle of the road is to small for more than 2 bikes. Terrible design.
@@WillMcFly you're not wrong but It's much better now than before. Back then it was just a massive roundabout with no ways for pedestrians to come close of the July Column in the center of the place. It's not perfect but you have to consider that a Third of the area is accessible by bikes or by foot now, compared to none before.
I'm not a "walk and bicycle" person either but let this go and see how it goes after about a decade after they have finished. So other countries won't move as fast because they too are wanting to see how this works out and what the kinks are. They thing about place like this that make is ok "here" is that when you look at all the shops and businesses they are clustered together. They are all in close proximity to each other so it makes sense in this case. The cycling and walking is something you will almost automatically do because everything is right there. For many other cities that are not set up this way you'd be tiring yourself out and taking all literal day to get from a place to another because of the spread so are these people wanting to redesign businesses and things? That won't happen. Or maybe add in more businesses to fill in the empty spaces.
You would think a city famous for its metro and beautiful streets would be willing to reduce its cars...yet car owners there show that it doesn't matter what we do, it's going to be a fight.
It's a silicon valley cliche, but "move fast and break things" really is a mantra for anyone who wants to actually FINISH something. If you try to do everything perfectly, you'll never do anything. Chapeau to Paris to getting stuff done.
Only that breaking things when it comes to street design could mean more deaths by traffic accidents. There is more than one reason for this type of changes to be applied gradually and legibly, and it definitly isn't just some stuffy suits standing on the road of progress.
As a Canadian, I really enjoy how many of your videos have low-key insults towards Canada. These videos are really informative and awesome, but living in Canada and realizing how awful our infrastructure is, is depressing.
To be fair to Canada, what works in Europe won't always work else where. A lot of the problems with wide adoption of bike lanes is the winter in a lot of area's that get snow and ice. Biking in the winter is pretty dangerous, and not a lot of people want to do it either. Meaning if you turn your entire traffic design towards bikes and pedestrians what happens when it's -10 outside?
@@JustaGuy_Gaming Please go watch the Oulu video about biking in winter on this channel. With enough infrastructure and good snow plowing, the cold temperature does not greatly impact number of people riding the bicycle in winter in Finland.
@@jennyhoneypenny I actually did watch that not too long after this and it's true that with proper support and infrastructure a city can provide better care in the winter than you expect to bike lanes. But for most cities we can't even get them to stop piling snow drifts on the side walk, if they plow the roads at all. Seems like a real hard sell for some cities. Plus as that video mentioned Finland worked because it had consistent cold weather. Ice is far easier to deal with than roads that might snow and melt and snow and melt like other area's. Not saying it's impossible but what works in Finland might not work every where.
@@JustaGuy_Gaming I think it could work, with enough promotion for it, and government deciding to put money in it. But yes you might be right considering you know how it is with Canadian politics on all federal, provincial, and municipal level... No one really wins and the decision gets delayed to next year, next year, and it eventually gets forgotten, especially with transit plans.
Anne Hidalgo was successfully re-elected when she ran for a second time as a Mayor, and then she ran in the presidential and got very few votes. That’s because outside of Paris, everyone hates her. People who don’t live inside the city center and only go through Paris don’t understand why all these changes are being made and especially car owners are getting furious. On top of all of this, there are a lot of infrastructure works going on in anticipation of the 2024 Olympics, and the opening of new metro lines all around the city. It’s very much a Work In Progress at the moment
She failed miserably in the presidential election not because of what she did as a mayor but because people hated everything she stood for (bourgeois fake left) as well as her party, which has been massively unpopular since Hollande, and which is dying anyway.
Also, I can maybe understand why the suburbanites are upset : If you're gonna get rid of cars that's great, but bikes are only gonna work for inner city residents (which, incidently, typically tend to be quite richer, what a fun coincidence). For everyone else, what you need to do the most is to expand the public transportation system a lot. And I have to admit I'm not a Parisian, so I don't know a lot about her plans for that, but if she doesn't really have any or if they're insufficient, I can totally understand the hate. In Rennes where I live, the situation is similar, despite it being a much smaller city. Our mayor Nathalie Appéré is banning cars from more and more streets in the city center, which makes going through it by car a nightmarish maze of one-way streets. But I mean this is great as long as it disincentivizes car trips. However, aside from a few new bike lanes and the promised opening of a new metro line that's overdue by almost a decade by now, there's not much done for suburbanites, so a typical bus commute can sometimes be up to an hour. Even worse, the anticipation of the new metro line has prompted a lot of new development that still isn't well served by public transportation yet. All of this has resulted in people from the suburbs still being dependant on cars to commute, but car transit being much harder and more crowded than before (I've read that Rennes was recently determined to be the most jammed city in France, even though it's not that big).
@@nicolasglemot6760 What about parking lots on the edge of the inner city? Suburbanites could drive to there and then switch to an e-scooter or folding bike stashed in the trunk of the car, or use the public transit system. Problems arise when car drivers absolutely want to drive into the inner city. With those kind of parkings they wouldn't have to, and would have no excuse.
@@Attya-y2y Well yeah, but the problem is that it would add at least a good 5 to 10 minutes of parking, walking to the actual station and waiting for your connection, so it's only worth it if it improves dramatically the efficiency for rest of the journey, which may be the case for Paris if it replaces a long portion of congested car traffic with metro, but for Rennes it's definitely not worth it, because since it's way smaller than Paris, even with congestion, the actual trip inside the city typically is not long enough that it would be a time gain to do this, I think. Also, we have only one metro yet, so it could only work for the two parts of the city at the ends of the metro line. (Actually at these spots maybe it might just be worth it idk, but the parking-to-platform distance would have to be very short and it would still probably make a very marginal difference. In any case that's not where I live anyway)
well her failure at the Presidential has little to do with her bike policy. in fact, she gets a lot of hate inside Paris too. She got very few votes because of a bad campaign and the Left being divided.
Edmonton, Canada, has just decided to follow the lead of cities like Paris and Seville by fast tracking our bicycle network rather than adding small amounts year after year. The city is going to add 408km of cycling track by 2026 at a cost of about $200 million. So glad for this progressive move by the city.
I like this as well. I really wish more people here would try and see this(as well as the LRT) as a work in progress rather than just an inconvenience.
I’m a daily bike commuter in Paris. I moved here 2 and a half years ago and started using bike as my primary mode of transportation just as the changes were starting to happen. It feels like we’re retaking the city, but there are still many rough edges. To beginner or nervous cyclists, I would say commuting can still be an overwhelming experience here, and you barely see any children on bikes other than on leisure paths on weekends. I still wear a helmet, and often have to weave through traffic. But my 30 minute bike commuter each way takes me through historic and beautiful sites that I’d barely get to see by taking the metro and wouldn’t get to appreciate while driving. My upright Dutch-style e-bike changed my life for the better
I share your experience (cycling commuter here since 2 years and a half) and you're totally right, it's improving a lot although you have to get used to it. Cycling is so much better than taking the metro and seeing one's personal space getting invaded all the time
Paris is an interesting city. They are one of the most densely populated cities in the western world but it also was one of the first European cities to widen streets to make grand Boulevards, a forerunner to the modern North American stroad.
@@pierren___ not exactly the same since the buildings on Paris's blvds are a lot more street oriented than the setback buildings on North American stroads with more parking than building space but they are both wide streets.
Well, to be fair, Paris is denser compared to other cities only because they consid the central part of the city. To be clear, is stil on the spot, but not so far away from other european cities
As a Paris dweller you hit the nail on the head with this one. I haven't gotten used yet to some of the new infrastructure (I still have no idea how you're supposed to cross Concorde for instance) but there are indeed some major improvements. Nicest part to me is how you can now bike along the Seine in a very wide dedicated lane. That is a game changer as it gives you access to most of the city.
Are there any plans to address that massive roundabout featured in the video? It made my palms sweaty just imagining what it would be like to navigate that monstrosity. I'd bet money there are multiple crashes there every day.
@@choronos There actually is a two-way cycling lane separated from the street that goes around the Place de l'Étoile on the Boulevard de Presbourg, it's like thirty meters around the Étoile, there's really no reason you'd ever have to cycle into that nightmare, not sure why they did that in this video.
@@teproc4740 I was actually referring to driving. When I saw the footage of the cars bunching up haphazardly to try to enter the roundabout, my palms started to sweat. Getting in or out of that roundabout is a nightmare I'd avoid like the plague if I ever happened to be driving in Paris.
Honestly the biggest hurdle in these projects is just like going to the gym: hardest part is getting started and dragging our ass over there. So great on Paris for actually going through with things instead of bickering back and forth on pilot projects and surveys and all kinds of bureaucratic nonsense. Real change only happens once you begin. And this should also be a lesson to all major US cities where many people tend to throw the argument "it's impossible, it will take too long, people are used to cars, nobody wants to go through with it, it can't be done" and so on. No. It most surely CAN be done, it requires willingness to act. That's all. Willingness to not take no for an answer.
Thank you, a lot of the comments are frustrating here that Paris took it too far. At least they did something and can adjust from there. In America, most cities will applaud themselves for painting some bike lanes that don't connect and calling it a day. There's an intersection in Atlanta (10th and Monroe) where a girl died biking to school. So this week they unveiled a plan to update the intersection. FIVE YEARS LATER! That's the time it took France to do this entire project.
@@MattDecuir Agreed. And I don't think anyone is right in judging these acts as being "taken too far". It just means people may not be completely used to it yet (which also goes for the city planners too). But that's the thing, now people can learn from these changes and make improvements if needed, or adapt the way they choose to commute etc, which will open up entirely new opportunities in the future. But none of this would be possible if nothing had been done in the first place. I live in Copenhagen where over 60% of daily commuters use a bicycle. That is the largest number in the world, but we only got to this stage because we made some changes many years ago - and not all the changes were great. In the beginning there were many errors and inefficiencies and people had to adapt -sometimes in quite radical ways. But over time our methods got better, efficiency improved, and people saw the potential in urban planning that didn't just cater to cars. We are ahead of the curve, but we are also a proof that these changes can be made and work. We are still improving it to this day, the full potential is still far away and we should do what we can to reach it.
I'm french (not from Paris though) and from a cycling family, I mean, we cycle for sport, for fun, and to travel. But I have never seen more bicycles on a daily basis than now, post COVID lockdowns. I notice this every time I have to use the car, and I see so much more cyclist that I'm used to, getting to work, or even for some small grocery trips. That's very cool
As a Dutch citizen living in the center Paris for over 20 years I witness the changes everyday. Since two years, I use my Dutch omafiets in Paris whenever I can !! However, the real change is not for Parisians but for the “banlieusards” living in the suburbs. Parisians have the metro. Commuting is often hell for banlieusards and very time consuming. Taking a bike has now become a real alternative !! The new RER V project is a life changer. Please watch the great videos explaining this projet on TH-cam.
Interesting. I used to live in Brixton and was a hill away from the tube, but never considered that as the more pleasant way to negotiate London. Too crowded, plus, there was just always something to explore up top!
bonjopur Piet, really like to make friends with you. I live in Western Washington USA. Its urban planning is much better then other cities across the country. I live south of Seattle, a Car infested corridor of 8 lane highways. The car sucks! I wished in 1964 the monorail could have expanded but it did not. I used to live in Vancouver BC Canada and miss the light rail, the Coast Mountain Buss company that has TWICE as many buses as Seattle does. Back in my home state of Washington, the traffic sucks. I commute when needed but its a roal pain int he ass.
I have been living in the netherlands for 6 months now and the way I interact with my bike daily means I am not looking forward to having to move back to the UK. It is this channel that has really helped me build an appreciation for everything bike- and people- centric. thank you :)
Look to join a local cycling campaign if you do move back to the UK - you could help advocate for improvement for cycling and you get the mutual support and advice on, for example best perhaps hidden safe routes around where you live 😉
@@dorinda4891 OBEYING THE LAW MIGHT HELP. CYCLISTS ARENOTORIOUSLY IMMUNE TO CIVIC DUTY AND THE FEDERAL CAPITAL OF FRANCE IS AN ETERNAL SHITHOLE, WITH LAWLESS CIVIL SERVANTS FOREVER TRASHING THEIR TOWN!!!!!!!!!
@@martinkent333 so cyclists are notorious for breaking the law? Unlike who, exactly? Motorists parking 'for 5 minutes' on the cycle lane, or even the pavement? Playing on their phone while driving? Breaking the speed limits? Not yielding for traffic coming from the right and cutting off traffic when taking a left or right? Ignoring pedestrians on a crossing? Engaging the intersection without being able to liberate it? Double parking? Parking in front of pedestrian crossings and close to an intersection? Passing cyclists without leaving the mandatory 1.5 m between their vehicle and the cyclist? All things that could lead to other road users' deaths, unlike most infractions by cyclists, by the way. BTW, France isn't a federal country, so Paris is just the nation's capital.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo has given Paris the oppertunity to change in a dramatic way. When cars are reduced out of the city-center, and bycicle infra-structure is widely installed, then the people can experience Paris as it should, cleaner air, less noise, a more calmer street image. The result will be amazing, and many big cities will follow, as some are allready planning. Allez Paris!!
If this change is so marvelous, how come Parisians can’t stand the mayor’s guts and only 2% !!!! Voted for her in the last presidential election ? Pollution hasn’t gown down a single notch, driving has become a hell of a lot worse, and more dangerous as the various traffic weaving around without respecting any road rules has increased ten fold. If the only answer is : « well, overtime, like three decades or a century, you’ll see, it’ll get better », that explains why she’s so hated.
@@Ellinillard only 2% voted for her because she had a programm similar to other candidates, but with less charisma, for a party that was already on its downfall for the presidential election
11:40 one of my Parisian colleagues told me that in Paris, you can safely cross the Champs Elysées everywhere as a pedestrian, provided you keep a brisk pace and look forward. He explained it as follows: "As long as the person walking shoes determination, the cars will yield."
I witnessed something similar when I visited Rome some years ago. To a traffic light abiding German, it was anarchy. But I soon realized, it's about boldness. If you show the drivers, that you absolutely won't hesitate to let yourself get run over, they will stop, even if they have the right of way. But show just an ounce of uncertainty and you will never cross any street.
As a Parisian bike messenger, I can say this video is amazingly accurate. Congratulations, really, and thank you for this. Even I could take a step back and understand a few more things regarding policies and city designs happening in Paris. Thank you
In fact, it's not only about Paris but also abouts the suburbs of Paris that are changing. They were famous for having 0 bikelane and now they are making some efforts to follows their Big sister Paris.
The banlieue still has a lot to do, though, and it's a bit haphazard, changing from one commune to the next. There are still a few relics refusing to build cycling infrastructure 'because it takes away space for cars and they're ugly'. Smh.
@@ishaktaleb8782 avec les vélos, ou avec la circulation ? Les fois que je suis à Paris, j'ai même l'impression qu'il y a trop de piétons, souvent... Mais ce sont surtout les voitures qui occupent la majorité de l'espace.
