I lived in paris for 3 years very recently and the biking infrastructure and culture was not like this at all - it was dangerous with very few protected bike lanes. Parisian streets definitely prioritized cars. It's really encouraging to see this transformation and entire shift in how the streets are designed. It truly is a matter of political will.
We only need a partial shift on how streets are designed not an entire shif because if it is an entire shift it takes from individuals choices on how they would like to get around. What we need is the American C.N.U. model or the recreational automobile era model not the radical car-free or car-restricted model.
Yeah, I was there in 2018 and it was infested with cars everywhere. Not very pleasant to walk around. I'm curious to go again and see how it's changed.
I take the rue de Vaugirard (4.3km) almost every day. In one year a cycling path was built on half the lenght of the street. Next year the whole street will be complete. I go regularly through a huge roundabout too, very dangerous around the highway. In two months it has been drastically rethought and the work is almost finished to include bicycles. Paris is still dangerous for cyclists (I was almost rolled over by a bus once) because a lot of infrastructures are still being built and it can create chaos locally and because a lot of drivers still aren't accustomed to cyclists. But since the pandemic, changes have been made at a really fast pace and you cannot compare the Paris from 6 month ago to the one that is to come in 6 months.
I recently went to Paris with my Mum and we used bikes (specifically Lime) as our main mode of transport and we had an absolute blast, it was quick and easy to get places and we felt safe the whole time. Well done Paris.
As a long-time resident of Paris, the transition away from a car-centric to a human-centric traffic model has been very noticeable. The streets of Paris used to be notorious for their congestion, constant traffic jams, and ill-tempered car drivers, and things are much better now. It's still a work in progress, of course, and a lot remains to be done. But it goes to show that with political will, it's perfectly possible to radically transform a large city's traffic culture.
@@nco1970 True, and this is how most parisians feel. At least the ones who like to walk, or just enjoy a stroll. Bikes, and especially trotinettes, have made it particularly stressful to walk, as many of them disregard others/ their environment/ basic civility and just go with their own selfish and rude rules, riding anywhere (sidewalks included of course), ignoring all traffic lights, cutting pedestrians (and all others), etc... Today as a pedestrian you need to ALWAYS be on your guard, while just a few years back you didn't have that omnipresent stress of having to watch on the sides and behind everytime you would move along 20cm to the right or left of the sidewalk when crossing someone else for example. As when on the sidewalk you would ONLY cross pedestrians! And when crossing the streets, you knew you could cross at green without having to look 4 times for any bike or trotinette arriving and cutting you off despite having seen you ALREADY engaged. Great to see the infrastructure change for the best, unfortunately the mentality of many still has to follow, and beyond the infrastructure the municipality hasn't anticipated or worked on prevention or maintenance of good and basic rules.
I love what Paris is doing. Bikes definitely are a much better way of getting around a properly designed city than cars. Much more space efficient, safer, cleaner and much less noisy.
Good point! If NYC starts making bike-friendly streets, then the rest of the US will follow. It’s like New York and subways, they put in subways and next thing you know places like Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle all have subways and trams! Really exited to see how this goes
Well, as a parisian cyclist, it is very nice to see how this video praises Paris and its pro bike policy. However, it is far from beeing perfect and many criticisms made to New York apply to Paris too: the western half of Paris has almost no bike infrastructure ( and almost no suburb has either), there are still quite few axis to go East West (Rivoli and the Quais are sometimes very narrow and become very crowded very fast) or North South (only Sebastopol and it's completely full: 19 000 people per day on the equivalent of a car lane). It is improving fast but, cyclist must often share the lane with buses (which can be terrifying) and there are very few places where one can bike with a friend and talk at the same time. What i true is that the urbanism of Paris and its small streets are much more suited for low car traffic and don't really need bike infrastructure compared to the New York grid. In conclusion, Paris is becoming a very bicycle friendly city in its core, but it is no Amsterdam or Copenhagen. For what I think is a much more fair analysis, go see the Not Jut Bikes video on Paris
yes but it improve slowly west of Paris is very Bourgeois and you have a string block against bike (arrondissement mayor inhabitants etc...) andcities around Paris don't evolve at the same speed (not the same budgect and sometime cities are aginst bike)
I am super excited about the idea of being able to ride alongside someone else. It would make riding so relaxing and people can chat just as if they’re walking. The city I grew up in had been painting bike lanes on almost all urban streets but they are often too narrow or not wide enough for the volume, that no one is able to ride parallel to others safely for a distance. Giving one or a half of car lanes to bikes is nowhere near creating a city truly built to ride.
I remember biking around Paris when I was younger it was terrible and then I went a couple of years ago and took one of those rental e-scooters from Lime and everything was already much better. Happy that Paris is taking notes from some smaller european cities in bikeable infra
I cycled around Paris in the fall of 2009, and I can clearly see they have made major changes. I'm glad to see these changes and I'm looking forward to seeing more.
This is a fantastic video! Thanks so much for the up to date comparisons. It's mind blowing how far Paris has come in just a few years while NYC and especially Portland are lagging behind SO heavily.
This is so wild. I was there for Christmas in 2019, walking some of these same streets, and the difference is night & day. Every inch of street was jammed with cars like the worst day in Manhattan. Now...Wow. NYC has definitely made progress since 2019, too, but not nearly as much. Washington D.C. is making strides, but is so, so slow to act.
Some notable ideas and quotes from this excellent video: By 2026, Paris will add 112 miles of new permanent protected bike lanes, and become a combustion car-free zone by 2030. Paris is now building what they call their 4th generation of protected bike lanes. There’s a climate of which drivers really do know that they are guests on the streets. 50,000 Parisians have received a grant to buy an e-bicycle. There’s no question that NYC has a lot of bike lanes, but they’ve become so popular that they’ve become really too narrow. The modal shift has become sometimes just as many bikes as there are cars, but the bikes have 8 feet, while the cars have the remaining 60 feet. You should be able to bike safely side by side with a friend.
