Rethinking Streets in Paris

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Rethinking Streets in Paris

Back in July I made a video about Paris' public bicycle system, Velib. Its success must in part be credited to the provisions made for safe cycling and the understood "street code," where users are responsible for others whose vehicles are lighter than their own.

This video explores traffic calming amenities Paris has installed. For example, in several areas of Paris curbs have been removed and bikes, pedestrians, buses and taxis coexist at low speeds. On wider roads bikes share the BRT lanes with buses and taxis. Counter-flow bike lanes expand the bike network. Raised crosswalks and neckdowns slow traffic and make pedestrians more visible at intersections. Watch for more.

http://www.cyclox.org James Styring

The film cuts out after about 1 minute (the guy is talking about street hierarchy) and goes back to the start. I tried 4 times. Maybe it needs fixing?
http://www.stevegs.com Steve GS

Answer to James (above)

It's due to slow download speeds - ie. broadband that isn't!
http://pedalofilo.wordpress.com Joao

Hello! Enjoyed your movie that found out through other people.
Took the liberty to transcript it and the subtitling it to Portuguese.

available here: http://dotsub.com/view/93442963-47f2-4057-a519-db8e2174a520

I'm having still a problem with translating technical terms 😉
Unreal

This is a terrible idea...you're just creating more traffic congestion causing car to have to slow down for cyclist sharing the same road. Its also dangerous. Im all for special bike lanes as long as they are seperate from the main lanes of cars....this seems to be more an anti car movement
Jackie C

I like how this system appears to offer smooth transitions between different types of bicycle facilities. In places where bicycle facilities are typically separate, and cyclists are met with impatience from drivers when traveling in the "vehicle" lane, these transitions can be intimidating.
Mike O

While I appreciate the ambition of the Paris Velib program, I'd really like to see some hard statistics on both safety and cost. For example, how many cyclists have reported accidents due to which causes, and with what degree of seriousness (death, concussion, broken bone{s}, just damage to the bike)?
Also, can something be done to improve the downtown lack of parking spaces for those who would like to return or switch bikes in less than 30 minutes?
Robert

What? Some of it makes more sense than others. But forcing drivers slower doesn't usually result in a major increase in driver's journey times. It also makes ANY street safer. These streets are probably safer than having a 45 mph street with segregated cycling infrastructure in many cases. I don't see the problems here.
Robert

I'm very sympathetic with your parking problem. I wonder if maybe you could put through a petition to the city of Paris? This might allow for some improvements.

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