I'm actually in Brussels this weekend and it was astonishing to see how they have made most of the city centre pedestrian only zones and banned car traffic. You now see lots of people cycling and on those electric scooters but most of all, you could walk around the city and actually talk to eachother. Many streets and areas were unrecognisable, in a good way. It really made me realize again how "cities are not loud, cars are." Mons/Bergen is just an hour by train but it was so much louder with all the cars driving around. The only thing Brussels could improve is to maybe not run several bus lines through busy shopping streets but at least the bus drivers seem to have adjusted their speed to it.
I agree with you I mean it's not perfect but brussels is also very very hilly (sometimes i have to go off my bike and walk with it) hence they are investing a lot in public transport (brussels has already one of the longest tram network in the world). Things are improving, for cyclists yes but especially for pedestrians! I feel great walking in brussels most of the time and everything is near and you do not need a car
@@reapertheunique true, but those changes are also very recent, like in Paris. And like in Paris, they, too, are often rough around the edges, not nearly as good as the Dutch examples are. Still, it is quite astounding how fast things have developed. My daily commute used to be along a car-infested road. It's still car-infested, but at least there is a raised bike lane, now. Maximum speed has been dropped to 30 on the vast majority of the city's streets, too, there's the pedestrian zone on the central lanes, almost the entire 'petite ceinture' has bike lanes now (they're still building the rest), some major arteries got new bike lanes... It's far from perfect, like many bike streets are implemented haphazardly, so they are still overrun by cars every day (avenue Louise...), many intersections are still hell to cross, some local situations they refuse to make it better (Gentsesteenweg in Molenbeek), etc, etc, but seeing from where we come from (I have been cycling for about 15 years in Brussels, now), after those first nervous steps, things are looking up. That is, if we can keep the naysayers at bay long enough for the new infrastructure to prove itself. They may be a minority, but they are vocal.
I love that Paris is "simply" rolling up its sleeves and just doing it. At an incredible pace! In a lot of places there's still a crippling hesitancy to even look at places like Amsterdam or Copenhagen. “But they have spent 30 years transforming their cities, *we* couldn't possibly do it by tomorrow” I hear people say. Yeah, not with that attitude. And Amsterdam and Copenhagen spent most of that time _figuring out_ what to do. We’re past that, now it's copy-paste time! Thank you, Paris, for showing how it's done! And also thanks to Not Just Bikes 💕
Remember that in the Netherlands there have been improvements in cycling infrastructure ever since the 1970's. Not sitting on their hands but go step by step as and when possible. There was no country with a massive bike infrastructure to tell them what to do and how to do it.
Does Paris have the borough issue that say places like London has? There are 32 separate councils in London who control things like road infrastructure, utilities etc. Making them all agree is... not easy. Most do, but you get places like Chelsea and Kensington putting a spanner in things that require things like bike lanes to go through them for a proper network around the city. Chelsea won't even allow a damn Tube station in the borough, never mind sweaty people on bikes being allowed a dedicated right of way.
Just spent a few weeks in Paris, and yes, my favourite city has just got a whole lot better. Fewer cars, fewer fumes, safer roads, faster buses, and car drivers that appear much more careful. As a Berliner whose life as a cyclist feels pretty endangered, Paris looks just formidable. If I were single, I‘d be making the move…
Wow I must be a true cyclist, because I rode my bike everywhere in Paris when I lived there in 2011 and LOVED every second of it! Weaving in and out of traffic, screaming "allez" at taxi drivers, going the wrong way on one-way streets and of course the occasional painted-on bike path. The Velib was not only my transportation, it was my outlet to have a blast on the wild and care-free streets of Paris.
It's funny how Paris was already (aside from just being gorgeous and elegant) such a dense, vibrant, navigable city with brilliant public transit, and they're still trying to make their city even better. Meanwhile, developers are still destroying houses and businesses to widen highways in Texas. The US is a disaster.
There's money for Senate connections in new freeways. No corporation is going to donate "campaign funds" for bicycle infrastructure. So, yeah, it's a disaster and it's going to become the joke of the world.
As a European who has driven many times all over Texas and the South. It is indeed a shame and a joke that the USA still has not figured things out.
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I just watched it on Nebula. It's astonishing how similar Paris and Budapest look. (Budapest copied Paris in the late 19th century, the architects of the time stated it as such. Still, if you took two pictures in those two cities and blurred the texts and license plates, sometimes you wouldn't be able to tell which is which.) Budapest also extended its bike lane network quite a bit in the last years, let's hope that they will be able to use the lessons from Paris and won't half-ass further developments.
True. I've actually visited Budapest more than I have Paris and its nice. A lot of people here in Scandinavia call it "The broke mans Paris" but I actually enjoy visiting Budapest more than Paris tbh. Though yeah I visited the city back in the summer of 2020 and their bicycle infrastructure was definitely lacking.
I was about to say the same. I lived in Budapest in 2008 and was back there some years ago. The transformation is incredible. The tunnel in Fereciek Tere was closed and now is a great place for pedestrians and bikes as well!
This is what I was thinking about, too. Budapest shouldn't have stopped with the bike lanes, and some more protection for the infrastructure is definitely needed.
I think making a Cycling city means that it's OK to make mistakes and that's what paint and planters/pilons are for. Just quickly install it and then have big posters asking people to write in to the city to tell them how it should be improved. Then, after there are no more (or very little) complaints, should concrete and perminant infrastructure be installed.
I've been to Paris twice, once around 2006, once in 2014 and I must say, I did not at all recognize Paris from your first clips of all the cyclists. It looks so much nicer than my memories of the city, which are exactly as you describe later on: full of cars, not nice to walk, scary. But now it looks - in those parts - much more like a livable area.
Thank you so much for this video full of benevolence towards change in Paris. I live in this city and it’s just exhausting to hear people complain non stop about changes even if it is obviously taking the right direction. I’m glad to see that people like you can actually see the benefits of such change and still be able to be critic too. Best !
I agree. We just need to remember the same people complaining now will be shocked when looking at pictures of 2000's Paris with no trees and 80% of all public space occupied by parked cars all the time.
Perspective is everything. Watching your videos and other channels on urban stuff allows to realise how lucky or cursed we are. As a Parisian, I get how far we have evolved. I'm happy to read so many comments about how viewers now want to visit and experience cycling. That's how I feel when I see other great projects or infrastructure upgrades, makes me want to move there! We're a long way from any Dutch standard, but we are heading there and fast. The popularity of the scheme is undeniable. Something I've realised. Many cities in France, big and small, have their own successful bike scheme or plan to make big moves. Strasbourg, on the Rhine river, right on the German border, has always been the frontrunner in these affairs, then Lyon, Lille in the North, and Rennes in Brittany have extensive regional networks under construction. But there's no national incentive to create more cycling infra, thankfully, local mayors everywhere are doing what their constituents asked for. Many 2020 mayoral candidates have been elected from the Green Party, and won in major cities (Lyon, Strasbourg, Bordeaux) and regional hubs (Besançon, Tours, Annecy et Grenoble), because of promises of local car reduction programmes. But in fact mayors from all borders are going forward with these, step by step.
You may add Caen (near D day beaches in Normandy) which isn't far behind Paris in term of lanes or (weaather protected) parking lots; the number of bikes saw a gigasplosion in the last 10 years there. But you're right in that there's a looong way above. Latest improvement in Caen is a dedicated bicycles highway around the city that's gorgeous. It enter the close-by suburbs where it... ends abruptely, and one has to cross all this suburb (or make a lenghty detour via dowtown) to find the new bikes highway back. About suburbs and cities: how many social housings have appropriate parking lots for bikes , or even any place at all ?-\
Paris is great but there is also a quintillion of other nice places to visit in France that have the big avantage to not be plagued by mass tourism and pollution.
Well, Paris is quite known for audacious infrastructure programs like the Haussmann renovation, the build-up of the Paris Metro, and now the cycle city program. Leave it to the French to go into something head strong. Vive le Paris!
You should read about the "Grand Paris Express" new metro lines project currently under construction. It doesn't get many headlines and it's mostly all happening underground but it's massive (and expensive too)
You know ironically Parisians are super pissed off about the city being under construction all the time, but that's normal complaining is a national sport.
@@kroooassant9899 The very little time I was lucky enough to spend there, the guide kept pointing at stuff he didn't like and giving us a list of reasons why they were shit-- when he wasn't laughing at us americans for the ongoing Clinton/Trump election cycle. I loved that guy...
I actually saw them build these pathways in paris in 2019 when I was there. Seeing it come to fruition in your video makes me think a revisit is on the cards.
11:46 Yes I live in Paris and yes I start walking but only after making eye-contact with the drivers. Once one car stops the other follow normally. I try to impose my pedestrian priority where I can with a clear eye for my safety. BTW, next time you can also take similar TGV trains to Lyon, Marseilles etc. It is not expensive and just 2-3 hours extra.
"How many people are actually brave enough, or stupid enough to start walking ?" *raises hand* Yeah, you have to assert dominance over the cars so they let you pass
I’ve been longing to go to Paris and witness this transformation, so thank you!! I’d like to suggest one difference between North American and European cities you may not have touched upon, and that is car size. I live and cycle in NYC. Over 15 years ago I stayed for a month in Paris and brought my racing bike. “Crazy” Paris traffic felt extremely mild compared to what I’m used to and I enjoyed riding around. Upon reflection I realized part of the reason is Europeans drive much smaller cars. In this video I noticed a lot of low sedans; in the US everyone’s in a humongous SUV. Sure, a small car can still kill you, but for some reason they feel less terrifying to ride amongst.
sadly french carmakers have made their rechargeable hybrids in the shape of SUVs... So more and more people will be tempted to buy those (it was already a trend before hence their choice)
@@relzyn5545 Large pickup trucks have sortove become a status symbol in the US, only a few people actually need them, but a lot of people have them. Taller vehicles like pickup trucks and SUVs cost more and are also significantly more dangerous for literally everyone who isn't currently in one including pedestrians(the higher front of the vehicle is on the same level as most vital organs).
A normal car will have you take off and flying over it, hitting the windshield and pavement, an SUV will run you over and that with no less than 1.5-3 T of weight. Makes a tremendous difference especially for pedestrians, seen as how fatality in car-pedestrian accidents has gone up. SUVs for the most part, while being arguably more comfortable (esp. for elderly folks, who don't like bending their knees to sit down in a car), are actually more dangerous at high speeds in curves, because being more top heavy results in less traction and when sliding around, they're easier to roll over. So, we have: + more comfort due to elevated position - more dangerous for oneself and especially other participants in traffic - terrible from an ecological point of view - terrible for city traffic, parking = utterly unneccessary, get a combi, has enough room for a family, groceries, you name it.
@@Pyrochemik007 Exactly, I was there in 2016 and literally hated the city. The "public transport" being taxis and not being able to tie a security belt in those scared me so hard. The gouvernemental building looks amazing though, might be proof of the corruption, but that's an assumption, I have no idea if it is true.
One good thing that came out from all the COVID lockdowns are empty cities, therefore an opportunity to drastically change their layouts without too much annoyance. Many temporary bike lanes have been installed in Paris during the lockdowns. As people got used to them, they are now being turned into permanent infrastructures. 🚲 I live in Paris and move around mainly with my bicycle. While riding a bike in Paris is still very dangerous, the quick improvements are noticeable. Paris has a strange car culture, for a city that densely populated. But I do think people are getting more comfortable with the idea of riding bikes, and I love seeing it. I’ve had the chance to ride my bike around Paris during the most quiet hours, and it truly makes the city so much more beautiful. I am very optimistic, and a bit more tolerant thanks to your video. It’s ok to make mistakes. At least the city is working hard to make changes happen, and I am grateful.
I don't think Paris has a car culture, it's just that it's so dense that the people coming from the suburb and the few people that take their car intra muros are enough to clog the city,
I think about 30% of the moves in Paris are made by car. It is not at all a car culture. In my opinion (but it's just my opinion), it's one of the cities in France where people take the least their car (but may be I am totally wrong, it would take a lot of time to check)
I wish city planners in the U.S. would watch your videos! What can we do to transform more of our cities into pedestrian friendly areas? Are they teaching these ideas to city engineers in the U.S. so we might one day have this?
Funny, I live in Paris and was just thinking about how you'd be quite impressed by the upgrades the city has made in the past years (especially since the first March lockdown)
I live in the Netherlands for most of my life, your videos have made me realise how good we have it here when it comes to our infrastructure. I never even think about it. Great stuff, keep up the good work.
A while back I saw a piece (I think it was by the BBC), about how many cities across Europe have taken covid as an opportunity to change to more cycling/walking friendly infrastructure. I really hope that we're seeing a long term change in attitude towards the car in modern society. So I really hope that Paris becomes an example of how modern cities can thrive with more people centred infrastructure.
Instead, here in the UK the government just had wine and cheese parties instead of actually making use of the quiet time to improve things for the people.
@@TalesOfWar It didn't even feel like we had much quiet time, all of Covid has been one continuous crisis because of Tory mismanagement, public anti-mask anti-lockdown anti-vax idiots, and an NHS that was already crumbling pre-Covid because of excessive Tory cuts. Not to mention Brexit and supply chain chaos
I’d just like to say your videos really do inspire me. I’m extremely fortunate to live in one of the only bike friendly towns in America. And when I say bike Friendly, I mean one bike lane each direction through town. Despite them being added for the local Amish, it has made biking as transportation somewhat common to see in Bremen now. I’m no longer car dependent, which I appreciate even as a car enthusiast. Biking has allowed me to save up to buy a great car. And I don’t even have to put the car through the stresses of cycling the engine daily and putting city miles on it. Now I can use it only for highway travel, and of course, when I want to enjoy it.
Lived there for four and a half year between 2008 and 2014, always had my velib card (yes, even during the mess with the company change), and it is really great to see this kind of improvements!
I can only confirm everything that was said in this video, which is great by the way! Paris is changing and we are living a real revolution! Things are moving in the right direction!
They have done a similar thing here in Madrid. The whole of the city centre has been pedestrianised (except for buses, taxis and residents) and bicycle infrastructure has been greatly improved. There are more cheap electric bikes, scooters and small cars for rent than you could shake a stick at.
@@jaumesol3480 Well, what I said was true, although you don't see as many bikes here as you do in Paris or Amsterdam. And there are some main roads with cars that cut through the centre, but they are not permitted to use the residential and pedestrianised area. Electric bicycles cost only €0,50 for 30 minutes and electric motorcycles are about €0,20 per minute. They are the equivalent of a 125 cc bike and are very nippy and fun to use. There are large areas which are pedestrian only. I live in a residential street and regular, non-resident cars are not permitted access, which is cool as it used to be like a race track!. What feeling did you get when you were here?