I love cycling in paris because it's not half as crowded as Amsterdam (en definitely cleaner/faster than ratp), but they still have a lot to learn/fix. Randomly cutting off bike lanes or directing them nowhere seems part of the norm, meaning cyclists have to apply agressive tactics to remain safe. They've made fantastic progress though and I look forward to see the network expand and improve !
As a cyclist in Chicago, I feel like there is no room anywhere for me and a friend to go on a social ride. I get super anxious about taking up space on the Lake Front Path (it's so crowded, which just means that we need more space!) and even when I'm biking alone on a side street, I get honked at by cars/side-swiped by cars/almost doored so there's no way I feel safe riding side by side.
This makes me happy. It also makes me sad that Paris has done so much in so little time, when places like Vancouver BC have totally fallen off the bandwagon and will take years just to get one effin' bike lane put in (or re-added...).
Also: 8:25 Agreed. Bicycle lanes should be wide enough to accommodate socialization while riding a bike. Bikes are used for all kinds of things and the infrastructure should reflect that.
What I am missing is the traffic circulation plan, which routes are there for cars, public transit, bicycles, supply vehicles. Every city in the Netherlands has one, in which the routes for cars are defined, so other routes can be used by public transit (without ending up in jams) and bicycles. These plans also contain a system to supply shops, and other businesses, with goods. Example: a delivery van can lower a bollard between 6 am and 10 am to supply the city center supermarket, bakery or fashion shop. A public bus automatically lowers a bollard and so travelers can reach the city center with a short walk. Those plans make sure the city center stays accessible, and keeps the businesses that make city center attractive, but without the private cars that do not have to be there.
Just as long as they don't include Low Emission Zones, Ultra-Low Emissions Zones, Zero Emissions Zones and C.P. zones in which the democratic socialist owned French Government is already dictating to all major cities and even small cities the size of my hometown Lakeland Florida.
@@mapgar1479 Of course they do! Old cars and diesel cars that cannot meet the criteria are banned from the roads, they can get an exception as 'oldtimer' but those cannot enter the city and cannot be used daily.
There's no such traffic plan. That's not the way things are and will be organized in Paris. There is however a project (which is being finalized and should be made public in the fall/winter) to reorganize traffic flows inside the core to essentially ban through traffic, much like it was done in Ghent years ago. Hopefully, this will reduce car traffic to the bare minimum, without actually putting restrictions on the type of vehicle.
@@remicardona_poly And Ghent followed the example of Groningen (NL) which was one of the first to keep city center accessible, but without through traffic. A plan very much criticized than, but in time has proven to be effective beyond expectation.
@@dutchman7623 Didn't know about Groningen (I'm not at all surprised though) I personally can't wait to see this plan brought to my home city. I hope we get it right 🤞
Correct! Bicycles are not cars, by giving them bidirectional access, the city gets accessible. A bidirectional car street can be turned into a one way street for cars with two safe bicycle lanes.
I thought other than the width of the lanes the contraflow was so big. In NYC every so often I will go the wrong way for one block (usually more like 1/2 block since I plan out rides so I stay legal for 5, 10+ miles and destination will be on that block I ride against traffic). Not feeling like you were doing something illegal, or something that you were gonna ticket, or something where if you were hit you would be penalized if injured, etc was amazing and was/is a big deal.
Although only 10% of trips are made by car in Paris, the city still struggles with car crowdedness and a clear lack of trees and plants. Hopefully this can be addressed in the next mandate by Hidalgo or anyone else sharing her vision.
just back from paris. Not all the lanes are big enough for a chat while cycline unfortunately but it was so much better than here (Edinburgh) cycled all over and saw parts of the city i would'nt have seen otherwise and shoped and ate in places i'd have not seen otherwise because of the Velib
Smaller cities are going to be get left behind if they don't make the effort, however I know that some small cities in the UK like Leeds are turning around some great cycling infrastructure.
@@mapgar1479 Please elaborate why you think she is a dictator. Does she put people in prison who says she is one? Are soldiers out there doing fake referendums for bike lanes? Are you getting shot if you protests against her on the streets? Are the elections so rigged you find videos of pre-filled votes put into the poll boxes at the start?
glad to see Bike TV again, but jealous of Paris. My Brooklyn nabe has been overwhelmed w/car traffic, and the vehicle of choice is a big SUV, which makes parking difficult. THe constant honking and people driving through red lights is making life difficult for pedestrians and cyclists. And the scooter kids don't really understand the dangers of the streets.
Lived in London for 10 years, back in Paris. I would NEVER have biked in London, despite the temptation. NEVER. I finally get on my bike daily here in Paris, still far from perfect and often chaotic as many bikers follow their own selfish rules, but at least doable without constantly fearing for your life.
I haven’t been to Paris on citytrip since 2014 and im not going there twice cuz i wanna see more than just Paris. But yeah back in the day it was mainly car dependent. Now that i see this as a dutchie im quite surprised they made it look so good.
I was with them until he/she starting touting riding along two abreast. Doing that stinks. It blocks the lane and pisses people off. Ride one behind the other in a line, not side by side.
It's great to see progress like this, but I really don't get the idea of encouraging cyclists to ride two abreast. Then, even with a nice wide cycleway, it's difficult for cyclists behind, who want/need to get a move on, to get past. If you want a chat, pull into a park! And, in terms of dovetailing bikes with rail, the Dutch are simply light years ahead of everyone else.
@@asddd. I wish. I live in a city that has no bike infrastructure. I go to work by bike sometimes and it really is a hazard. Anyway, when she is old enough that´s her decision, not mine. I certanly hope she and I can get places on a bike.
