Skip to main content

Paris to ‘get rid of 70,000 parking spaces’

Squeeze on cars continues in '15-minute city' under Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo
By Adam Hill October 21, 2020 Read time: 2 mins
Parisiens! Enjoy all these while you still can (© Uatp1 | Dreamstime.com)

Paris is to remove around half of its 140,000 car parking spaces under a scheme by Socialist party mayor Anne Hidalgo to make the city more pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly.

The figure of 70,000 was announced by David Belliard, deputy mayor with responsibility for transport, mobility and transforming public space.

Residents of the French capital will be consulted on how they want to see the new space used.

Belliard tweeted that it was a priority to "protect the most vulnerable in public space, and in particular pedestrians".

Hidalgo was re-elected for a second term earlier this year, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the plan is to repurpose the parking places for other uses by the time of the next election.

Supported by Greens such as Belliard, Hidalgo made transport and pollution central to her campaign through the “15-minute city” concept.

This envisages a city where inhabitants can meet all needs – food, work, recreation, culture and so on – within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from home.

Already, Paris has seen more road space given over to bicycles and pedestrians.

During the election, Hidalgo said: “It’s out of the question to think that arriving in the heart of the city by car is any sort of solution.”

In her election night victory speech she told supporters: “You have chosen a Paris that can breathe.”

 

 

Related Content

  • Transit worker deaths highlight pandemic danger 
    April 14, 2020
    Keeping public transport services going during the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in a startling death toll among essential workers such as train and bus drivers.
  • Cities’ quandary over air quality
    October 20, 2014
    Transportation professionals have always made the safety of drivers, other road users and pedestrians their top priority with congestion and other considerations further down the wish list. Now, however, it is not enough to prevent motorists, cyclists and pedestrians being injured in traffic accidents as it appears transport professionals’ responsibilities must go much wider – to the public in general. The OECD has calculated that road traffic related air pollution kills more than three million people per y
  • New York MTA boosts cycle parking options
    March 2, 2022
    Grand Central six-space pod is one-year pilot between MTA Metro-North Railroad and Oonee
  • MaaS Market conference platform for pioneering projects
    August 21, 2017
    In opening the session on putting MaaS ideas into practice, Hans Arby, chief executive of UbiGo, told the conference that, “MaaS can mean different things to different people. This is why we decided to run MaaS under real conditions and launch the Gothenburg pilot scheme in 2013.” The trial involved 70 households paying €130/month for 6 months with participants agreeing that 20 cars could be put into storage. More than 12,000 bookings/transactions took place during the trial and there were no drop-outs. Ac