@@Nilguiri Compared to where I live, Barcelona, I felt like there was lot of fast-moving car traffic and very wide roads with lots of car lanes and especially, very little cycling infrastructure. I went mostly around the center, but I know Madrid is a huge city and the situation must be different in other parts of the city. In the Barcelona Eixample there are also lots of cars and car-centric design but at least you'll get some cycle lanes that are not just paint. In Madrid I saw a bycicle lane between a bus lane and a regular car lane, in a wide street, uphill. No one is gonna use that and I've never seen anything remotely similar here.
Given the impact Paris has on the western world (with all due respect Amsterdam) and these projects have the edges ironed out by its summer Olympics, many cities may go "hmm we should try that"
Really hope Edinburgh (given that it seems to swap places with the Highlands for the most cycling to work/school in Scotland) and Glasgow (given it has been expanding it's network bit by bit) take a leaf out of this book. Both are already pretty good walkable cities, but man, cycling wasn't brilliant in Edinburgh away from the canal. Be really nice if Holyrood made some meaningful movements here.
Good luck trying to convinve the krauts, though. Car lobby is huge and germans have a very intensive "Autokultur". Maybe Hamburg and Berlin will go with this trend, but i see hard problems in east germany and bavaria. The city with the least desire to change is probably Wolfsburg, because this city only exists because of VW.
the 2024 Olympics is probs the time limit for a lot of the works. if they can show that its working they will get a lot of returning visitors. like you said other cities will look towards these adaptions also.
C'est beau de voir des gens avec suffisamment de convictions pour porter des projets qui impliquent de revoir des habitudes comme celle de se déplacer en voiture dans nos villes. J'espère que nous aurons le courage de le faire également à Montréal.
je passe ma vie entre les deux villes et je peux t'assurer que MTL n'a rien a envier a Paris sur les infra vélo, surtout depuis le REV. C'est plus le reste du Quebec qui est un peu en retard en la matiere mais ça progresse petit a petit :)
@@Potato-dx5mc Particulièrement dans les campagnes, c'est suicidaire ici dans les Laurentides aller en vélo et encore plus dans les banlieues-dortoirs sans âme que cette chaîne critique si bien
On dirait que le Québec est influencé par la même culture de voiture que dans le reste de l'Amérique du Nord. Du coup c'est pas que les États Unis mais aussi le Canada.
The Vélib scheme in Paris is incredible! There are so many points around the city there's no point in buying a bike. And it's extremely affordable. Paris is also a very bike-friendly city, with plentiful dedicated bike lanes. I'd like to see a video on Milan on this channel. The entire city centre is ruined for cyclists with this old paving that makes it impossible to get around on two wheels, even though there's a bike hire service
Great video ! One thing you didn't mention when talking about the dangerous arc de triomphe roundabout is that there is a circular two way bycicle path in the adjacents streets surrounding the roundabout that allows you to cross safely and easily, no one crosses straight through.
This is the first time in a while I felt excited to visit Paris again! I do wonder why e scooters are banned in Dutch cities though, here in Germany they really change life in Metropol regions and they are very, very fun :D
I think that fearlessness/recklessness of cyclists is just part of a healthy cycling culture. In Amsterdam they have the infrastructure to support that cycling culture. You should come to Dublin where red lights are de-jure mandatory, but we treat them as suggestions all the same ;)
Paralyzing fear can be a killer! I learned quickly that i just need to go straight towards where i want to go without thinking too hard if i don't want to be a sitting duck haha
I think that color coding for bicycle infrastructure would work wonders here. Getting spammed to death with stencil painted bicycles every meter or so really distracts from traffic.
@@kevinlove4356 I mean, the green many countries use (of have started using) is fine as well. Easy to see in most weather and easy to recognise for foreigners (bikes are more eco-friendly hence 'green'). I don't think it necessarily has to be standardised across countries.
In France the yellow color on roads means that it's temporary, it's not related to bicycles. When things are permanent we get white paint and pylons and I don't think I've seen color coded bicycle infrastructure, at least around Paris.
@@defalur same in Belgium. I was quite surprised when I first visited Sweden, where all markings are yellow in stead of white (including the background of traffic signs).
Je fais la même chose ! Moi aussi j'aimerais visiter Paris un jour, bien que la pandémie (et ma situation financielle) m'en empêche(nt) pour le moment.
Things I loved and want here (MPLS/St Paul, MN): 1. The cyclist counters (much like the trackers on water bottle filling fountains), 2. The water fountains, 3. The explicit permission for cyclists to treat red lights like yield signs. There are SO MANY intersections at which that would make sense!
Cities like Paris that seized the opportunity during the pandemic to test/expand cycle networks are decades ahead of cities that did not. It is a bit rough compared to best case scenario Netherlands, but amazing compared to most US cities.
Watching this from Paris. Thanks for coming here! Your videos got me into appreciating urbanism. I've been living in a car dependent suburb 30km away from Paris until my 20's, your videos taught me a whole new way to describe the issues people face in French suburbs.
This should be the priority hierarchy for any city; 1) Pedestrians on foot, wheel chairs, etc. 2) Bicycles, manual scooters 3) e-Bicycles, e-scooters 4) All other vehicles (including motor cycles) Public transportation should have separate lanes/passages and should be able to travel seamlessly with minimum interruptions.
I wouldn't be so strict and think the clear separation between public transport and other traffic is wishful thinking. Why? Since cities by definition are densely built and we can't always afford to everyone a separate space. Also, you complete forgot service vehicles like dumpster trucks or delivery vans a city needs to operate. One solution for shared spaces would be to reduce the speed limit in city to a pedestrian-save level. that way you get shared spaces really fast "for free". This may not be perfect, but is good place to start
It would already be a great improvement to treat them all as equals to begin with. And after that, I would prioritize cycling, for the one thing cyclists hate is to lose momentum.
@@pierren___ I'm unsure. Could be a lack of education on my part, or just that it cost a lot of money to visit Europe, and there are other places I would prefer to see. I've known a few people who have visited Paris, and if they went for vacation, many of them felt it was a bit lackluster. Again, this could certainly be a lack of planning/knowledge on their side.
Hi, I’m a 20 years old Parisian and I’ve witnessed these changes pretty much since I was born. To be fair it is absolutely true that huges pans of Paris changed with the remodeling of huge « traffic heatpoints » like Place de la Bastille or Place de la Nation, or the Seine Docks now pedestrians and that were created to decharge the huge traffic input on the upper roads, the lanes at place de la Nation for exemple went to something like 5/6 to 3. Honestly creating more room to pedestrians and bikes in the city is a good idea, but two problems came with that: - Anne Hidalgo RAISED the cost of public transportation over the years, particularly for us young people and students where some of gouvernement help was cutoff (university used to pay a part of you public transportation like your job would do), and even with that we have better price than everyday people, and to be clear, sometimes it gets cheaper to get your fine than paying the transportation card. - Also I’m coming from a popular background, I was forced to move out of city with my family because of out of control rising prices and became a « banlieusard », someone who lives in the suburbs. Every day many many MANY people need to take their cars to come into Paris to do their jobs, because to be fair, extra-muros transportation (like RER, going outside Paris) is outdated, surcharged, and pretty crappy, with too much problems to be reliable for people that need to go to work in time consistently. We’re not criticizing Anne Hidalgo for her work on the Bike rework of the city, but more on the fact that alternatives were not worked either, public transportation isn’t mordernised, and we have maaaaaany more problems in Paris like house pricing, sanity, and criminality that need to be adressed BEFORE pleasing tourists that want to discover the city with a bike.
I think it was about more than tourists. It's recognizing that you can't accommodate increasing amounts of cars, because Paris and its surrounding areas will likely only get bigger, and the car traffic will only cause more and more destruction of the city and its character. I'm sure they will get around to other infrastructure, but my guess is that starting with bike infrastructure was by far the cheapest option, and also probably the fastest and simplest.
@@jennifertarin4707 That's exactly it. Problem is, we're kind of in a political crisis right now and this issue tends to be downplayed, ignored or laughed at. It's actually difficult to attempt any meaningful change right now. But things aren't all grim. Environment takes a bigger and bigger place in the political spotlight since it's both a major worldwide concern and a comfort localised one. People also realize more and more how urban environment is unhealthy and seek solutions to make it safer and more efficient. Right now we have quite important problems and it will be difficult not to ignore those "smaller" problems (I believe they are as, if not more, important but that's just my opinion) but we'll manage... eventually ^^ To me, taking care of the population is the root to increasing well-being, and well-being to quality of life and work. There are less tensions in a place you feel safe living in and people therefore, less time is wasted and every interaction is more efficient and healthier.
This is great, I recognize many similar things happening in Stockholm. As my city is going through a similar process (although far more slowly and less drastically unfortunately). Parking stops being directly converted to bike parking, electric scooters absolutely everywhere, and some inconsistencies and rough edges. (Which I guess aren’t as bad because they’re going more slowly.) All desperately needed improvements of course. We can’t let ourselves be outdone by the Danes in Copenhagen for much longer!
When I was in Paris as a child I saw that the Saine river was unreachable and mainly parking space next to it. It felt so good to see people instead of dead space near the Saine when I was there around two years ago.
Oh my gosh. I was there for Christmas 2019 and absolutely loved the city...except for the INSANE traffic. I've only seen traffic like that in Manhattan & it was miserable. Seeing some of the same streets changed so dramatically makes me tear up a bit. It's marvelous. I only wish more cities had real leadership that could get this sort of thing done. Now I really can't wait to visit Paris again.
Honestly though there are still an insane amount of cars. I’ve never been to Manhattan, my nearest big city and the one I’m most familiar with is London, I’d still say most of London is far less chaotic and to some degree way less intimidating than Paris due to the different general road widths.
Try Prague next time, it has entirely walkable historic center. Also public transport system is maybe the best in EU´s capitals. To avoid scams look up the videos of Honest Guide.
In Lyon, (2nd or 3rd city in France), bike lanes and traffic have been greatly. In particular yield signs for bikes are great, they allow you to cross way smoother than having to put your foot down and start again
You have to visit Karlsruhe, it's one of the most bike-friendly cities in Germany and that's not even the best part. The tram Karlsruhe is a dual system light rail system in city and the surrounding area. The transport system combines inner-city tram routes with railroad routes in the surrounding area, thus opening up the entire Mittlerer Oberrhein region and establishing connections to neighboring regions. As well as a new subway. Plus it has a brewery that looks like a castle and a large park in the center of city.
Nothing wrong with Karlsruhe, but to call it cycling friendly is a bit of a stretch... Compared to other German cities, maybe, but most of those are outright dangerous. Improvements are being made, though, even if they happen at a snail's pace.
@@LudoL78 Actually, the Karlsruhe system is a bit unique - the lines are part tram (which runs underground for some of its length), part light rail and some even part heavy rail. The vehicles are built to be able to cross these boundaries, even though that necessitates changing electrical supply. The rails themselves are linked into the DB network at two points.
I love Paris. Sadly, I haven't had the opportunity to visit the city since 2007. If Paris can become quieter via EVs, bike lanes, and pedestrian streets, that would make it even better. Equally, an increase in public green-space and urban tree-cover would also be excellent. I hope to visit again someday and check out these things. The Paris Metro already gives the city a huge leg up over most other global cities of the same size. I really don't know why anyone would choose to drive in Paris.
Probably people who live quite a bit outside the city but commute into it for work. Wasn't yellowjacket movement started pretty much by these people who live in much cheaper countryside and drive into Paris for work.
In America, people say they don't want to give up cars because cars give them freedom. I see things differently. I get where they're coming from, there's something romantic about the idea that I can just get in my car and drive west for 2000 miles, but owning a car isn't all scenic drives. It's $1000 to replace worn tires, it's $500 to replace the worn wheel bearings, $300 to replace worn brakes, regular oil changes, regular wheel alignments, car insurance payments, fuel costs (this one is huge). Did your transmission just fail? Cool, that'll be more than the car is worth to fix, probably. People who say cars=freedom never mention the massive financial burden a car represents. I haven't even mentioned harassment by police being a constant worry, and people with dark skin have it so much worse in that regard. Other people in general are a hazard on the road. If I didn't drive so defensively the majority of the time, I'd have been in multiple crashes in the last WEEK with people who drive like lunatics. Honestly, most of the time my car feels more like a ball and chain dragging behind me than freedom. I do love my car, but I'd give up driving in an instant if America had the public transportation infrastructure to take me anywhere I might want to go. I would call being able to take a high speed train to California from where I live in PA freedom before I call driving a car freedom. The police can't pull a train over to fish for an arrest.
I live in Paris and the biggest noise issue is mopeds, motorcycles and drivers who decide to honk when some idiot obstructs the road by parking their large delivery truck in a way which prevents cars to pass. By far the guys who modify their exhausts ought to have their licenses taken from them.
This is amazing. I live in Buenos Aires and everyone says (and I can relate) it looks like Paris. Interestingly, recently the Minister of Transporation has also made it clear that bikes are the future and now the city (although small) has now 260km in cycling lanes and you can safely cycle to most places in the city. I wonder, however, how some people would react politically to these changes as here, there are many car advocates that believe their taxes should not go to bike lanes
Car advocates should support bike lanes because it is for them as well. The better the bike lanes, the more bike usage is encouraged, which lessens car usage, and thus improves congestion. That's unless they want to be stuck in traffic forever.
It's also interesting to see so much people on bike in winter. The big shift to bikes happened quite recently with the pandemic, but there is already a big adoption from Parisians used to cars and public transportation
I live in Ann Arbor, MI and I hope we can continue installing protected bicycle lanes here as well. I know what you mean about the new improved areas feeling awesome, but as soon as you deviate it's back to a stressful experience. Hopefully the new improvements create a network effect with more bicyclists being attracted, and then we have more people advocating for more improvements. It's also interesting that these improvements in a city like Paris support so many people, so they're even more worth the investment (vs a town like Ann Arbor). I wish the major cities in America would take advantage of that opportunity as well, but car culture here is so ingrained in our society. It will take a long time for improvements like Paris is doing to be seen in an American city.
My aunt lived in Paris. Late 50’s and 60’s. On occasions when we visited when out walking if my aunt wished to cross the road she used her metal tipped umbrella, which she always carried. If a car got too close she just dragged it up the bonnet! She never hesitated.😂
Glad to see more positive videos! Toronto could learn a lot from this attitude of city planning especially the political statement of saying that the city will take the streets back by making oversized bike lanes. The wayfinding is also great
France: We're adding cycle paths to the Champs Elysees UK: Let's think about pedestrianising Oxford Street some time in the future so we don't have to do anything, look at how progressive we are! Speaking of which, do you ever intend to make a video about cycling in London, using the "super"highways?