This won't happen anytime soon here in Prague, Czechia. Cycling is considered something which does not belong to the city but it is only leisure activity in the nature. People even use term "cyclo-terrorists" for people who want to changes like in Paris.
it was the same in Paris 15 years ago. When the infrastructure is there, you will see that the behaviour will change ;). Just a matter of time. Maybe with the new EU environnement laws, this changes will be faster
I watch these videos and I'm always grateful for all the biking roads here in NL. Not a day goes by I don't sit on a bike. I hope that the Parisians get used to bicyclists. That's often the risk that drivers are not used to all the cyclists. But that will change over time. Great steps!
Il ne reste plus qu'aux autres villes françaises et européennes d'avoir le même courage pour en faire des villes accueillantes pour les vélos ! It is now only up to other French and European cities to have the same courage to make their cities bike-friendly !
I was there in August and was really impressed. But as impressive as Paris’s transformation is, it must be said that Paris lags behind many other French cities such as Bordeaux or Strasbourg in terms of cycling infrastructure.
I cycle in Paris every single day and let me tell you it's a living hell as soon as you leave the main avenues Will never switch my bike for a car or public transport though, much more fun and quicker
while generalizations aren't always useful, the french are typically known for not being open to change. the transformation of paris is especially impressive considering that
I wouldn't say the French are not opened to change lol They are not open to neoliberal politics, nor are they open to a foolish pension reform and that kind of shit. But despite being quick to complain, they would still embrace change if it were heading in the right direction ^^
Since living here in Paris since 1990, the changes are incredible. I am a guide on ebikes, as well as a very expericnced road cyclist. This video shows faults of cyclists and users of scooters (trottinettes) whcih are very dangerous for themselves and others. Someone in this video said why shouldn't you be able to ride two abreast, yet it is exactly that which is incredibly dangerous. In Paris it is mayhem on the cycle paths, enjoy be be considerate of others, and ride safely.
Interesting difference between paris and ny is the sprawl and suburb/downtown separation. Paris is more homogenous in regard to facilities and population. idk the avg commute length in paris vs ny, but since ny was built from the groud up for cars, it is a lot more dependent on cars than paris. Thus change can only occur slowly, otherwise a sudden shift would grid lock the traffic, shutting many people down. The only way is to build narrower and fewer lanes first, but to then expand that core bike grid in length, width and density now that traffic has shifted. Baiscally, the wider the car lanes are now, the longer the conversion, because they carry more traffic, which clogs up quicker (gridlock), and the roads are also built longer, thus more of the city is affected by changes f.ex. in the center area. A truly pasirian ny can only be achieved, if public transport is expanded and facilities and needs are decentralised, like workspaces and stores in the suburbs, otherwise people will be forced to keep traveling by car. In the end willpower still decides how it goes, but the cars heritage will remain for decades.
@@asddd. the urban sprawl might have been there before the large highways, but the car is the only reason why sprawl and suburbs exist. There's no way acres of single family housing single use zones could exist without the aid of cars. Therefore it was to some extent built by and for cars, which makes it impossible to connect with bikes or transit now.
Personally I think that Park Ave. is one of the nicer N/S routes in NYC. No bike lanes, but it's a fairly quick and safe route. NYC has very few bike lanes, and for the most part they were designed by people who have absolutely no idea what they were doing. There are a lot of green gutters In NYC, and they are far more dangerous than the street. Your mom warned you about being found dead in the gutter, green gutters just increase that risk.
For peoples living outside of Paris but working there, the story isn’t the same as the cars have been driven out of Paris by reducing the number of parking spaces and creating constant traffic jams at the gates into Paris. The main reason of this constant traffic is that they didn’t really give people viable alternatives as they didn’t increased public transports to get into Paris or do anything else appart from blocking most entries into the city. Other cities like Toulouse or London had a better approach as they created huge parking spaces outside the city where you can leave your car and jump into a public transports to get where you want inside the city. In Toulouse, the parking is even free if you present your public transport ticket when leaving at the end of the day. As for the bicycle lines in Paris, it is a start but there are a lot of good exemples on how to do good bike lanes in the Netherlands and in Germany but it seems they didn’t take any notes. Ideally all lines should not be on the road level but at the curb level with a slight recess (about 1 cm), the lines should also be marked/paved in a different color than the curb to avoid pedestrians accidentally wandering on them and the slight recess allows blind peoples to do the same. Currently, most bike lanes in Paris are simple markings on the road. That leads to cars using the lines at temporary parking spots, forcing cyclists to sway in the cars traffic causing deadly accidents.
Why get rid of combustion vehicles by 2030? Electric cars still aren't a proper option and exhaust can be properly filtered if car manufacturers invest in that aspect.
Hey guys, I’m from Paris. What have been done in Paris is amazing for climate and is truly part of the future of cities so don’t get me wrong. But please be aware of a need of balance too. No everyone can bike around, some people live too far to be able to. (I’m actually stuck in traffic right now because of the lack of balance) Biking needs to be supported by a decent, accurate and accountable train system, which is not the case in the city. It’s especially important for winter days. We need Balance. Biking is part of the solution but is not THE solution. Just a reminder. Ps: bike lanes are actually crowded/dangerous and walking is a mess because of people adopting biking too quick and a lack of rules/sanctions.
Hey guys, Parisian here too. Had a car which I used to commute to work with. Hidalgo indeed made it a hellhole for cars so....I sold the car and moved to cycling for journeys under 1/2 hour and public transports for over 1/2h. Which is the whole so congrats Hidalgo (ps: Paris actually has the densest (not one of, the single most) subway system in the world so I don"t know what the f is Pierre talking about);
This kind of video is very one-sided. Paris has become very expensive to live in. Salaries are stagnating, so most people (including myself) had to move to the suburbs where public transportation isn't always reliable or easily accessible. We have to use cars or -preferably- motorbikes to go to work inside Paris. Trafic has become a nightmare and aside from spring and summer time, a lot of bike lanes are relatively empty. So you get huge congestion (which pollutes a lot) right next to empty roads now dedicated to biking. The mayor (Anne Hidalgo) responsible for these urban projects is now despised by pretty much everyone both in the city and in the metropolitan area. This is turning a liveable, dynamic city into a massive museum. I don't even bother going inside Paris anymore on weekends. This is only nice for tourists and bourgeois who can afford living inside the city, at the expense of poor and even middle class people now.
