The State of Cycling in Paris - Part 1/3 (Thesis)

Paris has a declared, bold goal of being the "Best City in the World for Cycling... by 2020". Thus spake the Mayor Anne Hidalgo back in 2014. So what does an urban designer - who specializes in bicycle infrastructure and bike-friendly cities all over the world - think when he takes a deep dive into the State of Cycling in Paris? Three years after the "declared goal"?
Let's find out in this three-part series.
Mikael's website: colville-andersen.com
Links:
Bike-friendly cobblestones in Copenhagen: • Micro-designing Better...
Cobblestones in Lviv: • The Noisy and Crazy Co...
Thanks to urban designer Romain Loubiere from cyclablebydesign.com for help with research and filming and wine-drinking.
0:00 Intro/Context
2:45 Faubourg-St Antoine
4:38 Rue de Renard
5:51 Blvd de Belleville
7:00 Av de la République
10:43 Left Bank
11:57 Pont au Change
13:02 Cobblestones
16:27 Bus Stops
17:05 Vélib Bikeshare
22:39 Simple Ideas
25:02 Place de la Concorde
#hegel #philosophy #urbanism #urbanplanning #urbandesign #cycling #bicyclefriendly #paris #france #expert #bikes #bike #bikelife #velib #bikeshare #design #designer #critique

[@Fliixinudel]

I love how you leave the moments when motor traffic noise interrupts you in, really showing how the noise that we associate with cities comes primarily from motor vehicles

[@OscarBorrem]

New regulations seriously need to establish a standard noise level (in hertz) for motor vehicles, especially those annoying grassmower-like mopeds. I cannot fathom why we continuously tolerate these grating sounds polluting our cities. Let's make our streets more pleasant for everyone's sake, please.

[@kaiklopsch8590]

The "island" are put in place to slow down cars massively that turn into the side roads …

[@ogamiitto8627]

Indeed, it is also to narrow the angle for the vehicle turning right here, and thus to reduce the blindspot and offer better visibility on the bike lane.

[@benibf]

I love Mikael Colville-Andersen, but it always surprises me a bit how he seems to be unaware of bicycle infrastructure solutions that are standard in the Netherlands. Indeed, this "island" is the same protective island that is the cornerstone of the typical Dutch "protected intersection" - there are tons of KZbin videos about this design, especially from Bicycle Dutch. You can argue that this particular implementation in Paris is not of the same quality because the narrow separation between the car lane and bike lane forces the bikes to make a rather sharp turn to avoid the island, but I still think it's preferable to cars blindly turning right and cutting across the bike lane without anything to protect it. On a related note, I've always found it odd (to say the least) that Copenhagenize - aka the bicycle design company founded by Mikael - consistently awards the title "world's most cycling friendly city" to Copenhagen over Dutch cities like Amsterdam or Utrecht. Copenhagen is great for cycling, but the intersections are a mess and often quite dangerous, as they don't have any such protective islands to separate bikes and cars across intersections. The KZbin channel "Not Just Bikes" has a great video on this topic, explaining the subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) ways in which Dutch bicycle infrastructure is better than Copenhagen's.

[@g.m.9180]

and protect the bikes for sure, and probably also slow the bikes down a bit at intersections

[@idcanthony9286]

I am so glad I discovered this channel. I have been working in aviation for 11yrs. I was going to school for aerospace engineering; I became so fed up with watching how my city (Colorado Springs, CO) is just a spreading cancer of suburbs. I used to commute to Denver and the south metro area, and I was amazed at the never-ending sea of single-family homes. I have always had a passion for “urban planning” in the sense of playing city builder games and wanting to know how cities are designed. So, at the ripe age of 30. Thanks to KZbin and people like yourself, I decided to say, “to hell with airplanes; I wanna get into Urban Planning!”

[@petergilbert72]

Love how excited you got talking about Les Velibs! And also that you can never ever not comment on the passing motorbikes!! 😂

[@dekox]

Altis play has a long video on the avenue de la republique cycle lane (with English subtitles) explaining among other things the islands.

[@hans-martinadorf3834]

This video on city cycling and particularly its enthusiastic style is inspiring. I‘ve been a cyclist throughout my life. You‘ve convinced me that I should visited cities such as Copenhagen, Barcelona and Paris to name a few, in order to get a first-hand view of the progress they‘ve made. Presently I’m engaged in ecologically improving streams. You have convinced me that we should produce movies which might convince other people to help improving our degraded environment. Thanks so much for the valuable work you are doing.

[@christophermorris7616]

To ride in Paris is mind boggling in the constant changing through the different arrondissements 🍃

[@9robke123]

really enjoying these series. As someone who moved to Paris for the first time 6 months ago and loves cycling, it's really great to learn so much about the city's history and what they're doing these days. Very much appreciated

[@monowheeling]

Right, it always makes me smile to see two people using one Velib!