@@ninosegers My town put up some bike counters and wrote "BICYCLE CITY" all over, oh and painted some lines they constantly have to repaint because cars keep driving over them. Half or more of every bus that leave the station uses that road and they have to cut the corners to get through. There's obviously no barrier so if you're in danger as a cyclist there's no escape. Christ I want to put an axe through those smug fucking counters
I once visited Paris on a school trip 4 years ago, we rented bikes on one of the days. The route that we planned out was supposed to be bycicle friendly, but it was still terrible compared to the Netherlands (where I live). Personally I liked the Paris metro, the metro system is so dense in the central part of Paris that almost any destination could be reached within reasonable walking distance from the metro. However, I think that traveling from the suburbs to other parts of the city often isn't that easy, so bikes could definitely help connecting the suburbs to the public transport system and other parts of the city as well.
It's all depends on where you live in the suburbs ,usually it's well connected by public transport(train RER) in place of the metro.If you live near river Seine or Marne you also get a quick bikeway free of traffic to get into paris.Greatest thing is my route on bike is quicker than any other transport even public transport :D ,it's fair to say I use a road bike though (13km in 30min)
Actually Paris is building one of the world's largest magaproject right now. A 45 billion project that will double the size of the metro to connect the suburbs. Grand Paris Express
"traveling from the suburbs to other parts of the city often isn't that easy" this is so true!! but they are creating the "grand paris express" to connect the suburb
It's not my term, so steal away. I will warm you that some people get irrationally angry at calling them "acoustic bicycles" because they're incapable of appreciating a joke. That makes it even funnier, though.
I don't usually cycle in Paris as I live in the suburbs but this improvemnt has been noticed and feels great. Even as a pedestrian it's preferable. Can't wait also for the Grand Paris Express which will give us metro access to the suburbs!
Very interesting, as your videos always are. I'm happy to see that Paris can still be a modern city. I must admit I'm a little surprised (and very glad) that Mrs Hidalgo was not stopped by rich people or businesses. It gives me some hope in humanity (which is very needed these years). Thanks for sharing. Greetings from Montreal, Canada.
Nice coverage of Paris, and I'm glad you pointed out the flaws as well! I've been commuting by bicycle for the last 10 years, and the changes since the 2019 strikes are really noticeable. In addition to the infrastructure improvement, the sheer amount of bicycles on the road is making a difference: drivers are now getting used to seeing cyclists on bicycle lanes, and I definitely saw a drop in right hook conflicts (from 2 per days to 2 per week on my commute). Hopefully the infrastructure will keep improving, the number of cars will keep going down, and the new 30km/h limit will be more strictly observed.
I'm really curious to know how the people in these developing cycling cities feel about the move away from cars. If this happened in the United States, I would imagine there would be a large amount of protest. Are there people in these cities that are against this type of development or are most people completely for it?
There is a very loud and devoted opposition to Hidalgo's "ruination of Paris". They didn't translate in votes during the last election, but to be fair, it was the very beginning of the epidemic, when everyone was in favour of stay-at-home orders, and the participation was a record low. They can be funny sometimes: one of them posted a photo of the empty rue de Rivoli (during the first confinement and in the middle of the afternoon, so not exactly the rush hour) not knowing that it looked a lot like etchings of the same in the mid 19th century, when pedestrians walked on the street and horses and carriages were few and far between...
Some people are strongly against it, arguing that removing lanes for cars and parking spaces is making the traffic worse everywhere, including in the suburbs. I think it might be true to some extent, but the situation wasn't far better before removing those lanes. Also there are projects to add new lines to the public transport (like metros and extending some RER lines) in the suburbs, as well as many new bicycle infrastructure in and around Paris which will probably improve things in the future. We're not there yet but we're trying 🙂
I think the right think to do , as a politician, is showing people the advantages of a car free city. You can bann cars on weekend for a year and after that people will understand the benefits
@@goromir7093 The thing is that the roads on the edges of Paris are just pure chaos all the time, which makes the people who need them weary of these changes. I know this is because everything is still centered around Paris (for example I need to go to the middle of Paris then back with public transport just to go to a city that's a 15 minutes drive away). These changes are very positive but it's going to take a long time before we see real improvements in the suburbs I think. Also, the city organises a day without cars in Paris once per year and from what I've heard it's great!
Here in Zurich, the majority still lacks dedicated bike lanes, but at least we're getting a bike tunnel. But what Zurich still lacks in bike infrastructure, it more than compensates for with world-class public transport and a strict anti-car and pro-human policy. So it's okay. Fun fact: The tunnel was originally built for a autobahn Y-junction in the middle of the city -- which was then never realized.
I spent a few months in Zurich. Lots of biking, public transit and walking. I loved every single minute of the experience..... and I'm from a decidedly non-bike friendly part of the US.
Meanwhile in Lausanne we got slow buses that gets constantly stuck in traffic, bike lanes that are disconnected and stops right before busy intersections, infrequent trains that cover only a small part of the metro area, and soul-crushing traffic that makes any trip using bikes or public transit a nightmare. The city is actively trying to improve the situation however, but they seem to think that painted bicycle gutters is good enough infrastructure and that protected bike lanes are too fancy. And because they're removing space given to cars, the local government is getting a lot of opposition from motorists. But thankfully these drivers live outside the city and thus cannot vote, and as a result city officials in favor of these changes keep getting reelected
Hi, first of all great video. I live in Paris and with regard to the Arc de Triomphe there is a protected cycle path in a parallel street that allows you to go in all the streets of the Arc de Triomphe while being protected, it is the rue de Presbourg which then becomes rue de Tilsitt. Secondly it is true that the bike tracks were not equipped with lights for the bikes but gradually all the bike tracks are equipped with lights. Finally, just to clarify most of the cycle paths that you have shown were made in a hurry, we will have to wait a few years for these tracks to be definitive with the right protections and the right lights. I just discovered the channel with this video, it's great👍🏼.
I spent 5 days in Paris over the summer, it was quite an interesting biking experience, coming from the perspective of someone who has ridden in several European cities, and regularly rides in a relatively bike friendly US city (Minneapolis) To me it felt like the best aspects of riding at home, mixed with the worst parts of riding in Amsterdam. Plus some very Paris-specific quirks. Similar to the US, the roads are big, so they become quite generous bike paths when converted (or when just free of cars). Similar to Amsterdam, I find the biking experience is actually hampered by the sheer number of cyclists you have to share space with (not really a problem in the broadest sense, just something I'm a bit uncomfortable with coming from the US where I'm rarely riding along with other people). And unlike anywhere else I've biked with ostensibly good biking infrastructure, it's often very unclear where you're expected to be, as you mentioned, the signage is pretty lacking, and a lot of intersections have no indication at all of where cyclists should be. Still, once I understood the issues with cycling there, I learned to just stop and navigate difficult area's as a pedestrian when necessary. Far from ideal, but a nice alternative you don't have when driving somewhere unfamiliar. Considering how new the biking infrastructure is, I think it's quite impressive. I honestly found it more navigable than Barcelona at times. Barcelona is considered quite bike friendly, but for some reason it's damn near impossible to ride more than 2 blocks at a time without hitting a stoplight (at least where I was in the city), and there's a lot of one-way paths for no clear reason.
Something I noted when visiting Seville in Spain recently. Scooters and Bikes seem to be able to co-exist in the same dedicated traffic areas, but Scooters have an extra advantage. They are way more portable meaning you can carry them onto buses, trains, metros and trams. This makes them more useful than bikes in some instances.
Hey, I hope you make a video on the changes in Barcelona in the last couple of years too. It's not ideal but it's also improving and it would be interesting to hear your comments and suggestions. Thanks for your great content, it's always a pleasure to watch your videos!
Craziest thing I saw in Paris in terms of signage was a painted bicycle lane in a massive roundabout directing cyclists to the inner circumference, and then back to the outer one to exit.
Thanks for this video I appreciate! It is nice to see Paris changing for cycling, I very rarely take metro now 🚴♀️ It is still a bit dangerous in some places, but it got way better since the pandemic! I still want to live in Amsterdam though ^^ 💚🌱
What a brilliant idea. I walked from the Arc de Triomphe to the gardens near the Louvre. Quite a long walk. Having a bike would have made it much easier. I think this would meet with a lot of support.
![[Live สด] การออกรางวัลสลากกินแบ่งรัฐบาล งวดวันที่ 16 ธันวาคม 2567](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dNTiBBthKgQ/mqdefault.jpg)
Special thanks to Altis Play who showed me around Paris! You can see his video about our ride in Paris here (French with English subtitles):
th-cam.com/video/JuwDiKWEBgY/w-d-xo.html
His channel is here:
th-cam.com/users/AlTi5play
If you are interested in Francophone cycling content, be sure to check it out!
Can you tell where is the intro sequence from? I know, the question is totally related to the rest of the video.
Thanks for sharing, it was truly an amazing experience!
Hi
@@savclaudiu2133 I think the opening sequence is the corner of Rue de Rivoli and Boulevard de Sebastopol.
Let me know if you need footage or input from Copenhagen or Sweden :)
Any Americans here (or anyone living in the suburbs) binge watching this channel lately? As someone who's used to car dependency, Im fascinated that such a bicycle infrastructure can actually exist. Wish we had more dedicated bike lanes here in the US
The infrastructure may be flawed now, but when this makes cycling gain momentum, improvements will follow in the coming years.
That's the only way to escape the chicken or egg dilemma (no cyclists due to bad infrastructure, but no infrastructure expansion is incentivized due to a lack of cyclists).
@@r.d.9399 they should indeed follow Dutch design as most often it will be the best in regards to cycling infrastructure, but I do think Paris' mad dash with slightly haphazardly and unoptimised designed infrastructure is something many other cities should follow too.
It is cheap, and fast. Well, cheaper and faster compared to just starting with Dutch Design right of the get go.
Using this Paris Style fast to get and build momentum and build up biking in general, ie. force the change, it allows them to them to have infrastructure everywhere. I mean a few Dutch style routes are nice and all, but if you don't have a network, it's pretty bad and biking won't be all that popular. This Paris Style haphazard network is in fact a network. And once that network is more or less in place, change gear, and start going for the proper Dutch Design, whilst also using Paris' Style and expand the network out, and fast.
Long term, it technically is building infrastructure twice, but it does prevent the pitfall of "It's so expensive" and "our pilot projects don't work" with the inevitable wrong conclusion that there just won't be any demand for biking in the city in question (see London and many US cities). By getting the network in place, demand will grow big enough to then actually get good infrastructure built wholesale
@@r.d.9399... the automotive lobby in the USA ...
I live in the Denver metro area. Actually, I grew up here, went away for twenty years, came back. I can't believe the walking/cycling infrastructure that sprang up in my absence. You can travel pretty much anywhere by bike or on foot. It's amazing.
@@vnixned2 Doing things in a slightly haphazardly way is very Parisian anyway :) And I fully agree that plonking it down right now while the political momentum is there is the way to go, and optimization can be done later.
Living in the US, in Austin TX, and seeing changes like these, makes me extremely envious. Meanwhile here in Texas, the Department of Transportation is planning another widening of I-35 through the middle of the Downtown core. It's basically an insult at this point.
Same here. It’s not *as* bad here on Long Island, but I remember visiting cousins in Plano, TX. Without a car it’s like being on house arrest, it’s normalized there to go to things as simple as the grocery store at 75 mph
IKR
I haven't been to Austin, but my experience with driving through Texas was a traffic nightmare, and with cities like Houston appearing to go out of their way to make walking and cycling unnecessarily difficult and dangerous you don't really have another choice.
I watched this with envy since I live in a city that is actively reducing public transportation and allows bike lanes fall into disrepair. While Paris action aren't perfect - at least there has been some action was taken.
Yuuup, I'm in Austin too and this channel feels like a fantasy lol
It's so refreshing to see something that's pro-people. Being American it feels like torture being a citizen, as if our existence here in the states is purely for the benefit of a small rich few. Idk why but this just makes me so happy that at least somewhere isn't a complete hell hole
Anne Hidalgo get a lot of hate from cars owners for what she did in Paris.
But you got to give her credit for what she did to massive places like Bastille or République now completely pedestrian and bycicle friendly
1 thing to take note is whether the environment becomes more public bus-unfriendly too e.g. when my country turned our main shopping street pedestrian-only, it meant buses that usually operate there ended up skipping the bus stops there, with the next nearest stop 1 whole metro station away to the east in some cases. Other cities' pedestrian streets may still allow trams there e.g. Zurich, Melbourne but my country doesn't operate them
Sorry, but Bastille is one of the worst places to cross with a bike in Paris. If there's more than 2 bikes that want to cross the street, they block the whole bike path, and they need to wait 2 times for the green light to pass 1 road. The "island" in the middle of the road is to small for more than 2 bikes. Terrible design.
@@WillMcFly you're not wrong but It's much better now than before.
Back then it was just a massive roundabout with no ways for pedestrians to come close of the July Column in the center of the place.
It's not perfect but you have to consider that a Third of the area is accessible by bikes or by foot now, compared to none before.
I'm not a "walk and bicycle" person either but let this go and see how it goes after about a decade after they have finished. So other countries won't move as fast because they too are wanting to see how this works out and what the kinks are.
They thing about place like this that make is ok "here" is that when you look at all the shops and businesses they are clustered together. They are all in close proximity to each other so it makes sense in this case. The cycling and walking is something you will almost automatically do because everything is right there. For many other cities that are not set up this way you'd be tiring yourself out and taking all literal day to get from a place to another because of the spread so are these people wanting to redesign businesses and things? That won't happen. Or maybe add in more businesses to fill in the empty spaces.
You would think a city famous for its metro and beautiful streets would be willing to reduce its cars...yet car owners there show that it doesn't matter what we do, it's going to be a fight.
The "acoustic" bicycles cracked me up so bad! ^_^
Lovely video, as always!
It's not my term, but it's too funny not to use.
Indeed. Gonna steal that one for my everyday use.
Wien Conte bald wie Amsterdam sein.
It took me a few seconds to make the connection in my head as to "why did he say acoustic there". Then i burst out laughing
@@stefanvladescu7353 I actually didn't make the connection until I read these comments 🙂
It's a silicon valley cliche, but "move fast and break things" really is a mantra for anyone who wants to actually FINISH something. If you try to do everything perfectly, you'll never do anything. Chapeau to Paris to getting stuff done.
Thanks Silicon Walley. Moved fast, and broke the whole humanity. Well done.
@@Turbo_TechnoLogic lol
However in Holland they seem to do everything perfectly ! ;)
Only that breaking things when it comes to street design could mean more deaths by traffic accidents. There is more than one reason for this type of changes to be applied gradually and legibly, and it definitly isn't just some stuffy suits standing on the road of progress.
That explains BER ;-)
As a Canadian, I really enjoy how many of your videos have low-key insults towards Canada. These videos are really informative and awesome, but living in Canada and realizing how awful our infrastructure is, is depressing.
Most of canada really is so depressing, isolated from everything and so so boring...
To be fair to Canada, what works in Europe won't always work else where. A lot of the problems with wide adoption of bike lanes is the winter in a lot of area's that get snow and ice. Biking in the winter is pretty dangerous, and not a lot of people want to do it either.