Question: What do you pay for your car (including parking, repairs, etc) in a month and what’s the price difference for rent between suburbs vs downtown?
@@derLenno I'm commuting on a motorbike, about 80€ a month including gas & service. I've got a parking included with my rent, which is about 1000€/month. For the same appartment close to my work, within Paris, I'd pay about 1500€. And that's not accounting for the fact I have cheaper shopping options for food where I live compared to Paris city center. To be honest, I got a decent wage, so I would probably be able to afford living in the main city, although I would lose a lot of purchasing power. That simply isn't an option for a lot of people.
As tourist or a Parisien, it is very nice to ride in Paris and it is truth that the facilities for bicycling are good. But!!!! Mme Hidalgo doesn’t care about suburbains. When you live 10, 15 km or more from Paris, transportations are nightmares. It is like travelling everyday in a cattle truck. Subways, buses are often late or just not working. The fact that she wants avoiding cars and now scooters and motocycles makes suburbains to desert Paris. Therefore business, shops, restaurants are going down. To increase the number of cyclists for a city like Paris or big cities, you need to create a real transport network for everybody. I am Parisien who ride bicycle.
@@thunderbolt8409 That’s not truth. You can see all around bike lane, packs etc, but when you live 20 Km or more it is impossible to ride bike to work. Yes Hidalgo is Paris’ mayor, but thousands of people are coming from suburb to Paris to work, and now it cost them a hell of money. As the mayor of the capital of France don’t you think she should show to all the country how to take care to human being?
@@asddd. You are suggesting that suburbains should go to museum, theaters, exhibitions in the greatness city in the world? We are not living in the US. Suburb’s city are pretties good organizing live in their own cities. But still, I am talking about a way of life more than division of people.
Some comments are quite funny, if not deluded. Coming to Paris for a few days and hoping to ride their bikes while chatting along LOL. This is NO Emily in Paris! I wish, but it's not!
Count on Paris to implement the unrealistic goals of Agenda 2030. Now is not the time to phase out gasoline. For the European Union I reccomend 2060 with France completley transitioned to a hydrogen economy by 2055. I applaud the protected bike lanes but car-free zones are not the answer.
I lived in paris for 3 years very recently and the biking infrastructure and culture was not like this at all - it was dangerous with very few protected bike lanes. Parisian streets definitely prioritized cars. It's really encouraging to see this transformation and entire shift in how the streets are designed. It truly is a matter of political will.
I last went to Paris four years ago, and cycling was just scary at that time.
We only need a partial shift on how streets are designed not an entire shif because if it is an entire shift it takes from individuals choices on how they would like to get around. What we need is the American C.N.U. model or the recreational automobile era model not the radical car-free or car-restricted model.
Yeah, I was there in 2018 and it was infested with cars everywhere. Not very pleasant to walk around. I'm curious to go again and see how it's changed.
@@mapgar1479 CNU?
I take the rue de Vaugirard (4.3km) almost every day. In one year a cycling path was built on half the lenght of the street. Next year the whole street will be complete.
I go regularly through a huge roundabout too, very dangerous around the highway. In two months it has been drastically rethought and the work is almost finished to include bicycles.
Paris is still dangerous for cyclists (I was almost rolled over by a bus once) because a lot of infrastructures are still being built and it can create chaos locally and because a lot of drivers still aren't accustomed to cyclists.
But since the pandemic, changes have been made at a really fast pace and you cannot compare the Paris from 6 month ago to the one that is to come in 6 months.
I recently went to Paris with my Mum and we used bikes (specifically Lime) as our main mode of transport and we had an absolute blast, it was quick and easy to get places and we felt safe the whole time. Well done Paris.
Good bike infrastructure and public transit are good for tourism!
As a long-time resident of Paris, the transition away from a car-centric to a human-centric traffic model has been very noticeable. The streets of Paris used to be notorious for their congestion, constant traffic jams, and ill-tempered car drivers, and things are much better now. It's still a work in progress, of course, and a lot remains to be done. But it goes to show that with political will, it's perfectly possible to radically transform a large city's traffic culture.
@@nco1970 True, and this is how most parisians feel. At least the ones who like to walk, or just enjoy a stroll. Bikes, and especially trotinettes, have made it particularly stressful to walk, as many of them disregard others/ their environment/ basic civility and just go with their own selfish and rude rules, riding anywhere (sidewalks included of course), ignoring all traffic lights, cutting pedestrians (and all others), etc...
Today as a pedestrian you need to ALWAYS be on your guard, while just a few years back you didn't have that omnipresent stress of having to watch on the sides and behind everytime you would move along 20cm to the right or left of the sidewalk when crossing someone else for example.
As when on the sidewalk you would ONLY cross pedestrians! And when crossing the streets, you knew you could cross at green without having to look 4 times for any bike or trotinette arriving and cutting you off despite having seen you ALREADY engaged.
Great to see the infrastructure change for the best, unfortunately the mentality of many still has to follow, and beyond the infrastructure the municipality hasn't anticipated or worked on prevention or maintenance of good and basic rules.
I love what Paris is doing. Bikes definitely are a much better way of getting around a properly designed city than cars. Much more space efficient, safer, cleaner and much less noisy.
Only for commutes of 3 miles or less. Commutes more than that should be done either by car, the R.E.R. or the Metro.
@@mapgar1479 Sure, but a lot of trips are that short. And bikes synergize very well with public transport.
@@mapgar1479 6+ miles on flat ground is still very much doable
@@mapgar1479 nah 10 km bike rides are just fine in a city if it's well-catered to it tbh
@@mapgar1479 According to who? In a flat city you can do more than double that without any issue
Love it! I really need to carve out some time in November to pop over to Paris while I’m in The Netherlands. Well done, Clarence. Cheers! John
Definitely look into riding the Thalys from Amsterdam to Paris then. Gets you there much faster than driving.
