THE quayside roads that wind along the Seine used to throb with hurtling traffic. Today, potted palm trees have been ranged along the tarmac. Joggers and cyclists enjoy the waterside calm. On a stretch of the right bank opposite the Eiffel Tower formerly used as a convenient express route, cars have been squeezed into a single lane, leaving the other to bicycles. Over the centuries, the French capital has been the backdrop to many warring tribes. Today’s conflict pits contemporary urban combatants: enraged car owners, and everybody else.
A sense of siege is keenly felt by the capital’s motorists. Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist mayor, is waging “a war against cars”, said Le Monde earlier this year. Parisians, says Pierre Chasseray of “40m Motorists”, a lobby group, are “living in daily hell”.
As part of the town hall’s plan to increase the share of trips taken by bicycle from 5% to 15% by...Continue reading
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