Meaning if you turn your entire traffic design towards bikes and pedestrians what happens when it's -10 outside?
@@JustaGuy_Gaming Please go watch the Oulu video about biking in winter on this channel. With enough infrastructure and good snow plowing, the cold temperature does not greatly impact number of people riding the bicycle in winter in Finland.
@@jennyhoneypenny I actually did watch that not too long after this and it's true that with proper support and infrastructure a city can provide better care in the winter than you expect to bike lanes. But for most cities we can't even get them to stop piling snow drifts on the side walk, if they plow the roads at all.
Seems like a real hard sell for some cities. Plus as that video mentioned Finland worked because it had consistent cold weather. Ice is far easier to deal with than roads that might snow and melt and snow and melt like other area's.
Not saying it's impossible but what works in Finland might not work every where.
@@JustaGuy_Gaming I think it could work, with enough promotion for it, and government deciding to put money in it. But yes you might be right considering you know how it is with Canadian politics on all federal, provincial, and municipal level... No one really wins and the decision gets delayed to next year, next year, and it eventually gets forgotten, especially with transit plans.
Anne Hidalgo was successfully re-elected when she ran for a second time as a Mayor, and then she ran in the presidential and got very few votes. That’s because outside of Paris, everyone hates her. People who don’t live inside the city center and only go through Paris don’t understand why all these changes are being made and especially car owners are getting furious. On top of all of this, there are a lot of infrastructure works going on in anticipation of the 2024 Olympics, and the opening of new metro lines all around the city. It’s very much a Work In Progress at the moment
She failed miserably in the presidential election not because of what she did as a mayor but because people hated everything she stood for (bourgeois fake left) as well as her party, which has been massively unpopular since Hollande, and which is dying anyway.
Also, I can maybe understand why the suburbanites are upset : If you're gonna get rid of cars that's great, but bikes are only gonna work for inner city residents (which, incidently, typically tend to be quite richer, what a fun coincidence). For everyone else, what you need to do the most is to expand the public transportation system a lot. And I have to admit I'm not a Parisian, so I don't know a lot about her plans for that, but if she doesn't really have any or if they're insufficient, I can totally understand the hate. In Rennes where I live, the situation is similar, despite it being a much smaller city. Our mayor Nathalie Appéré is banning cars from more and more streets in the city center, which makes going through it by car a nightmarish maze of one-way streets. But I mean this is great as long as it disincentivizes car trips. However, aside from a few new bike lanes and the promised opening of a new metro line that's overdue by almost a decade by now, there's not much done for suburbanites, so a typical bus commute can sometimes be up to an hour. Even worse, the anticipation of the new metro line has prompted a lot of new development that still isn't well served by public transportation yet. All of this has resulted in people from the suburbs still being dependant on cars to commute, but car transit being much harder and more crowded than before (I've read that Rennes was recently determined to be the most jammed city in France, even though it's not that big).
@@nicolasglemot6760 What about parking lots on the edge of the inner city?
Suburbanites could drive to there and then switch to an e-scooter or folding bike stashed in the trunk of the car, or use the public transit system.
Problems arise when car drivers absolutely want to drive into the inner city. With those kind of parkings they wouldn't have to, and would have no excuse.
@@Attya-y2y Well yeah, but the problem is that it would add at least a good 5 to 10 minutes of parking, walking to the actual station and waiting for your connection, so it's only worth it if it improves dramatically the efficiency for rest of the journey, which may be the case for Paris if it replaces a long portion of congested car traffic with metro, but for Rennes it's definitely not worth it, because since it's way smaller than Paris, even with congestion, the actual trip inside the city typically is not long enough that it would be a time gain to do this, I think. Also, we have only one metro yet, so it could only work for the two parts of the city at the ends of the metro line. (Actually at these spots maybe it might just be worth it idk, but the parking-to-platform distance would have to be very short and it would still probably make a very marginal difference. In any case that's not where I live anyway)
well her failure at the Presidential has little to do with her bike policy. in fact, she gets a lot of hate inside Paris too. She got very few votes because of a bad campaign and the Left being divided.
Edmonton, Canada, has just decided to follow the lead of cities like Paris and Seville by fast tracking our bicycle network rather than adding small amounts year after year. The city is going to add 408km of cycling track by 2026 at a cost of about $200 million. So glad for this progressive move by the city.
In Canada, It is always costly, but more often than not the effect/quality/time is not expected.
I like this as well. I really wish more people here would try and see this(as well as the LRT) as a work in progress rather than just an inconvenience.
I’m a daily bike commuter in Paris. I moved here 2 and a half years ago and started using bike as my primary mode of transportation just as the changes were starting to happen. It feels like we’re retaking the city, but there are still many rough edges. To beginner or nervous cyclists, I would say commuting can still be an overwhelming experience here, and you barely see any children on bikes other than on leisure paths on weekends. I still wear a helmet, and often have to weave through traffic.
But my 30 minute bike commuter each way takes me through historic and beautiful sites that I’d barely get to see by taking the metro and wouldn’t get to appreciate while driving. My upright Dutch-style e-bike changed my life for the better
Do you bike in the rain?
Nice to hear that ! I will be moving to Paris next autumn and coming from Berlin, i Love to cycle to work or university !
I share your experience (cycling commuter here since 2 years and a half) and you're totally right, it's improving a lot although you have to get used to it. Cycling is so much better than taking the metro and seeing one's personal space getting invaded all the time
@@smily1110 I do, but if the weather is particularly dreadful I have the luxury to work from home. Poncho + rain pants
@@johnny5247 bienvenue ! For cycle commuting, living inside of Paris intra-muros or suburbs to the south are probably the best
Paris is an interesting city. They are one of the most densely populated cities in the western world but it also was one of the first European cities to widen streets to make grand Boulevards, a forerunner to the modern North American stroad.
Boulevard =/= stroad
@@pierren___ not exactly the same since the buildings on Paris's blvds are a lot more street oriented than the setback buildings on North American stroads with more parking than building space but they are both wide streets.
@@pierren___ Not at first, but they are when they are 'developed' into car use
@@krabix1855 Paris boulevard isnt stroad, and no big parking like in america
Well, to be fair, Paris is denser compared to other cities only because they consid the central part of the city. To be clear, is stil on the spot, but not so far away from other european cities
As a Paris dweller you hit the nail on the head with this one. I haven't gotten used yet to some of the new infrastructure (I still have no idea how you're supposed to cross Concorde for instance) but there are indeed some major improvements. Nicest part to me is how you can now bike along the Seine in a very wide dedicated lane. That is a game changer as it gives you access to most of the city.
Are there any plans to address that massive roundabout featured in the video? It made my palms sweaty just imagining what it would be like to navigate that monstrosity. I'd bet money there are multiple crashes there every day.
@@choronos no idea but given it’s located around a major landmark and sees a ton of traffic I’m assuming it will be an uphill battle.
@@towaritch idk man I live here and I love it. Still waiting for my check though. 😕
@@choronos There actually is a two-way cycling lane separated from the street that goes around the Place de l'Étoile on the Boulevard de Presbourg, it's like thirty meters around the Étoile, there's really no reason you'd ever have to cycle into that nightmare, not sure why they did that in this video.
@@teproc4740 I was actually referring to driving. When I saw the footage of the cars bunching up haphazardly to try to enter the roundabout, my palms started to sweat. Getting in or out of that roundabout is a nightmare I'd avoid like the plague if I ever happened to be driving in Paris.
Honestly the biggest hurdle in these projects is just like going to the gym: hardest part is getting started and dragging our ass over there. So great on Paris for actually going through with things instead of bickering back and forth on pilot projects and surveys and all kinds of bureaucratic nonsense. Real change only happens once you begin.
And this should also be a lesson to all major US cities where many people tend to throw the argument "it's impossible, it will take too long, people are used to cars, nobody wants to go through with it, it can't be done" and so on. No. It most surely CAN be done, it requires willingness to act. That's all. Willingness to not take no for an answer.
Thank you, a lot of the comments are frustrating here that Paris took it too far. At least they did something and can adjust from there. In America, most cities will applaud themselves for painting some bike lanes that don't connect and calling it a day.
There's an intersection in Atlanta (10th and Monroe) where a girl died biking to school. So this week they unveiled a plan to update the intersection. FIVE YEARS LATER!
That's the time it took France to do this entire project.
@@MattDecuir Agreed. And I don't think anyone is right in judging these acts as being "taken too far". It just means people may not be completely used to it yet (which also goes for the city planners too). But that's the thing, now people can learn from these changes and make improvements if needed, or adapt the way they choose to commute etc, which will open up entirely new opportunities in the future. But none of this would be possible if nothing had been done in the first place.
I live in Copenhagen where over 60% of daily commuters use a bicycle. That is the largest number in the world, but we only got to this stage because we made some changes many years ago - and not all the changes were great. In the beginning there were many errors and inefficiencies and people had to adapt -sometimes in quite radical ways. But over time our methods got better, efficiency improved, and people saw the potential in urban planning that didn't just cater to cars. We are ahead of the curve, but we are also a proof that these changes can be made and work. We are still improving it to this day, the full potential is still far away and we should do what we can to reach it.
I'm french (not from Paris though) and from a cycling family, I mean, we cycle for sport, for fun, and to travel. But I have never seen more bicycles on a daily basis than now, post COVID lockdowns. I notice this every time I have to use the car, and I see so much more cyclist that I'm used to, getting to work, or even for some small grocery trips. That's very cool
As a Dutch citizen living in the center Paris for over 20 years I witness the changes everyday. Since two years, I use my Dutch omafiets in Paris whenever I can !!
However, the real change is not for Parisians but for the “banlieusards” living in the suburbs. Parisians have the metro. Commuting is often hell for banlieusards and very time consuming. Taking a bike has now become a real alternative !! The new RER V project is a life changer.
Please watch the great videos explaining this projet on TH-cam.
Interesting. I used to live in Brixton and was a hill away from the tube, but never considered that as the more pleasant way to negotiate London. Too crowded, plus, there was just always something to explore up top!
Do you mean you can take your bike into the RER ?
@@hukihuki4135 nono, it is RER VELO (V like velo/bike). It is wide and protected bikes lane and infra that match more or less the existing RER
@@tomtomfuss ah, noice :)
bonjopur Piet, really like to make friends with you. I live in Western Washington USA. Its urban planning is much better then other cities across the country. I live south of Seattle, a Car infested corridor of 8 lane highways. The car sucks! I wished in 1964 the monorail could have expanded but it did not. I used to live in Vancouver BC Canada and miss the light rail, the Coast Mountain Buss company that has TWICE as many buses as Seattle does. Back in my home state of Washington, the traffic sucks. I commute when needed but its a roal pain int he ass.
I have been living in the netherlands for 6 months now and the way I interact with my bike daily means I am not looking forward to having to move back to the UK. It is this channel that has really helped me build an appreciation for everything bike- and people- centric. thank you :)
Do you obey traffic laws? Are you a weasel?
Look to join a local cycling campaign if you do move back to the UK - you could help advocate for improvement for cycling and you get the mutual support and advice on, for example best perhaps hidden safe routes around where you live 😉
@@dorinda4891 OBEYING THE LAW MIGHT HELP. CYCLISTS ARENOTORIOUSLY IMMUNE TO CIVIC DUTY AND THE FEDERAL CAPITAL OF FRANCE IS AN ETERNAL SHITHOLE, WITH LAWLESS CIVIL SERVANTS FOREVER TRASHING THEIR TOWN!!!!!!!!!
@@martinkent333 Weasels Ripped My Flesh.
@@martinkent333 so cyclists are notorious for breaking the law? Unlike who, exactly? Motorists parking 'for 5 minutes' on the cycle lane, or even the pavement? Playing on their phone while driving? Breaking the speed limits? Not yielding for traffic coming from the right and cutting off traffic when taking a left or right? Ignoring pedestrians on a crossing? Engaging the intersection without being able to liberate it? Double parking? Parking in front of pedestrian crossings and close to an intersection? Passing cyclists without leaving the mandatory 1.5 m between their vehicle and the cyclist? All things that could lead to other road users' deaths, unlike most infractions by cyclists, by the way.
BTW, France isn't a federal country, so Paris is just the nation's capital.
Mayor Anne Hidalgo has given Paris the oppertunity to change in a dramatic way. When cars are reduced out of the city-center, and bycicle infra-structure is widely installed, then the people can experience Paris as it should, cleaner air, less noise, a more calmer street image. The result will be amazing, and many big cities will follow, as some are allready planning. Allez Paris!!
If this change is so marvelous, how come Parisians can’t stand the mayor’s guts and only 2% !!!! Voted for her in the last presidential election ? Pollution hasn’t gown down a single notch, driving has become a hell of a lot worse, and more dangerous as the various traffic weaving around without respecting any road rules has increased ten fold. If the only answer is : « well, overtime, like three decades or a century, you’ll see, it’ll get better », that explains why she’s so hated.
@@Ellinillard only 2% voted for her because she had a programm similar to other candidates, but with less charisma, for a party that was already on its downfall for the presidential election
11:40 one of my Parisian colleagues told me that in Paris, you can safely cross the Champs Elysées everywhere as a pedestrian, provided you keep a brisk pace and look forward. He explained it as follows:
"As long as the person walking shoes determination, the cars will yield."
Can confirm
yeah I'm not betting my life and hope cars yield for me lmao
@@mondude89 they do, you just don't have to run on the road when they're passing bruh
Ah, the Chinese method of determining the right of way. I noticed trucks win out a lot though.
I witnessed something similar when I visited Rome some years ago. To a traffic light abiding German, it was anarchy. But I soon realized, it's about boldness. If you show the drivers, that you absolutely won't hesitate to let yourself get run over, they will stop, even if they have the right of way. But show just an ounce of uncertainty and you will never cross any street.
As a Parisian bike messenger, I can say this video is amazingly accurate. Congratulations, really, and thank you for this.
Even I could take a step back and understand a few more things regarding policies and city designs happening in Paris.
Thank you
In fact, it's not only about Paris but also abouts the suburbs of Paris that are changing. They were famous for having 0 bikelane and now they are making some efforts to follows their Big sister Paris.
That's great to hear!
The banlieue still has a lot to do, though, and it's a bit haphazard, changing from one commune to the next. There are still a few relics refusing to build cycling infrastructure 'because it takes away space for cars and they're ugly'. Smh.
@@barvdw Yeah, I witness this everyday when I go to work. I hope sone I will be able to do my trip with bikelane for the whole trip
@@barvdw sauf qu'à Paris ces l'enfer avec les vélos
@@ishaktaleb8782 avec les vélos, ou avec la circulation ? Les fois que je suis à Paris, j'ai même l'impression qu'il y a trop de piétons, souvent... Mais ce sont surtout les voitures qui occupent la majorité de l'espace.