@@alex2143 Thanks! Funny, the thought of driving would never have occurred to me. Hehe 😅
As have Paris influenced NY so will NY influence other cities and other countries. So, it´s a huge responsability and I truly hope they accomplish it.
That's a good point! I hope NYC can influence Philadelphia.
Good point! If NYC starts making bike-friendly streets, then the rest of the US will follow. It’s like New York and subways, they put in subways and next thing you know places like Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle all have subways and trams!
Really exited to see how this goes
Well, as a parisian cyclist, it is very nice to see how this video praises Paris and its pro bike policy.
However, it is far from beeing perfect and many criticisms made to New York apply to Paris too: the western half of Paris has almost no bike infrastructure ( and almost no suburb has either), there are still quite few axis to go East West (Rivoli and the Quais are sometimes very narrow and become very crowded very fast) or North South (only Sebastopol and it's completely full: 19 000 people per day on the equivalent of a car lane).
It is improving fast but, cyclist must often share the lane with buses (which can be terrifying) and there are very few places where one can bike with a friend and talk at the same time.
What i true is that the urbanism of Paris and its small streets are much more suited for low car traffic and don't really need bike infrastructure compared to the New York grid.
In conclusion, Paris is becoming a very bicycle friendly city in its core, but it is no Amsterdam or Copenhagen.
For what I think is a much more fair analysis, go see the Not Jut Bikes video on Paris
yes but it improve slowly
west of Paris is very Bourgeois and you have a string block against bike (arrondissement mayor inhabitants etc...) andcities around Paris don't evolve at the same speed (not the same budgect and sometime cities are aginst bike)
I am super excited about the idea of being able to ride alongside someone else. It would make riding so relaxing and people can chat just as if they’re walking. The city I grew up in had been painting bike lanes on almost all urban streets but they are often too narrow or not wide enough for the volume, that no one is able to ride parallel to others safely for a distance. Giving one or a half of car lanes to bikes is nowhere near creating a city truly built to ride.
As long as your riding the Metro and R.E.R
I remember biking around Paris when I was younger it was terrible and then I went a couple of years ago and took one of those rental e-scooters from Lime and everything was already much better. Happy that Paris is taking notes from some smaller european cities in bikeable infra
I cycled around Paris in the fall of 2009, and I can clearly see they have made major changes. I'm glad to see these changes and I'm looking forward to seeing more.
This is a fantastic video! Thanks so much for the up to date comparisons. It's mind blowing how far Paris has come in just a few years while NYC and especially Portland are lagging behind SO heavily.
This is so wild. I was there for Christmas in 2019, walking some of these same streets, and the difference is night & day. Every inch of street was jammed with cars like the worst day in Manhattan. Now...Wow.
NYC has definitely made progress since 2019, too, but not nearly as much. Washington D.C. is making strides, but is so, so slow to act.
Some notable ideas and quotes from this excellent video:
By 2026, Paris will add 112 miles of new permanent protected bike lanes, and become a combustion car-free zone by 2030.
Paris is now building what they call their 4th generation of protected bike lanes.
There’s a climate of which drivers really do know that they are guests on the streets.
50,000 Parisians have received a grant to buy an e-bicycle.
There’s no question that NYC has a lot of bike lanes, but they’ve become so popular that they’ve become really too narrow.
The modal shift has become sometimes just as many bikes as there are cars, but the bikes have 8 feet, while the cars have the remaining 60 feet.
You should be able to bike safely side by side with a friend.
I love cycling in paris because it's not half as crowded as Amsterdam (en definitely cleaner/faster than ratp), but they still have a lot to learn/fix. Randomly cutting off bike lanes or directing them nowhere seems part of the norm, meaning cyclists have to apply agressive tactics to remain safe. They've made fantastic progress though and I look forward to see the network expand and improve !
don't do my ratp like that
@@DaDa-ui3sw prenons la 12 ou la 13 et on en parle après hahaha
@@elizacitron jprends régulièrement la 13, trqlle
Performative bike riding Mayor. He's doing nothing to get cars out of bike lanes.
As a cyclist in Chicago, I feel like there is no room anywhere for me and a friend to go on a social ride. I get super anxious about taking up space on the Lake Front Path (it's so crowded, which just means that we need more space!) and even when I'm biking alone on a side street, I get honked at by cars/side-swiped by cars/almost doored so there's no way I feel safe riding side by side.
Just take the lane and don't think.
This makes me happy. It also makes me sad that Paris has done so much in so little time, when places like Vancouver BC have totally fallen off the bandwagon and will take years just to get one effin' bike lane put in (or re-added...).
Also: 8:25 Agreed. Bicycle lanes should be wide enough to accommodate socialization while riding a bike. Bikes are used for all kinds of things and the infrastructure should reflect that.
What I am missing is the traffic circulation plan, which routes are there for cars, public transit, bicycles, supply vehicles.
Every city in the Netherlands has one, in which the routes for cars are defined, so other routes can be used by public transit (without ending up in jams) and bicycles. These plans also contain a system to supply shops, and other businesses, with goods.
Example: a delivery van can lower a bollard between 6 am and 10 am to supply the city center supermarket, bakery or fashion shop.
A public bus automatically lowers a bollard and so travelers can reach the city center with a short walk.
Those plans make sure the city center stays accessible, and keeps the businesses that make city center attractive, but without the private cars that do not have to be there.
Just as long as they don't include Low Emission Zones, Ultra-Low Emissions Zones, Zero Emissions Zones and C.P. zones in which the democratic socialist owned French Government is already dictating to all major cities and even small cities the size of my hometown Lakeland Florida.
@@mapgar1479 Of course they do! Old cars and diesel cars that cannot meet the criteria are banned from the roads, they can get an exception as 'oldtimer' but those cannot enter the city and cannot be used daily.