[@JAKempelly]

Please don't ever edit out your reactions to the motor bikes. I really enjoy and it's an accurate snapshot of what it's like to be in Paris.

[@k3nny6969]

incredible series, just subscribed

[@lohphat]

You're my spirit animal. I lived in Paris as well in the '90s and plan to go back to retire (once they figure out what age that is 🤣)

[@DejanOfRadic]

The George Strombo of Urban Planning!!!! Love all your work

[@genegnome]

That was just AWESOME, Mikael!!! We have been waffling about using the velibs and riding through Paris when we visit this summer. You have provided the clincher that this is a "must do!" If we run into you in Paris, the first drink is on us!! (Don't worry, I doubt we'll be looking for you. 😁)

[@huquui8789]

Great video 👍 Looking for the next one.

[@SupGaillac]

Nice to see Antony Hopkins biking in Paris 👍

[@momusufan964]

6:53 I ride that street regularly and came to the conclusion that they gave priority to a wider space in front of the school, over the bike lane.

[@black.raven.adventures]

Great overview, nice video.....France has come a long way in the recent years....I really like to see where this is heading. Currently living in a smaller town in Burgundy area. And I really can't wait for that day when those noisy motorbikes and pimped scooters are gone and also people understood that smoking is not anymore sexy. ;-) Keep it up....new follower for your channel.

[@nonokbh]

Where do you live in Burgundy ? How are the bike lanes there ?

[@black.raven.adventures]

@@nonokbh I am living in a smaller town named Macon in southern Burgundy. Bike lanes are ok here, well I should say they exist here and there.....but the infrastructure is still forming, as using a bike was neglected in the past by the local city people and also the planers. I would say the todays bike lanes have more a recreational character, not really suitable to replace cars, as they do not connect points of interest on a direct way. Cars are still the preferred mode of transportation by the locals here, and a city of Macons size is a bit weird, a bit too small for proper public transport and a bit too big to walk just everywhere. Bikes would fit this gap. But city planners must wake up!

[@rodrigosouto9502]

That was a very in-depth analysis!

[@jonathanirons231]

Awesome content, and fantastic examples and arguments. I was recently thinking why they can't just legitimise two-up cycling. with footrests. It would be a game changer.

[@SeanMcCarthyMusic251]

Love the content Mikael, one suggestions if I may, I think it would be a big value add for the channel for you to invest in a lapel microphone or a zoom style handheld recorder to get a more consistent audio level from scene to scene. I find as the camera is closer or further away the variance in volume is a bit distracting. Just a thought, otherwise really enjoying what the Paris content, I can't wait to get back there myself!

[@NapoleonTrotski]

at 10:46 i thought than near a river or like a railroad, double bicycle lanes are actually not bad at all and a good solution. There few turns and it can creates nice and wild lanes

[@philmccavity]

This is like a Michelin star review process for cycling infrastructure, I absolutely love it. Can you come to Germany and do Hamburg, etc? Bitte!

[@Maxime_K-G]

The only place where I disagree with you on "best practice" is those long stretches of road with little to no cross streets. A bidirectional bike lane there is a real game changer for people who need to go long distances and want to avoid points of conflict. Two lanes put together also gives more room to overtake, or to ride side-by-side if the traffic is light.

[@bbiwyou]

Spot on and I believe this is the reason for building a bidirectional lane on the Seine bank : there are much less streets crossing on the Seine side than on the other side of the street.

[@nonokbh]

9:25 man on bike say something like ' .. même la place de l'étoile' nothing against you trying to stop him with your finger lol.

[@YoungThos]

Montreal is perhaps the only place in North America where you *can't* turn right on red. You are allowed to so in the rest of Quebec and the rest of the continent, just not in Montreal. I've always wondered why that was, but now that Mikael has pointed out that this is how it works in the rest of the world I find myself oddly reassured 😅

[@reinoldrojas8733]

new york city is also another place in NA that doesn't allow turn right on red. Its probably because those are the 2 most pedestrian/public transit areas in US/Cananda. I think if you look at modal distribution stats those two are extreme outliers.

[@YoungThos]

@@reinoldrojas8733 I had forgotten about New York, but now that you mention it that rings a bell. Interesting theory about modal share; I wonder how far back the rules banning right on red were put into place. Or maybe it used to be prohibited everywhere and MTL and NY just never changed the rules…?

[@Derek-lz8cg]

Mikael, how are you liking the (Great British) Brompton ❓Made right here in my home town London, I wouldn't be without mine❗

[@lorenzofabi2814]

Please. Come here in Rome. We definitely need this. We should treat this city like an open air museum instead we treat Rome like a Huge car parking spot.