I'm actually in Brussels this weekend and it was astonishing to see how they have made most of the city centre pedestrian only zones and banned car traffic. You now see lots of people cycling and on those electric scooters but most of all, you could walk around the city and actually talk to eachother. Many streets and areas were unrecognisable, in a good way. It really made me realize again how "cities are not loud, cars are." Mons/Bergen is just an hour by train but it was so much louder with all the cars driving around. The only thing Brussels could improve is to maybe not run several bus lines through busy shopping streets but at least the bus drivers seem to have adjusted their speed to it.
Holy sh!t, things change fast! I went there for work (with my bike) like 9 years ago and so little bikes.
It's changed a lot over just a few years, I feel he's exceptionally harsh on Brussels. I have seen my share of shenanigans in The Netherlands as well.
I agree with you I mean it's not perfect but brussels is also very very hilly (sometimes i have to go off my bike and walk with it) hence they are investing a lot in public transport (brussels has already one of the longest tram network in the world). Things are improving, for cyclists yes but especially for pedestrians! I feel great walking in brussels most of the time and everything is near and you do not need a car
@@reapertheunique true, but those changes are also very recent, like in Paris. And like in Paris, they, too, are often rough around the edges, not nearly as good as the Dutch examples are. Still, it is quite astounding how fast things have developed. My daily commute used to be along a car-infested road. It's still car-infested, but at least there is a raised bike lane, now. Maximum speed has been dropped to 30 on the vast majority of the city's streets, too, there's the pedestrian zone on the central lanes, almost the entire 'petite ceinture' has bike lanes now (they're still building the rest), some major arteries got new bike lanes... It's far from perfect, like many bike streets are implemented haphazardly, so they are still overrun by cars every day (avenue Louise...), many intersections are still hell to cross, some local situations they refuse to make it better (Gentsesteenweg in Molenbeek), etc, etc, but seeing from where we come from (I have been cycling for about 15 years in Brussels, now), after those first nervous steps, things are looking up. That is, if we can keep the naysayers at bay long enough for the new infrastructure to prove itself. They may be a minority, but they are vocal.
@@reapertheunique I hope he visits Brussels soon and does a video on how much has changed since he lived there.
I love that Paris is "simply" rolling up its sleeves and just doing it. At an incredible pace!
In a lot of places there's still a crippling hesitancy to even look at places like Amsterdam or Copenhagen. “But they have spent 30 years transforming their cities, *we* couldn't possibly do it by tomorrow” I hear people say.
Yeah, not with that attitude. And Amsterdam and Copenhagen spent most of that time _figuring out_ what to do. We’re past that, now it's copy-paste time!
Thank you, Paris, for showing how it's done! And also thanks to Not Just Bikes 💕
Remember that in the Netherlands there have been improvements in cycling infrastructure ever since the 1970's. Not sitting on their hands but go step by step as and when possible. There was no country with a massive bike infrastructure to tell them what to do and how to do it.
Does Paris have the borough issue that say places like London has? There are 32 separate councils in London who control things like road infrastructure, utilities etc. Making them all agree is... not easy. Most do, but you get places like Chelsea and Kensington putting a spanner in things that require things like bike lanes to go through them for a proper network around the city. Chelsea won't even allow a damn Tube station in the borough, never mind sweaty people on bikes being allowed a dedicated right of way.
Just spent a few weeks in Paris, and yes, my favourite city has just got a whole lot better. Fewer cars, fewer fumes, safer roads, faster buses, and car drivers that appear much more careful. As a Berliner whose life as a cyclist feels pretty endangered, Paris looks just formidable. If I were single, I‘d be making the move…
Wow I must be a true cyclist, because I rode my bike everywhere in Paris when I lived there in 2011 and LOVED every second of it! Weaving in and out of traffic, screaming "allez" at taxi drivers, going the wrong way on one-way streets and of course the occasional painted-on bike path. The Velib was not only my transportation, it was my outlet to have a blast on the wild and care-free streets of Paris.
It's funny how Paris was already (aside from just being gorgeous and elegant) such a dense, vibrant, navigable city with brilliant public transit, and they're still trying to make their city even better. Meanwhile, developers are still destroying houses and businesses to widen highways in Texas. The US is a disaster.
There's money for Senate connections in new freeways. No corporation is going to donate "campaign funds" for bicycle infrastructure. So, yeah, it's a disaster and it's going to become the joke of the world.
As a European who has driven many times all over Texas and the South. It is indeed a shame and a joke that the USA still has not figured things out.
I just watched it on Nebula. It's astonishing how similar Paris and Budapest look. (Budapest copied Paris in the late 19th century, the architects of the time stated it as such. Still, if you took two pictures in those two cities and blurred the texts and license plates, sometimes you wouldn't be able to tell which is which.) Budapest also extended its bike lane network quite a bit in the last years, let's hope that they will be able to use the lessons from Paris and won't half-ass further developments.
I just visited Budapest few weeks ago! I was very surprised what you guys did in recent years. Biking infrastructure looks really good there.
True. I've actually visited Budapest more than I have Paris and its nice. A lot of people here in Scandinavia call it "The broke mans Paris" but I actually enjoy visiting Budapest more than Paris tbh. Though yeah I visited the city back in the summer of 2020 and their bicycle infrastructure was definitely lacking.
I was about to say the same. I lived in Budapest in 2008 and was back there some years ago. The transformation is incredible. The tunnel in Fereciek Tere was closed and now is a great place for pedestrians and bikes as well!
This is what I was thinking about, too. Budapest shouldn't have stopped with the bike lanes, and some more protection for the infrastructure is definitely needed.
It would be better to imitate Utrecht or any other major city in The Netherlands. And I'm Canadian, not Dutch.
I think making a Cycling city means that it's OK to make mistakes and that's what paint and planters/pilons are for. Just quickly install it and then have big posters asking people to write in to the city to tell them how it should be improved. Then, after there are no more (or very little) complaints, should concrete and perminant infrastructure be installed.
Paris is a lawless federal capital, where the civil servants blow Arret signs, Rube.
@@martinkent333 ok? How is that relevant?
A desire path designed bicycle lane? I'm intrigued
@@martinkent333 You are such a clown
@@MrMoon-hy6pn The Europeans are immune to laws?
I've been to Paris twice, once around 2006, once in 2014 and I must say, I did not at all recognize Paris from your first clips of all the cyclists. It looks so much nicer than my memories of the city, which are exactly as you describe later on: full of cars, not nice to walk, scary. But now it looks - in those parts - much more like a livable area.
Thank you so much for this video full of benevolence towards change in Paris.
I live in this city and it’s just exhausting to hear people complain non stop about changes even if it is obviously taking the right direction. I’m glad to see that people like you can actually see the benefits of such change and still be able to be critic too.
Best !
I agree. We just need to remember the same people complaining now will be shocked when looking at pictures of 2000's Paris with no trees and 80% of all public space occupied by parked cars all the time.
Perspective is everything. Watching your videos and other channels on urban stuff allows to realise how lucky or cursed we are. As a Parisian, I get how far we have evolved. I'm happy to read so many comments about how viewers now want to visit and experience cycling. That's how I feel when I see other great projects or infrastructure upgrades, makes me want to move there!
We're a long way from any Dutch standard, but we are heading there and fast. The popularity of the scheme is undeniable.
Something I've realised. Many cities in France, big and small, have their own successful bike scheme or plan to make big moves. Strasbourg, on the Rhine river, right on the German border, has always been the frontrunner in these affairs, then Lyon, Lille in the North, and Rennes in Brittany have extensive regional networks under construction. But there's no national incentive to create more cycling infra, thankfully, local mayors everywhere are doing what their constituents asked for. Many 2020 mayoral candidates have been elected from the Green Party, and won in major cities (Lyon, Strasbourg, Bordeaux) and regional hubs (Besançon, Tours, Annecy et Grenoble), because of promises of local car reduction programmes. But in fact mayors from all borders are going forward with these, step by step.
You may add Caen (near D day beaches in Normandy) which isn't far behind Paris in term of lanes or (weaather protected) parking lots; the number of bikes saw a gigasplosion in the last 10 years there. But you're right in that there's a looong way above. Latest improvement in Caen is a dedicated bicycles highway around the city that's gorgeous. It enter the close-by suburbs where it... ends abruptely, and one has to cross all this suburb (or make a lenghty detour via dowtown) to find the new bikes highway back. About suburbs and cities: how many social housings have appropriate parking lots for bikes , or even any place at all ?-\
Woah this might actually put Paris on our list of places to visit now!
Why didnt you want to come first ? :/
@@pierren___ why would any 1 go to a place were theirs heavy traffic no thanksss
@@joeyweston9001 you dont pass all your time in a car , this is not LA
Paris is great but there is also a quintillion of other nice places to visit in France that have the big avantage to not be plagued by mass tourism and pollution.
same
Well, Paris is quite known for audacious infrastructure programs like the Haussmann renovation, the build-up of the Paris Metro, and now the cycle city program. Leave it to the French to go into something head strong. Vive le Paris!
You should read about the "Grand Paris Express" new metro lines project currently under construction. It doesn't get many headlines and it's mostly all happening underground but it's massive (and expensive too)
It’s like everything needs to be a revolution in France 😂 we love clashing ideas together and make a jovial mess
You know ironically Parisians are super pissed off about the city being under construction all the time, but that's normal complaining is a national sport.
@@kroooassant9899 The very little time I was lucky enough to spend there, the guide kept pointing at stuff he didn't like and giving us a list of reasons why they were shit-- when he wasn't laughing at us americans for the ongoing Clinton/Trump election cycle.
I loved that guy...
I actually saw them build these pathways in paris in 2019 when I was there. Seeing it come to fruition in your video makes me think a revisit is on the cards.
11:46 Yes I live in Paris and yes I start walking but only after making eye-contact with the drivers. Once one car stops the other follow normally. I try to impose my pedestrian priority where I can with a clear eye for my safety.
BTW, next time you can also take similar TGV trains to Lyon, Marseilles etc. It is not expensive and just 2-3 hours extra.
question: is marseilles a good city in terms of development? it always struck me as a place that looked easy to walk etc
"How many people are actually brave enough, or stupid enough to start walking ?"
*raises hand*
Yeah, you have to assert dominance over the cars so they let you pass
I’ve been longing to go to Paris and witness this transformation, so thank you!!
I’d like to suggest one difference between North American and European cities you may not have touched upon, and that is car size. I live and cycle in NYC. Over 15 years ago I stayed for a month in Paris and brought my racing bike. “Crazy” Paris traffic felt extremely mild compared to what I’m used to and I enjoyed riding around. Upon reflection I realized part of the reason is Europeans drive much smaller cars. In this video I noticed a lot of low sedans; in the US everyone’s in a humongous SUV. Sure, a small car can still kill you, but for some reason they feel less terrifying to ride amongst.
sadly french carmakers have made their rechargeable hybrids in the shape of SUVs... So more and more people will be tempted to buy those (it was already a trend before hence their choice)
I don't know how common it is in cities, but in shopping centers for more rural areas, I get to see the ugly, needlessly massive pickuptrucks
The combination of better visibility and a few extra inches of space makes a huge psychological difference.
@@relzyn5545 Large pickup trucks have sortove become a status symbol in the US, only a few people actually need them, but a lot of people have them. Taller vehicles like pickup trucks and SUVs cost more and are also significantly more dangerous for literally everyone who isn't currently in one including pedestrians(the higher front of the vehicle is on the same level as most vital organs).
A normal car will have you take off and flying over it, hitting the windshield and pavement, an SUV will run you over and that with no less than 1.5-3 T of weight. Makes a tremendous difference especially for pedestrians, seen as how fatality in car-pedestrian accidents has gone up. SUVs for the most part, while being arguably more comfortable (esp. for elderly folks, who don't like bending their knees to sit down in a car), are actually more dangerous at high speeds in curves, because being more top heavy results in less traction and when sliding around, they're easier to roll over.
So, we have:
+ more comfort due to elevated position
- more dangerous for oneself and especially other participants in traffic
- terrible from an ecological point of view
- terrible for city traffic, parking
= utterly unneccessary, get a combi, has enough room for a family, groceries, you name it.
I wish I could pay for your visit to Bucharest, Romania. Here things are in really bad state regarding bicycle infrastructure. :(
I think you can ommit the last 3 words.
@@Pyrochemik007 Exactly, I was there in 2016 and literally hated the city. The "public transport" being taxis and not being able to tie a security belt in those scared me so hard. The gouvernemental building looks amazing though, might be proof of the corruption, but that's an assumption, I have no idea if it is true.
"I wish I could pay for you to suffer Bucharest like I do"
@@Pyrochemik007 Indeed I can. :(
Când încerci să fi capitală europeană dar preferi infrastructura americană.
One good thing that came out from all the COVID lockdowns are empty cities, therefore an opportunity to drastically change their layouts without too much annoyance. Many temporary bike lanes have been installed in Paris during the lockdowns. As people got used to them, they are now being turned into permanent infrastructures. 🚲
I live in Paris and move around mainly with my bicycle. While riding a bike in Paris is still very dangerous, the quick improvements are noticeable. Paris has a strange car culture, for a city that densely populated. But I do think people are getting more comfortable with the idea of riding bikes, and I love seeing it.
I’ve had the chance to ride my bike around Paris during the most quiet hours, and it truly makes the city so much more beautiful. I am very optimistic, and a bit more tolerant thanks to your video. It’s ok to make mistakes. At least the city is working hard to make changes happen, and I am grateful.
Yes, it's the one good thing to come out of covid!
I don't think Paris has a car culture, it's just that it's so dense that the people coming from the suburb and the few people that take their car intra muros are enough to clog the city,
I think about 30% of the moves in Paris are made by car. It is not at all a car culture. In my opinion (but it's just my opinion), it's one of the cities in France where people take the least their car (but may be I am totally wrong, it would take a lot of time to check)
@@noefillon1749 This is correct. This is by far an exception in France, people use way less their cars than in any other city in the country.
I recently visited Paris after about 9 years and the transformation of how traffic works is huge.
I wish city planners in the U.S. would watch your videos! What can we do to transform more of our cities into pedestrian friendly areas? Are they teaching these ideas to city engineers in the U.S. so we might one day have this?
Funny, I live in Paris and was just thinking about how you'd be quite impressed by the upgrades the city has made in the past years (especially since the first March lockdown)
I live in the Netherlands for most of my life, your videos have made me realise how good we have it here when it comes to our infrastructure.
I never even think about it. Great stuff, keep up the good work.
His videos made me realize how bad We got it. I was lucky enough to be in a walkable distance from my highschool and the shopping plaza
A while back I saw a piece (I think it was by the BBC), about how many cities across Europe have taken covid as an opportunity to change to more cycling/walking friendly infrastructure. I really hope that we're seeing a long term change in attitude towards the car in modern society. So I really hope that Paris becomes an example of how modern cities can thrive with more people centred infrastructure.
Instead, here in the UK the government just had wine and cheese parties instead of actually making use of the quiet time to improve things for the people.