There's no such traffic plan. That's not the way things are and will be organized in Paris. There is however a project (which is being finalized and should be made public in the fall/winter) to reorganize traffic flows inside the core to essentially ban through traffic, much like it was done in Ghent years ago.
Hopefully, this will reduce car traffic to the bare minimum, without actually putting restrictions on the type of vehicle.
@@remicardona_poly And Ghent followed the example of Groningen (NL) which was one of the first to keep city center accessible, but without through traffic. A plan very much criticized than, but in time has proven to be effective beyond expectation.
@@dutchman7623 Didn't know about Groningen (I'm not at all surprised though) I personally can't wait to see this plan brought to my home city. I hope we get it right 🤞
Contraflow lanes on one ways are an absolute game changer
Correct! Bicycles are not cars, by giving them bidirectional access, the city gets accessible.
A bidirectional car street can be turned into a one way street for cars with two safe bicycle lanes.
I thought other than the width of the lanes the contraflow was so big. In NYC every so often I will go the wrong way for one block (usually more like 1/2 block since I plan out rides so I stay legal for 5, 10+ miles and destination will be on that block I ride against traffic). Not feeling like you were doing something illegal, or something that you were gonna ticket, or something where if you were hit you would be penalized if injured, etc was amazing and was/is a big deal.
An Amazing phrase to remember: You need to build for the volume you want, not for the volume we have.
4:28 made me laugh as a European, that is such a common thing in Europe. Her talking about it like if it's some concept from outer space is funny.
your comment is so arrogant and lack of education ... like many countries in Europe ...arrogance , egocentric and racism.
Wonderful Content. Thank You For Sharing. have a good day!❤👍
I was in Paris in 2022 and it was amazing to ride a bike there. Went everywhere by bike, great infrastructure, felt safe most of the time.
Although only 10% of trips are made by car in Paris, the city still struggles with car crowdedness and a clear lack of trees and plants. Hopefully this can be addressed in the next mandate by Hidalgo or anyone else sharing her vision.
just back from paris. Not all the lanes are big enough for a chat while cycline unfortunately but it was so much better than here (Edinburgh) cycled all over and saw parts of the city i would'nt have seen otherwise and shoped and ate in places i'd have not seen otherwise because of the Velib
Smaller cities are going to be get left behind if they don't make the effort, however I know that some small cities in the UK like Leeds are turning around some great cycling infrastructure.
And the award for getting the most out of the Covid pandemic for humanity goes to ..... mayor Anne Hidaglo of Paris.
Never waste a good crisis.
You mean dictator anne hildago. Socialism always requires a dictatorship or oligarchy.
@@mapgar1479 Please elaborate why you think she is a dictator.
Does she put people in prison who says she is one? Are soldiers out there doing fake referendums for bike lanes? Are you getting shot if you protests against her on the streets? Are the elections so rigged you find videos of pre-filled votes put into the poll boxes at the start?
@@mapgar1479 Anne Hidalgo is not a dictator and none of this is socialism
@@TheRailLeaguer She is a member of the French "Democratic" Socialist Party.
Great great video....u guys will luv biking in Paris!
Hello great material very nice ride ;)
Great info in this video
Cities being freed from car is a sweet dream
Beautiful progress!
glad to see Bike TV again, but jealous of Paris. My Brooklyn nabe has been overwhelmed w/car traffic, and the vehicle of choice is a big SUV, which makes parking difficult. THe constant honking and people driving through red lights is making life difficult for pedestrians and cyclists. And the scooter kids don't really understand the dangers of the streets.
All the Avenues of Manhattan need to have bike lanes. This is a bare minimum for mobility.
a lot of great insights!
Definitely, gotta cycle in Paris someday.
I see those Parisian streets and I get this deep sense of longing. I want my city to be like that!
I hope the Mayor of London pays a visit to Paris and takes a leaf out of their book. London is slowly improving but we have so far to go.
Lived in London for 10 years, back in Paris. I would NEVER have biked in London, despite the temptation. NEVER.
I finally get on my bike daily here in Paris, still far from perfect and often chaotic as many bikers follow their own selfish rules, but at least doable without constantly fearing for your life.
London is too proud to get inspired by Paris 😅
@@gigiatlas2364 You're probably right there.
I haven’t been to Paris on citytrip since 2014 and im not going there twice cuz i wanna see more than just Paris.
But yeah back in the day it was mainly car dependent. Now that i see this as a dutchie im quite surprised they made it look so good.
it's incredible what they are doing to their transit network. i hope other countries and cities follow suit.
This makes my heart sing!
The thing is not to build for the volumes. . . but for the future volumes❤
Way forward 👍
Speak up for bicycles in your community.
That are a lot of Parisians biking now!
I was with them until he/she starting touting riding along two abreast. Doing that stinks. It blocks the lane and pisses people off. Ride one behind the other in a line, not side by side.
It's great to see progress like this, but I really don't get the idea of encouraging cyclists to ride two abreast. Then, even with a nice wide cycleway, it's difficult for cyclists behind, who want/need to get a move on, to get past. If you want a chat, pull into a park! And, in terms of dovetailing bikes with rail, the Dutch are simply light years ahead of everyone else.
Now's the time. Eric Adams is a rider!
I f*** love it
I wonder if my daughter will ever be able to get herself around without my assistance of if I will be her chauffeur until she gets a driver´s licence.
or a bike
@@asddd. I wish. I live in a city that has no bike infrastructure. I go to work by bike sometimes and it really is a hazard. Anyway, when she is old enough that´s her decision, not mine. I certanly hope she and I can get places on a bike.
This won't happen anytime soon here in Prague, Czechia. Cycling is considered something which does not belong to the city but it is only leisure activity in the nature. People even use term "cyclo-terrorists" for people who want to changes like in Paris.
