Paris' Emerging Cycle Network: My Reflections

[@bicycles-as-far-as-im-aliv5725]

Yes, yes! Paris heading in the right direction inch by inch. ❤it

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes, indeed, the City is making progress. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you are enjoying the channel. Cheers! John

[@nattygirldred]

“Bikes are simply a tool, manifestation of mobility” best quote 👏🏾 Thanks John! Love this video so great.

[@ActiveTowns]

Glad you liked it! Thank you so much for watching. Cheers! John

[@rodrigosouto9502]

Amazing work!

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes. They are making progress. Thanks so much for watching. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@An-Ma]

Impressed with the progress in Paris. Still terrifying though… 👍🌷

[@ActiveTowns]

😀

[@nicholasperry2380]

The near-misses aren't quite what they seem. The car MUST give way to the bike but is allowed to turn into the new road before doing so. This is to ensure the bikes are approaching across the driver's field of vision which makes them much more visible than if approaching on a constant heading. Families are certainly the litmus test for safety so things look good. Paris is learning better ways of improving and is becoming a much nicer city because of it.

[@ActiveTowns]

Agreed! Thanks for tuning in. I hope you are enjoying the Channel. Cheers! John

[@MarkCramer-x9x]

Great photography. Re: "too many cars", most of those cars are NOT from Paris. The advocacy organization I belong to insists that the problem of too many cars involves fixing the suburbs, providing protected bikeways along the routes of the suburban train network, so people who live in the suburbs (many of them pushed out of Paris because of the housing cost), have infrastructure in place that will allow them to blend bike / train and not take their car into the city. Also "last mile" protected bikelane connections from communities to suburban train stations will make it attractive & sustainable for folks in the suburbs to get to Paris without using a car.

[@ActiveTowns]

Thanks, Mark! 😀

[@woutervanr]

1:25 What I like is that it actually doesn't even seem to be a q cargo bicycle. It looks like a normal bike, but with a really solid and substantial trailer! Maybe the trailer has some kind of electric assist?

[@ActiveTowns]

Possibly.😀

[@richardkirkwood9354]

From your experience there, what do you think of the ban on rental electric scooters?

[@ActiveTowns]

I’m not really a fan of a ban on any micro mobility devices in light of the real challenges associated with cars, trucks and SUVs. Honestly, it’s just the type distraction that Motordom wants.

[@bobbieboothroyd8531]

I had the line from Field of dreams going through my head all the way through that video. If you build it they will come. This video testifies to me that.its true in this case. And I wonder how many people their said it's okay for the Neverland's it's Flat their but this isn't the Neverland's. And yet it seems to work for them. When I see them great big wide roads on You Tube that are 6 Lanes wide I wonder if they could give up one or Two lanes for bikes. I'm no expert but it seems to me when you get a road that is conjested with Cars widening that road only seems to encourage more cars. That's my observation anyway. I do like the fact that cars can still use them roads so it doesn't favor one over the other.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes, induced demand, more motor vehicle lanes equals more drivers, is a proven fact... the good news is that we can say the same thing about safe and inviting cycle networks... the more we build, the more people will use them.

[@knarf_on_a_bike]

What's happening in Paris is beautiful! But it is a work in progress, and it seems the the progress needed has to do with the attitudes I've seen from some drivers. Your vidoes have shown impatience and even aggression that is not helpful. Still, a wonderful shift that we in North America can learn from!

[@ActiveTowns]

Yes, indeed! 😀

[@kailahmann1823]

About the delivery bikes: I guess with the traffic in Paris these are also much reliable. Delivering a pizza during rush hour by car probably ensures its cold and the customer has already starved to dead…

[@ActiveTowns]

Yup, pretty much.

[@hahafalseflag5090]

Paris drivers doesn't seem to respect bikes or pedestrians.. I thought Paris was crazy when I was last there. when I was in germany I remember cars making sure they slammed on their breaks before they got anywhere near me.. Netherlands is the best of course. Most ride bikes so they totally respect bicycles and pedestrians..

[@kailahmann1823]

Remember, in Germany (at least the northern half) and even more the Netherlands the bike was never gone - even in the 1970s people on a bicycle were a common sight. This wasn't the case for Paris and still isn't for most of France. There you have a few guys with a road bike (who seam to ride more for the "thrill of the danger" than for transportation going by their behavior), but that's it. What we see now from Paris however is a massive shift towards biking.

[@ActiveTowns]

Yup. There's a long way to go yet. But it is happening faster than most other cities that I know of. Thanks for watching. Cheers! John

[@Frahamen]

I mean if 6 people can walk next to each other than that's objectively not "super super narrow". It's just a street. North Americans are just way to conditioned to see oversized stoards that they can't properly space normal sized streets anymore.

[@ActiveTowns]

That's for sure. Monster STROADs warp the brain.🤣