@@TalesOfWar It didn't even feel like we had much quiet time, all of Covid has been one continuous crisis because of Tory mismanagement, public anti-mask anti-lockdown anti-vax idiots, and an NHS that was already crumbling pre-Covid because of excessive Tory cuts. Not to mention Brexit and supply chain chaos
I’d just like to say your videos really do inspire me. I’m extremely fortunate to live in one of the only bike friendly towns in America. And when I say bike Friendly, I mean one bike lane each direction through town. Despite them being added for the local Amish, it has made biking as transportation somewhat common to see in Bremen now. I’m no longer car dependent, which I appreciate even as a car enthusiast. Biking has allowed me to save up to buy a great car. And I don’t even have to put the car through the stresses of cycling the engine daily and putting city miles on it. Now I can use it only for highway travel, and of course, when I want to enjoy it.
Lived there for four and a half year between 2008 and 2014, always had my velib card (yes, even during the mess with the company change), and it is really great to see this kind of improvements!
I can only confirm everything that was said in this video, which is great by the way! Paris is changing and we are living a real revolution! Things are moving in the right direction!
I hope we will experience something like that in Prague too !
Paris is the right city for great revolutions!
In terms of biking at least
They have done a similar thing here in Madrid. The whole of the city centre has been pedestrianised (except for buses, taxis and residents) and bicycle infrastructure has been greatly improved. There are more cheap electric bikes, scooters and small cars for rent than you could shake a stick at.
That wasn't the feeling I got when I was there 2 months ago though you probably know better.
@@jaumesol3480 Well, what I said was true, although you don't see as many bikes here as you do in Paris or Amsterdam. And there are some main roads with cars that cut through the centre, but they are not permitted to use the residential and pedestrianised area.
Electric bicycles cost only €0,50 for 30 minutes and electric motorcycles are about €0,20 per minute. They are the equivalent of a 125 cc bike and are very nippy and fun to use. There are large areas which are pedestrian only. I live in a residential street and regular, non-resident cars are not permitted access, which is cool as it used to be like a race track!. What feeling did you get when you were here?
@@Nilguiri Compared to where I live, Barcelona, I felt like there was lot of fast-moving car traffic and very wide roads with lots of car lanes and especially, very little cycling infrastructure. I went mostly around the center, but I know Madrid is a huge city and the situation must be different in other parts of the city. In the Barcelona Eixample there are also lots of cars and car-centric design but at least you'll get some cycle lanes that are not just paint. In Madrid I saw a bycicle lane between a bus lane and a regular car lane, in a wide street, uphill. No one is gonna use that and I've never seen anything remotely similar here.
@@jaumesol3480 Damn it! My comment keeps getting deleted! What's happening?
@@jaumesol3480 This is getting ridiculous. My comment has disappeared 7 times! I'm going to split it up into small paragraphs and see if it sticks!
Omg! Canadian here, moving to France soon for an internship and I’m so so so excited! These changes are amazing.
i'm sorry, did i just hear "acoustic bicycle"? i will never describe my bicycle in any other way, ever again. thank you so much for this.
Given the impact Paris has on the western world (with all due respect Amsterdam) and these projects have the edges ironed out by its summer Olympics, many cities may go "hmm we should try that"
Really hope Edinburgh (given that it seems to swap places with the Highlands for the most cycling to work/school in Scotland) and Glasgow (given it has been expanding it's network bit by bit) take a leaf out of this book. Both are already pretty good walkable cities, but man, cycling wasn't brilliant in Edinburgh away from the canal. Be really nice if Holyrood made some meaningful movements here.
Good luck trying to convinve the krauts, though. Car lobby is huge and germans have a very intensive "Autokultur". Maybe Hamburg and Berlin will go with this trend, but i see hard problems in east germany and bavaria. The city with the least desire to change is probably Wolfsburg, because this city only exists because of VW.
the 2024 Olympics is probs the time limit for a lot of the works. if they can show that its working they will get a lot of returning visitors. like you said other cities will look towards these adaptions also.
C'est beau de voir des gens avec suffisamment de convictions pour porter des projets qui impliquent de revoir des habitudes comme celle de se déplacer en voiture dans nos villes. J'espère que nous aurons le courage de le faire également à Montréal.
je passe ma vie entre les deux villes et je peux t'assurer que MTL n'a rien a envier a Paris sur les infra vélo, surtout depuis le REV. C'est plus le reste du Quebec qui est un peu en retard en la matiere mais ça progresse petit a petit :)
@@Potato-dx5mc c'est bon à savoir! Quand on se compare on se console alors!
J'espère qu'avec la ré-élection de Valérie Plante récemment qu'on va voire de plus en plus des nouvelles pistes pour vélos.
@@Potato-dx5mc Particulièrement dans les campagnes, c'est suicidaire ici dans les Laurentides aller en vélo et encore plus dans les banlieues-dortoirs sans âme que cette chaîne critique si bien
On dirait que le Québec est influencé par la même culture de voiture que dans le reste de l'Amérique du Nord. Du coup c'est pas que les États Unis mais aussi le Canada.
The Vélib scheme in Paris is incredible! There are so many points around the city there's no point in buying a bike. And it's extremely affordable. Paris is also a very bike-friendly city, with plentiful dedicated bike lanes.
I'd like to see a video on Milan on this channel. The entire city centre is ruined for cyclists with this old paving that makes it impossible to get around on two wheels, even though there's a bike hire service
The problem with vélib' is that around 50% of them are totally or partially broken.
They're called, cobblestones. Yes, they're not very good for bikes.
Yeah, it's a great system but too many bikes are broken.
@@paulwolf7562 it's not just the cobblestones but also the tram lines that make it almost impossible
@@thomasroeder1 I live in Toronto which is laced with tram lines. We learn to cross them at right angles.
Great video ! One thing you didn't mention when talking about the dangerous arc de triomphe roundabout is that there is a circular two way bycicle path in the adjacents streets surrounding the roundabout that allows you to cross safely and easily, no one crosses straight through.
This is the first time in a while I felt excited to visit Paris again! I do wonder why e scooters are banned in Dutch cities though, here in Germany they really change life in Metropol regions and they are very, very fun :D
Wow, I'm amazed at the utter fearlessness of most Parisian bicyclists.
I think that fearlessness/recklessness of cyclists is just part of a healthy cycling culture. In Amsterdam they have the infrastructure to support that cycling culture. You should come to Dublin where red lights are de-jure mandatory, but we treat them as suggestions all the same ;)
You should cycle in London, they are fearless
Murican cyclists : First time? Hold my 50 mph e-scooter
You should see the ones in Zurich. Downhill with no bike lane. And most cyclists don't give a fck about the lanes anyway.
Paralyzing fear can be a killer! I learned quickly that i just need to go straight towards where i want to go without thinking too hard if i don't want to be a sitting duck haha
I think that color coding for bicycle infrastructure would work wonders here. Getting spammed to death with stencil painted bicycles every meter or so really distracts from traffic.
Please use red as in NL to standardise upon a single colour everywhere.
I was really confused as to why all the bike signs were not painted yellow like in Switzerland. Guess every country has its own colors.
@@kevinlove4356 I mean, the green many countries use (of have started using) is fine as well. Easy to see in most weather and easy to recognise for foreigners (bikes are more eco-friendly hence 'green'). I don't think it necessarily has to be standardised across countries.
In France the yellow color on roads means that it's temporary, it's not related to bicycles. When things are permanent we get white paint and pylons and I don't think I've seen color coded bicycle infrastructure, at least around Paris.
@@defalur same in Belgium. I was quite surprised when I first visited Sweden, where all markings are yellow in stead of white (including the background of traffic signs).
I've been teaching myself french over the past year or so, so this is so exciting to give me yet another reason to visit france! Merci!
This old grocery store ad from Canada can help with your French
th-cam.com/video/K2YWIMTHSGM/w-d-xo.html
Is that how far you've gotten?
Haha that ad is brilliant, and yeah i think i've just about managed to move on from Merci by now hahaha :D
Je fais la même chose ! Moi aussi j'aimerais visiter Paris un jour, bien que la pandémie (et ma situation financielle) m'en empêche(nt) pour le moment.
@@krabix1855 lol good stuff, keep at it and enjoy Paris.
Things I loved and want here (MPLS/St Paul, MN): 1. The cyclist counters (much like the trackers on water bottle filling fountains), 2. The water fountains, 3. The explicit permission for cyclists to treat red lights like yield signs. There are SO MANY intersections at which that would make sense!
Cities like Paris that seized the opportunity during the pandemic to test/expand cycle networks are decades ahead of cities that did not. It is a bit rough compared to best case scenario Netherlands, but amazing compared to most US cities.
Watching this from Paris. Thanks for coming here! Your videos got me into appreciating urbanism. I've been living in a car dependent suburb 30km away from Paris until my 20's, your videos taught me a whole new way to describe the issues people face in French suburbs.
This should be the priority hierarchy for any city;
1) Pedestrians on foot, wheel chairs, etc.
2) Bicycles, manual scooters
3) e-Bicycles, e-scooters
4) All other vehicles (including motor cycles)
Public transportation should have separate lanes/passages and should be able to travel seamlessly with minimum interruptions.
I wouldn't be so strict and think the clear separation between public transport and other traffic is wishful thinking. Why? Since cities by definition are densely built and we can't always afford to everyone a separate space.
Also, you complete forgot service vehicles like dumpster trucks or delivery vans a city needs to operate. One solution for shared spaces would be to reduce the speed limit in city to a pedestrian-save level. that way you get shared spaces really fast "for free". This may not be perfect, but is good place to start
@@richiericher9084
Several cities decided 30 km/h for their entire road network coming in the next years, like je Strasbourg and Mulhouse…
yeah that definitely wouldn't work due to the lack of visual difference between electric bicycles and normal ones.
Where do disability scooters go? They can ride pretty much anywhere
It would already be a great improvement to treat them all as equals to begin with.
And after that, I would prioritize cycling, for the one thing cyclists hate is to lose momentum.
I've never had a strong desire to see Paris, this makes me actually want to go in a few years.
Turns out NJB is actually a travel vlogging channel
Why ? :/
@@pierren___ Why have I never had a strong desire to visit, or why would I like to consider going in a few years?
@@boss_ftw Why never désire ?
@@pierren___ I'm unsure. Could be a lack of education on my part, or just that it cost a lot of money to visit Europe, and there are other places I would prefer to see. I've known a few people who have visited Paris, and if they went for vacation, many of them felt it was a bit lackluster. Again, this could certainly be a lack of planning/knowledge on their side.
Hi, I’m a 20 years old Parisian and I’ve witnessed these changes pretty much since I was born.
To be fair it is absolutely true that huges pans of Paris changed with the remodeling of huge « traffic heatpoints » like Place de la Bastille or Place de la Nation, or the Seine Docks now pedestrians and that were created to decharge the huge traffic input on the upper roads, the lanes at place de la Nation for exemple went to something like 5/6 to 3.
Honestly creating more room to pedestrians and bikes in the city is a good idea, but two problems came with that:
- Anne Hidalgo RAISED the cost of public transportation over the years, particularly for us young people and students where some of gouvernement help was cutoff (university used to pay a part of you public transportation like your job would do), and even with that we have better price than everyday people, and to be clear, sometimes it gets cheaper to get your fine than paying the transportation card.
- Also I’m coming from a popular background, I was forced to move out of city with my family because of out of control rising prices and became a « banlieusard », someone who lives in the suburbs.
Every day many many MANY people need to take their cars to come into Paris to do their jobs, because to be fair, extra-muros transportation (like RER, going outside Paris) is outdated, surcharged, and pretty crappy, with too much problems to be reliable for people that need to go to work in time consistently.
We’re not criticizing Anne Hidalgo for her work on the Bike rework of the city, but more on the fact that alternatives were not worked either, public transportation isn’t mordernised, and we have maaaaaany more problems in Paris like house pricing, sanity, and criminality that need to be adressed BEFORE pleasing tourists that want to discover the city with a bike.
I think it was about more than tourists. It's recognizing that you can't accommodate increasing amounts of cars, because Paris and its surrounding areas will likely only get bigger, and the car traffic will only cause more and more destruction of the city and its character. I'm sure they will get around to other infrastructure, but my guess is that starting with bike infrastructure was by far the cheapest option, and also probably the fastest and simplest.
so what you are saying is that this is a good start but more work needs to be done?
@@jennifertarin4707 That's exactly it. Problem is, we're kind of in a political crisis right now and this issue tends to be downplayed, ignored or laughed at. It's actually difficult to attempt any meaningful change right now. But things aren't all grim. Environment takes a bigger and bigger place in the political spotlight since it's both a major worldwide concern and a comfort localised one. People also realize more and more how urban environment is unhealthy and seek solutions to make it safer and more efficient. Right now we have quite important problems and it will be difficult not to ignore those "smaller" problems (I believe they are as, if not more, important but that's just my opinion) but we'll manage... eventually ^^
To me, taking care of the population is the root to increasing well-being, and well-being to quality of life and work. There are less tensions in a place you feel safe living in and people therefore, less time is wasted and every interaction is more efficient and healthier.
Amsterdam also has massive housing problems. Historical cities are afraid of building tall since it will block the view
I enjoyed the scenes of the Las Vegas Strip inserted in your video.🤣
You know Las Vegas has really copied it well when you can insert footage in lol.
This is great, I recognize many similar things happening in Stockholm. As my city is going through a similar process (although far more slowly and less drastically unfortunately). Parking stops being directly converted to bike parking, electric scooters absolutely everywhere, and some inconsistencies and rough edges. (Which I guess aren’t as bad because they’re going more slowly.)
All desperately needed improvements of course. We can’t let ourselves be outdone by the Danes in Copenhagen for much longer!
When I was in Paris as a child I saw that the Saine river was unreachable and mainly parking space next to it. It felt so good to see people instead of dead space near the Saine when I was there around two years ago.
Oh my gosh. I was there for Christmas 2019 and absolutely loved the city...except for the INSANE traffic. I've only seen traffic like that in Manhattan & it was miserable.
Seeing some of the same streets changed so dramatically makes me tear up a bit. It's marvelous. I only wish more cities had real leadership that could get this sort of thing done.
Now I really can't wait to visit Paris again.
Honestly though there are still an insane amount of cars. I’ve never been to Manhattan, my nearest big city and the one I’m most familiar with is London, I’d still say most of London is far less chaotic and to some degree way less intimidating than Paris due to the different general road widths.
Try Prague next time, it has entirely walkable historic center. Also public transport system is maybe the best in EU´s capitals. To avoid scams look up the videos of Honest Guide.
as a parisian that's why i take the subway every day :))))
Wow, this is amazing!!!
AND YOU ARE TOTALLY AWESOME FOR ADAPTING THE ACOUSTIC BIKE TERM FROM MOUNTAINBIKING!!!!! You Rock,,Jason!!!