Right wing rot
it was the same in Paris 15 years ago. When the infrastructure is there, you will see that the behaviour will change ;). Just a matter of time. Maybe with the new EU environnement laws, this changes will be faster
Nice advert, but they didn't make taking transport easier at all, it's been a disaster for weeks now
I watch these videos and I'm always grateful for all the biking roads here in NL. Not a day goes by I don't sit on a bike. I hope that the Parisians get used to bicyclists. That's often the risk that drivers are not used to all the cyclists. But that will change over time. Great steps!
The key here was making it miserable to drive! Discourage driving by design simple.
Il ne reste plus qu'aux autres villes françaises et européennes d'avoir le même courage pour en faire des villes accueillantes pour les vélos !
It is now only up to other French and European cities to have the same courage to make their cities bike-friendly !
I was there in August and was really impressed. But as impressive as Paris’s transformation is, it must be said that Paris lags behind many other French cities such as Bordeaux or Strasbourg in terms of cycling infrastructure.
yes but Paris is not Strasbourg or Bordeaux it's not the same scale and the urbanisme is such unique in france
And improvements still need to be done in Bordeaux as well (especially on the boulevards) but it's still getting better and better =)
I cycle in Paris every single day and let me tell you it's a living hell as soon as you leave the main avenues
Will never switch my bike for a car or public transport though, much more fun and quicker
The mayor likes to visit other parts of the world! Like New Jersey! (Ba dum dum!)
while generalizations aren't always useful, the french are typically known for not being open to change. the transformation of paris is especially impressive considering that
I did not even consider that. Yeah, wow.
I wouldn't say the French are not opened to change lol
They are not open to neoliberal politics, nor are they open to a foolish pension reform and that kind of shit. But despite being quick to complain, they would still embrace change if it were heading in the right direction ^^
the 2 interviewed ladies are so beautiful...
Find a safe place to park your bike is the big problem.
❤❤❤
Paris is only one and paris is paris godbless france 🇫🇷 and godbless paris
This is what happens when a Green politician gets elected. Vote Green!
The Parisian mayor is actually from a leftist party not the Green Party
The mayor of Paris is not from the green Party, and thanks !
Since living here in Paris since 1990, the changes are incredible. I am a guide on ebikes, as well as a very expericnced road cyclist. This video shows faults of cyclists and users of scooters (trottinettes) whcih are very dangerous for themselves and others. Someone in this video said why shouldn't you be able to ride two abreast, yet it is exactly that which is incredibly dangerous. In Paris it is mayhem on the cycle paths, enjoy be be considerate of others, and ride safely.
Interesting difference between paris and ny is the sprawl and suburb/downtown separation. Paris is more homogenous in regard to facilities and population. idk the avg commute length in paris vs ny, but since ny was built from the groud up for cars, it is a lot more dependent on cars than paris. Thus change can only occur slowly, otherwise a sudden shift would grid lock the traffic, shutting many people down. The only way is to build narrower and fewer lanes first, but to then expand that core bike grid in length, width and density now that traffic has shifted.
Baiscally, the wider the car lanes are now, the longer the conversion, because they carry more traffic, which clogs up quicker (gridlock), and the roads are also built longer, thus more of the city is affected by changes f.ex. in the center area. A truly pasirian ny can only be achieved, if public transport is expanded and facilities and needs are decentralised, like workspaces and stores in the suburbs, otherwise people will be forced to keep traveling by car.
In the end willpower still decides how it goes, but the cars heritage will remain for decades.
most of new york was built before cars, and then demolished for cars
@@asddd. the urban sprawl might have been there before the large highways, but the car is the only reason why sprawl and suburbs exist. There's no way acres of single family housing single use zones could exist without the aid of cars. Therefore it was to some extent built by and for cars, which makes it impossible to connect with bikes or transit now.
@@wonjez3982 a lot of suburbs were built because they had a train connection
Personally I think that Park Ave. is one of the nicer N/S routes in NYC. No bike lanes, but it's a fairly quick and safe route. NYC has very few bike lanes, and for the most part they were designed by people who have absolutely no idea what they were doing. There are a lot of green gutters In NYC, and they are far more dangerous than the street. Your mom warned you about being found dead in the gutter, green gutters just increase that risk.
8:10 wonder who it is here on RUclips that’s complaining about city bikers 😂🤔🤔
That one RUclipsr who says bike lanes😂
For the "banlieusard" this is a nightmare to come into the capital with an automobile. Traffic jam everywhere
Good thing though, that's the intention
😉👍🌻
Try Utrecht vs Paris or New York lol
Maybe try comparing same-scale cities?
@@gigiatlas2364 you will always lose lol
@@dimrrider9133
Do you really want to start a teenage longest dick contest ?
If you want a real biking experience go to the Netherlands, Amsterdam. Paris is just chaos!
Cycling in the Netherlands is a nightmare...
For peoples living outside of Paris but working there, the story isn’t the same as the cars have been driven out of Paris by reducing the number of parking spaces and creating constant traffic jams at the gates into Paris. The main reason of this constant traffic is that they didn’t really give people viable alternatives as they didn’t increased public transports to get into Paris or do anything else appart from blocking most entries into the city.
Other cities like Toulouse or London had a better approach as they created huge parking spaces outside the city where you can leave your car and jump into a public transports to get where you want inside the city. In Toulouse, the parking is even free if you present your public transport ticket when leaving at the end of the day.
As for the bicycle lines in Paris, it is a start but there are a lot of good exemples on how to do good bike lanes in the Netherlands and in Germany but it seems they didn’t take any notes. Ideally all lines should not be on the road level but at the curb level with a slight recess (about 1 cm), the lines should also be marked/paved in a different color than the curb to avoid pedestrians accidentally wandering on them and the slight recess allows blind peoples to do the same.
Currently, most bike lanes in Paris are simple markings on the road. That leads to cars using the lines at temporary parking spots, forcing cyclists to sway in the cars traffic causing deadly accidents.
Maybe 30 years is the future Paris can become what the Netherlands is today.
