How Paris beat the car

EACH morning, as I cycle to my office along Paris’ new bike paths, my only aim is survival. In my decades here, I have absorbed the uniquely Parisian mix of officiousness and rule-breaking: one moment I’ll be yelling self-righteously at a truck chilling on the bike path, and the next I run a red light. In this city, other cyclists get angry if you block them by stopping for red.

Paris’ transition away from the car, though fantastically chaotic, has become a global role model. Under mayor Anne Hidalgo, Paris was “the most influential city in the world”, says Canadian urbanist Brent Toderian.

Parisian car traffic fell by more than half between 2002 and 2023, while cycle lanes expanded sixfold.