In Lyon, (2nd or 3rd city in France), bike lanes and traffic have been greatly.
In particular yield signs for bikes are great, they allow you to cross way smoother than having to put your foot down and start again
You have to visit Karlsruhe, it's one of the most bike-friendly cities in Germany and that's not even the best part. The tram Karlsruhe is a dual system light rail system in city and the surrounding area. The transport system combines inner-city tram routes with railroad routes in the surrounding area, thus opening up the entire Mittlerer Oberrhein region and establishing connections to neighboring regions. As well as a new subway. Plus it has a brewery that looks like a castle and a large park in the center of city.
Nothing wrong with Karlsruhe, but to call it cycling friendly is a bit of a stretch... Compared to other German cities, maybe, but most of those are outright dangerous. Improvements are being made, though, even if they happen at a snail's pace.
Yes it’s called a tram-train system and it can be found throughout Europe. Nothing specific to Karlsruhe.
@@LudoL78 Actually, the Karlsruhe system is a bit unique - the lines are part tram (which runs underground for some of its length), part light rail and some even part heavy rail. The vehicles are built to be able to cross these boundaries, even though that necessitates changing electrical supply. The rails themselves are linked into the DB network at two points.
I love Paris. Sadly, I haven't had the opportunity to visit the city since 2007. If Paris can become quieter via EVs, bike lanes, and pedestrian streets, that would make it even better. Equally, an increase in public green-space and urban tree-cover would also be excellent. I hope to visit again someday and check out these things. The Paris Metro already gives the city a huge leg up over most other global cities of the same size. I really don't know why anyone would choose to drive in Paris.
Probably people who live quite a bit outside the city but commute into it for work. Wasn't yellowjacket movement started pretty much by these people who live in much cheaper countryside and drive into Paris for work.
In America, people say they don't want to give up cars because cars give them freedom. I see things differently. I get where they're coming from, there's something romantic about the idea that I can just get in my car and drive west for 2000 miles, but owning a car isn't all scenic drives. It's $1000 to replace worn tires, it's $500 to replace the worn wheel bearings, $300 to replace worn brakes, regular oil changes, regular wheel alignments, car insurance payments, fuel costs (this one is huge). Did your transmission just fail? Cool, that'll be more than the car is worth to fix, probably. People who say cars=freedom never mention the massive financial burden a car represents.
I haven't even mentioned harassment by police being a constant worry, and people with dark skin have it so much worse in that regard. Other people in general are a hazard on the road. If I didn't drive so defensively the majority of the time, I'd have been in multiple crashes in the last WEEK with people who drive like lunatics. Honestly, most of the time my car feels more like a ball and chain dragging behind me than freedom. I do love my car, but I'd give up driving in an instant if America had the public transportation infrastructure to take me anywhere I might want to go. I would call being able to take a high speed train to California from where I live in PA freedom before I call driving a car freedom. The police can't pull a train over to fish for an arrest.
I live in Paris and the biggest noise issue is mopeds, motorcycles and drivers who decide to honk when some idiot obstructs the road by parking their large delivery truck in a way which prevents cars to pass. By far the guys who modify their exhausts ought to have their licenses taken from them.
This is amazing. I live in Buenos Aires and everyone says (and I can relate) it looks like Paris. Interestingly, recently the Minister of Transporation has also made it clear that bikes are the future and now the city (although small) has now 260km in cycling lanes and you can safely cycle to most places in the city. I wonder, however, how some people would react politically to these changes as here, there are many car advocates that believe their taxes should not go to bike lanes
Those people should realize that bike lanes cost less in the longer run.
Car advocates should support bike lanes because it is for them as well. The better the bike lanes, the more bike usage is encouraged, which lessens car usage, and thus improves congestion. That's unless they want to be stuck in traffic forever.
Motorists are funny, they talk about the price in taxes but fail to realize how expensive it is for the state to support motorists.
It's also interesting to see so much people on bike in winter. The big shift to bikes happened quite recently with the pandemic, but there is already a big adoption from Parisians used to cars and public transportation
Oh, it's Paris. The weather is the same in summer :D
I live in Ann Arbor, MI and I hope we can continue installing protected bicycle lanes here as well. I know what you mean about the new improved areas feeling awesome, but as soon as you deviate it's back to a stressful experience. Hopefully the new improvements create a network effect with more bicyclists being attracted, and then we have more people advocating for more improvements.
It's also interesting that these improvements in a city like Paris support so many people, so they're even more worth the investment (vs a town like Ann Arbor). I wish the major cities in America would take advantage of that opportunity as well, but car culture here is so ingrained in our society. It will take a long time for improvements like Paris is doing to be seen in an American city.
My aunt lived in Paris. Late 50’s and 60’s.
On occasions when we visited when out walking if my aunt wished to cross the road she used her metal tipped umbrella, which she always carried. If a car got too close she just dragged it up the bonnet! She never hesitated.😂
The French version of banging on the hood and saying "hey! I'm walkin' here!"
Loved the night ride interview with propel.
Yeah, it was good fun and the video turned out really well!
Glad to see more positive videos! Toronto could learn a lot from this attitude of city planning especially the political statement of saying that the city will take the streets back by making oversized bike lanes. The wayfinding is also great
4:00 It even has ELECTRIC bicycle along with regular ACCOUSTIC bicycle. Enjoyed that joke !!
This is absolutely great! Also, the party flute sound was brilliant!
France: We're adding cycle paths to the Champs Elysees
UK: Let's think about pedestrianising Oxford Street some time in the future so we don't have to do anything, look at how progressive we are!
Speaking of which, do you ever intend to make a video about cycling in London, using the "super"highways?
the super highway is just a bicycle lane with a good PR-team
Are you trying to kill him?
The uk is terrible for this. Always taking about implementing xyz and telling people to cycle but without making facilitating infrastructure
@@Pyrochemik007 The cycleways (of which few there are) are absolutely great. We just need more of them
@@ninosegers My town put up some bike counters and wrote "BICYCLE CITY" all over, oh and painted some lines they constantly have to repaint because cars keep driving over them. Half or more of every bus that leave the station uses that road and they have to cut the corners to get through. There's obviously no barrier so if you're in danger as a cyclist there's no escape.
Christ I want to put an axe through those smug fucking counters
I once visited Paris on a school trip 4 years ago, we rented bikes on one of the days. The route that we planned out was supposed to be bycicle friendly, but it was still terrible compared to the Netherlands (where I live). Personally I liked the Paris metro, the metro system is so dense in the central part of Paris that almost any destination could be reached within reasonable walking distance from the metro. However, I think that traveling from the suburbs to other parts of the city often isn't that easy, so bikes could definitely help connecting the suburbs to the public transport system and other parts of the city as well.
It's all depends on where you live in the suburbs ,usually it's well connected by public transport(train RER) in place of the metro.If you live near river Seine or Marne you also get a quick bikeway free of traffic to get into paris.Greatest thing is my route on bike is quicker than any other transport even public transport :D ,it's fair to say I use a road bike though (13km in 30min)
There is the RER V in preparation, and no that's not for another train line but a regional bike network to connect the center and the periphery
Actually Paris is building one of the world's largest magaproject right now. A 45 billion project that will double the size of the metro to connect the suburbs. Grand Paris Express
"traveling from the suburbs to other parts of the city often isn't that easy"
this is so true!! but they are creating the "grand paris express" to connect the suburb
The metro system will be good in 2024, and great in 2030 (i think the date is 2028 but i expect some slowdowns.)
I'm definitely stealing "acoustic bicycles"
It's not my term, so steal away. I will warm you that some people get irrationally angry at calling them "acoustic bicycles" because they're incapable of appreciating a joke. That makes it even funnier, though.
I don't usually cycle in Paris as I live in the suburbs but this improvemnt has been noticed and feels great. Even as a pedestrian it's preferable. Can't wait also for the Grand Paris Express which will give us metro access to the suburbs!
Very interesting, as your videos always are. I'm happy to see that Paris can still be a modern city. I must admit I'm a little surprised (and very glad) that Mrs Hidalgo was not stopped by rich people or businesses. It gives me some hope in humanity (which is very needed these years). Thanks for sharing. Greetings from Montreal, Canada.
Nice coverage of Paris, and I'm glad you pointed out the flaws as well! I've been commuting by bicycle for the last 10 years, and the changes since the 2019 strikes are really noticeable. In addition to the infrastructure improvement, the sheer amount of bicycles on the road is making a difference: drivers are now getting used to seeing cyclists on bicycle lanes, and I definitely saw a drop in right hook conflicts (from 2 per days to 2 per week on my commute).
Hopefully the infrastructure will keep improving, the number of cars will keep going down, and the new 30km/h limit will be more strictly observed.
I'm really curious to know how the people in these developing cycling cities feel about the move away from cars. If this happened in the United States, I would imagine there would be a large amount of protest. Are there people in these cities that are against this type of development or are most people completely for it?
Sadly, plenty are against.
There is a very loud and devoted opposition to Hidalgo's "ruination of Paris". They didn't translate in votes during the last election, but to be fair, it was the very beginning of the epidemic, when everyone was in favour of stay-at-home orders, and the participation was a record low.
They can be funny sometimes: one of them posted a photo of the empty rue de Rivoli (during the first confinement and in the middle of the afternoon, so not exactly the rush hour) not knowing that it looked a lot like etchings of the same in the mid 19th century, when pedestrians walked on the street and horses and carriages were few and far between...
Some people are strongly against it, arguing that removing lanes for cars and parking spaces is making the traffic worse everywhere, including in the suburbs. I think it might be true to some extent, but the situation wasn't far better before removing those lanes. Also there are projects to add new lines to the public transport (like metros and extending some RER lines) in the suburbs, as well as many new bicycle infrastructure in and around Paris which will probably improve things in the future. We're not there yet but we're trying 🙂
I think the right think to do , as a politician, is showing people the advantages of a car free city. You can bann cars on weekend for a year and after that people will understand the benefits
@@goromir7093 The thing is that the roads on the edges of Paris are just pure chaos all the time, which makes the people who need them weary of these changes. I know this is because everything is still centered around Paris (for example I need to go to the middle of Paris then back with public transport just to go to a city that's a 15 minutes drive away). These changes are very positive but it's going to take a long time before we see real improvements in the suburbs I think.
Also, the city organises a day without cars in Paris once per year and from what I've heard it's great!
Here in Zurich, the majority still lacks dedicated bike lanes, but at least we're getting a bike tunnel. But what Zurich still lacks in bike infrastructure, it more than compensates for with world-class public transport and a strict anti-car and pro-human policy. So it's okay.
Fun fact: The tunnel was originally built for a autobahn Y-junction in the middle of the city -- which was then never realized.
Biking in Zürich as a dutchie was such a wild experience, that bike tunnel sounds like a very cool addition to zuritraffic!
I spent a few months in Zurich. Lots of biking, public transit and walking. I loved every single minute of the experience..... and I'm from a decidedly non-bike friendly part of the US.
Meanwhile in Lausanne we got slow buses that gets constantly stuck in traffic, bike lanes that are disconnected and stops right before busy intersections, infrequent trains that cover only a small part of the metro area, and soul-crushing traffic that makes any trip using bikes or public transit a nightmare.
The city is actively trying to improve the situation however, but they seem to think that painted bicycle gutters is good enough infrastructure and that protected bike lanes are too fancy. And because they're removing space given to cars, the local government is getting a lot of opposition from motorists. But thankfully these drivers live outside the city and thus cannot vote, and as a result city officials in favor of these changes keep getting reelected
4:09 FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE WHO CALLS THEM ACOUSTIC BICYCLES!
I’ve been saying it for years, glad to hear it’s catching on 😉
Hi, first of all great video. I live in Paris and with regard to the Arc de Triomphe there is a protected cycle path in a parallel street that allows you to go in all the streets of the Arc de Triomphe while being protected, it is the rue de Presbourg which then becomes rue de Tilsitt. Secondly it is true that the bike tracks were not equipped with lights for the bikes but gradually all the bike tracks are equipped with lights. Finally, just to clarify most of the cycle paths that you have shown were made in a hurry, we will have to wait a few years for these tracks to be definitive with the right protections and the right lights. I just discovered the channel with this video, it's great👍🏼.
I spent 5 days in Paris over the summer, it was quite an interesting biking experience, coming from the perspective of someone who has ridden in several European cities, and regularly rides in a relatively bike friendly US city (Minneapolis)
To me it felt like the best aspects of riding at home, mixed with the worst parts of riding in Amsterdam. Plus some very Paris-specific quirks.
Similar to the US, the roads are big, so they become quite generous bike paths when converted (or when just free of cars).
Similar to Amsterdam, I find the biking experience is actually hampered by the sheer number of cyclists you have to share space with (not really a problem in the broadest sense, just something I'm a bit uncomfortable with coming from the US where I'm rarely riding along with other people).
And unlike anywhere else I've biked with ostensibly good biking infrastructure, it's often very unclear where you're expected to be, as you mentioned, the signage is pretty lacking, and a lot of intersections have no indication at all of where cyclists should be.
Still, once I understood the issues with cycling there, I learned to just stop and navigate difficult area's as a pedestrian when necessary. Far from ideal, but a nice alternative you don't have when driving somewhere unfamiliar.
Considering how new the biking infrastructure is, I think it's quite impressive. I honestly found it more navigable than Barcelona at times. Barcelona is considered quite bike friendly, but for some reason it's damn near impossible to ride more than 2 blocks at a time without hitting a stoplight (at least where I was in the city), and there's a lot of one-way paths for no clear reason.
Thanks
Thanks for the SuperThanks! 👍
Something I noted when visiting Seville in Spain recently. Scooters and Bikes seem to be able to co-exist in the same dedicated traffic areas, but Scooters have an extra advantage. They are way more portable meaning you can carry them onto buses, trains, metros and trams. This makes them more useful than bikes in some instances.
And electric scooters are much less expensive than electric bikes.
Hey, I hope you make a video on the changes in Barcelona in the last couple of years too. It's not ideal but it's also improving and it would be interesting to hear your comments and suggestions. Thanks for your great content, it's always a pleasure to watch your videos!
Nice video as always. Love to see that places are improving; good infrastructure doesn’t need to be restricted to a few places.
Craziest thing I saw in Paris in terms of signage was a painted bicycle lane in a massive roundabout directing cyclists to the inner circumference, and then back to the outer one to exit.
0:36 hey wait a second
What? It's Paris! The buffet was pretty good.
Thanks for this video I appreciate! It is nice to see Paris changing for cycling, I very rarely take metro now 🚴♀️ It is still a bit dangerous in some places, but it got way better since the pandemic! I still want to live in Amsterdam though ^^ 💚🌱
This is wild.... I love this channel. Never thought this would interest me.
What a brilliant idea. I walked from the Arc de Triomphe to the gardens near the Louvre. Quite a long walk. Having a bike would have made it much easier. I think this would meet with a lot of support.