[@jojothepro15]

Fucking motorbikes lmao Thank you for this video, Paris is a great city for bike commuters, sure some areas are forgotten still, but big changes take time. I used to take the subway everyday, pay way too much for the monthly Navigo, and frankly not enjoying myself while commuting. But ever since I got a bike, my whole life changed, and now I feel free, and more and more safe in a city that cares about bicycles. I still don't like our mayor, Hidalgo, for many reasons. But her emphasis on road sharing is something I really am grateful for !

[@iwanabana]

8:30 prolly increases the angle of rigt-turning vehicles so that they see cyclists better.

[@compo36]

j'en peux plus des échappements des scooters 50 cm3

[@markclemens3409]

Vivent les ABF! (architectes des bâtiments de France) Macron has substantially reduced their power. In many cases their opinion is only advisory, which means of course completely ignored. What Macron has done is to increase substantially the power of developers and the mayors who are in their pockets. A very bad thing. The quality of the built environment will suffer and historic buildings are already being demolished by the score in places like Perpignan, Foix and elsewhere.

[@madbell931]

That long left bank bi directional run it is because it is on the beautiful side along the Seine....I prefer this side of the street in both directions than the unidirectional from the other side where I can't have that beautiful view of Paris

[@lydiaschildwacht]

Do you know the Dutch traffic cycling system?

[@LifeSizedCity]

Yes. Chaotic, spaghetti planning. Lots of bike infra but not cohesive vision.

[@copenhagenizeblacktown]

Hey Mikael, why is unidirectional on either side the “gold standard”? Wouldn’t bidirectional on each side of the street provide even more access for bicycle riders???

[@Alex_Plante]

Who's behind the camera?

[@dengamleidiot]

Yeah, fire that guy !

[@TalwinderDhillonTravels]

27:00 concord place is a horrible place to be as a pedestrian and cyclist

[@user-tf2mb9ty6m]

make you hired by the city of Paris

[@g.m.9180]

two people on a bike will not get legal because it's quite unsafe in a dense environment, you have way less control because of the added weight, it's difficult to stop, so most people who do that will burn red lights at the same time. The bike friendly direction of the city is hated by car drivers from the suburbs and by the richest parisians who can afford a car in the city, every new bit of infrastructure is cause for conservative outrage, and their argument is always that cyclists don't respect the rules. Two people on a bike is a common example they cite.

[@ErickHumboldt]

First of all don t drive with your bike on the sidewalk, it is made for pedestrians !!!

[@Kaisersozze]

Why are there no electric motorbikes? Motorbikes are clearly more annoying than cars. I would ban them before banning non electric cars even. Cobblestones look much better than asphalt, can't blame anyone for using them. Plus asphalt smells bad and heats up the city more.

[@VerasakSahachaisaree]

Unfortunarely China think cycling is the sign of obsolete. They just sucessful eradicated it away from Beijing and bring what they think is the sign of modern country, a great traffic jam.

[@PilotVianney]

the M12 sign you mention at the end is NOT priority for Cycling... bikes are free to turn if no pedestrian are crossing or in the way. And saying that you can cross paris without even stopping is non sense and dangerous! There is a huge problem with people riding bikes and being dangerous in paris. Nobody respects nothing. For info, I use my bike to get around paris. Also you say along the seine around saint michel they make the bike lane wider and unidirectionnel ? How would people from outside paris be able to cross Paris then ? you see already the huge traffic jam on this specific artery since Hidalgo closed the "voie sur berge" (dont know how to translate that), so making less space for cars would even worsen the traffic. I like yours ideas and all but on theses specifics subjects you're off.

[@reality_bites7887]

come on man, we need fewer cars sure, but those fewer cars should be electric

[@moshambles]

Dublin has the worst cobblestones in the world. Awful to walk on, impossible to cycle on and utter filth magnets. They're embarrassing. The Cobblestone pub however, is one of the best pubs in the world

[@dougwedel9484]

I check the video walking tours of a city which claims to be great for cyclists. I haven't seen any of these walking tour videos showing more cycling than if none had existed, like before Anne got elected. And Paris is no exception. At least for now. I believe all the hype about how great cycling is but I take it with a grain of salt because of these tour videos.

[@josuesassi1742]

The eyes on Boulevard de la République where added in order to force car driver to slow down as they turn and to minimize their dead angle. It is actually a neat feature they added to improve bike riders security. @Altis_play can be a very guy to speak with if you want to extend your knowledge regarding bikes in Paris ;)

[@jeanguykhan129]

Hey man back off ! We need our cobblestone to greet the police ! It basic parisian etiquette... Joke (it's not a joke) aside, thanks for review our bike infrastructures and welcome back to the finest city in the world, maybe, haven't been anywhere but I'm french so of course we're better than the rest (this is a joke) !