I hope not. Cycling in the Netherlands is a nightmare...
On what planet do you live? Ever been to Germany, or anywhere else in the world. You guys got the infrastructure that everyone else is jealous for
As soon as we talk about cycling, the Dutch immediately think they are in a teenage longest dick contest…
Any bakfiets rentals?
the dream ;-;
make bike lanes and cyclists will come
Why get rid of combustion vehicles by 2030? Electric cars still aren't a proper option and exhaust can be properly filtered if car manufacturers invest in that aspect.
Respiratory diseases is an epidemic in large cities due to polution
Baby steps, Paris, baby steps in 30/40 years its looks like the Netherlands 😉
I hope not. Cycling in the Netherlands is a nightmare...
Hey guys, I’m from Paris.
What have been done in Paris is amazing for climate and is truly part of the future of cities so don’t get me wrong. But please be aware of a need of balance too. No everyone can bike around, some people live too far to be able to. (I’m actually stuck in traffic right now because of the lack of balance) Biking needs to be supported by a decent, accurate and accountable train system, which is not the case in the city. It’s especially important for winter days.
We need Balance.
Biking is part of the solution but is not THE solution.
Just a reminder.
Ps: bike lanes are actually crowded/dangerous and walking is a mess because of people adopting biking too quick and a lack of rules/sanctions.
Hey guys, Parisian here too. Had a car which I used to commute to work with. Hidalgo indeed made it a hellhole for cars so....I sold the car and moved to cycling for journeys under 1/2 hour and public transports for over 1/2h. Which is the whole so congrats Hidalgo (ps: Paris actually has the densest (not one of, the single most) subway system in the world so I don"t know what the f is Pierre talking about);
This kind of video is very one-sided. Paris has become very expensive to live in. Salaries are stagnating, so most people (including myself) had to move to the suburbs where public transportation isn't always reliable or easily accessible. We have to use cars or -preferably- motorbikes to go to work inside Paris. Trafic has become a nightmare and aside from spring and summer time, a lot of bike lanes are relatively empty. So you get huge congestion (which pollutes a lot) right next to empty roads now dedicated to biking. The mayor (Anne Hidalgo) responsible for these urban projects is now despised by pretty much everyone both in the city and in the metropolitan area.
This is turning a liveable, dynamic city into a massive museum. I don't even bother going inside Paris anymore on weekends. This is only nice for tourists and bourgeois who can afford living inside the city, at the expense of poor and even middle class people now.
And needless to say buying an electric vehicle isn't an option either for most. They're both incredibly expensive and terrible for the environment.
Question: What do you pay for your car (including parking, repairs, etc) in a month and what’s the price difference for rent between suburbs vs downtown?
@@derLenno I'm commuting on a motorbike, about 80€ a month including gas & service. I've got a parking included with my rent, which is about 1000€/month. For the same appartment close to my work, within Paris, I'd pay about 1500€. And that's not accounting for the fact I have cheaper shopping options for food where I live compared to Paris city center.
To be honest, I got a decent wage, so I would probably be able to afford living in the main city, although I would lose a lot of purchasing power. That simply isn't an option for a lot of people.
Next step for cyclists: cycle respectfully of others, especially pedestrians. That might be the hardest part!
If only normal peasants could afford to live in these world cities just to get some semi decent bike infrastructure...
Compare with the most bike professional country in the World: The Netherlands. And go to Groningen!!🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼😊😊😊😊😊😊😊👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼😀😀😀
I have been to all of them and have films from about ten different cities. See them here:
ruclips.net/video/Boi0XEm9-4E/видео.html
@Gugner
Teenage longest dick contest anyone ?
the diffrerence between tourism and immigration. Just stay with us for 3 months and enjoy the mess
I just want to get to work as quickly as possible. What a nightmare Paris must be with all these bicyclists.
As tourist or a Parisien, it is very nice to ride in Paris and it is truth that the facilities for bicycling are good. But!!!! Mme Hidalgo doesn’t care about suburbains. When you live 10, 15 km or more from Paris, transportations are nightmares. It is like travelling everyday in a cattle truck. Subways, buses are often late or just not working. The fact that she wants avoiding cars and now scooters and motocycles makes suburbains to desert Paris. Therefore business, shops, restaurants are going down. To increase the number of cyclists for a city like Paris or big cities, you need to create a real transport network for everybody.
I am Parisien who ride bicycle.
Hidalgo is mayor of Paris not mayor of Paris suburbs some cities outside Paris don't want to creates bike lanes for exemple
suburbs should prioritise activity inside their own limits anyway, otherwise they'll be ghost towns soon
@@thunderbolt8409 That’s not truth. You can see all around bike lane, packs etc, but when you live 20 Km or more it is impossible to ride bike to work. Yes Hidalgo is Paris’ mayor, but thousands of people are coming from suburb to Paris to work, and now it cost them a hell of money. As the mayor of the capital of France don’t you think she should show to all the country how to take care to human being?
@@asddd. You are suggesting that suburbains should go to museum, theaters, exhibitions in the greatness city in the world? We are not living in the US. Suburb’s city are pretties good organizing live in their own cities. But still, I am talking about a way of life more than division of people.
@@raoulonwheels8568 she can't decide to create bike lane or change traffic outside Paris city limits
And she is not responsible for public transports
Some comments are quite funny, if not deluded. Coming to Paris for a few days and hoping to ride their bikes while chatting along LOL. This is NO Emily in Paris! I wish, but it's not!
Count on Paris to implement the unrealistic goals of Agenda 2030. Now is not the time to phase out gasoline. For the European Union I reccomend 2060 with France completley transitioned to a hydrogen economy by 2055. I applaud the protected bike lanes but car-free zones are not the answer.
This has nothing to do with “Agenda 2030” and there clearly is no agenda
axios/2021/03/04/sidewalk-robots-legal-rights-pedestrians
Parisians vote to ban rental e-scooters from French capital by huge margin
#saltlakecitytraffic please