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The Socialist Party mayor of Paris, a guest on franceinfo on Monday, defended her urban policy aimed at reducing car traffic, despite, she said, lobby pressure.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, a guest on franceinfo on Monday, August 28, defended her choices in urban policy, and in particular her desire to reduce car traffic, a source of "pollution that kills . "

"Threats" from lobbies

The role of cars is shrinking in Paris. The mayor of the capital believes that the city was "behind" and that today, projects must be "accelerated," particularly "the bicycle plan . " "It makes us improve the public transport network," she added before defending the fight against pollution. "Pollution kills." Anne Hidalgo clarifies that she has not changed her mind, even though she has been "threatened ," she says, by diesel and automobile lobbies.

"I repeat, I prefer to be on the right side of history ," declared Anne Hidalgo.

Harshly criticized for her choices regarding mobility in a book entitled Notre-Drame de Paris , written by Airy Routier and Nadia Lebrun, to be published on August 30 by Albin Michel, Anne Hidalgo said she was not seeking unanimity. "The book is a damning document, a caricature," she added.

The prescription method is not the right one

Asked about the government's record, Anne Hidlago criticized the method used for the reform of the Labor Code . "Orders are not a mode of governance adapted to the modernity that we should be able to bring: relying on social partners, working while taking the time for these reforms ," ​​declared the Socialist Party representative.

The mayor of Paris did not comment on the substance of the project under negotiation, preferring to "wait and see what the outcome is . " "Let's not make assumptions," she added.

Her position is identical on an overall assessment of Emmanuel Macron's presidency since his election. "It is difficult after four months to make an exhaustive and definitive assessment ," declared Anne Hidalgo, specifying that as mayor of Paris, she is "a partner of the State . " "I have many subjects on which I am working with the President of the Republic (...) I feel very free to give my point of view on each of the elements ," specified the mayor of Paris. "On the Olympic Games, we are together (...) On refugees and migrants, there is a word that the head of state gave me, I have no reason to question it. But I have a certain number of concerns."

Jean-Luc Mélenchon "stirs up" Asked to comment on the state of the Socialist Party, Anne Hidalgo asked for "time" after the "blow to the head" in the presidential and then legislative elections, calling for "not to make French political life hysterical at the start of a five-year term ." The mayor of Paris declared that she was wary of "the violence of words," which can "produce violence in actions . "

Is she targeting Jean-Luc Mélenchon? "I am targeting those who use political discourse in such an aggressive way that there is no longer any room for dialogue ," replied Anne Hidalgo, adding that "Jean-Luc Mélenchon is one of those who stir up trouble." However, for the mayor of Paris, the last elections showed "a rejection by the French of something that stirs up trouble, that antagonizes."

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[–] EuroMod@feddit.org 7 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

@cm0002@lemmy.world Please add a English (auto-) translation, as per the rules.

[–] cm0002@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago (1 children)
[–] federalreverse@feddit.org 1 points 2 hours ago

Thanks a lot!

[–] lgsp@feddit.it 96 points 17 hours ago

I think I'm on the right side of history

Do you?

I had lobbyists from car companies threaten me in my own office.

Ok thos is the proof. If oil and car lobbyist are angry at you then you definitely are on the right path!

[–] Kennystillalive@feddit.org 65 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Good on her city. More cities should do this. We don't need many cars in cities, specually in dense european cities. We need more bike lanes, more public transport and more green parking spaces.

[–] albert180@piefed.social 12 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

They are investing in their Public Transport Network like no one else (Grand Paris Express). I'm quite jealous in Germany with our investment brake morons in politics.

Here a short video mentioning the investments and upgrades they are undertaking right now,

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ot5vp6FZ_Bg&pp=ygUUSURGIG1vYmlsaXRlcyByZXNlYXU%3D

And here you can see how much a new tram line construction is also upgrading the environment surrounding it, and making it more liveable (they're also adding cycle lanes and making the spaces more pedestrian friendly)

https://youtu.be/Z06FduDShx0

Compare that to big cities in Germany where a bit/nothing is really happening. Especially not with our new dumb conservative government

[–] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 35 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

lobbyists from car companies threaten me in my own office.

If I ever come into a powerful position, visitors will have to stand before my desk. And there will be a nice rug where they stand. And there will be hidden trapdoor below the rug. And just one word of threat? ... but no more.

[–] borokov@lemmy.world 29 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

I'm a car and bike driver. I love driving car, I love the sound of engine and smell of gas.

But cars DON'T FUCKING HAVE NOTHING TO DO IN A CITY !!!

Place of car is in small roads or higway, when using public transport is not possible. Stop taking your car to drive 3km to go to work, you have legs for this !

[–] kwr112233@feddit.dk 2 points 6 hours ago

AMEN brother.

[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 21 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Paris is really easy to get around without a car. Once I learned which gates didn't work with Navigo anyway... lol

The only time in a week I needed a taxi in Paris was when my clinically silly kid was going to make us late for a dinner reservation.

[–] Robbity@lemm.ee 15 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

They unified the ticket system last year, you can go anywhere with one ticket now.

[–] jomn@feddit.uk 6 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

Not fully. They still made it so you have different tickets for bus/trams and for metro/RER.

[–] Robbity@lemm.ee 6 points 15 hours ago

Yeah but there's no more "get out of the rer at the wrong stop and you're fucked" at least !

[–] albert180@piefed.social 1 points 13 hours ago

No. My Travelcard loaded on the Navigo Easy card worked on all my Paris Visits on Bus/Tram/Metro/RER

[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 3 points 15 hours ago

I wish I'd noted which station... I think it must have been La Défense, where the exit to the tram has a gate that doesn't read that pass, and you actually need to take a series of two other gates to get out that way.

I was pretty distracted with aforementioned clinically silly one though, so that one's on me. Overall the whole system works very well from my experience.

[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 19 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

The compelling part is how recent and rapid the transformation has been. Only a few old people remember Dutch cities being choked with car traffic, but anyone who was in Paris 10 years ago will tell you that there were a lot more cars and fewer bikes. Which is proof that cities can be improved, and it’s not just Amsterdam/Copenhagen having been special forever.

Which should be effective in Europe (particularly former communist cities that embraced private cars as a signifier of freedom in the 90s), though will hit a wall of American Exceptionalism (“what works in Europe won’t work here”) once it crosses the Atlantic. Though hopefully the NYC congestion charge will serve as a positive example there.

[–] jonne@infosec.pub 8 points 12 hours ago

Though hopefully the NYC congestion charge will serve as a positive example there.

Which is why they're trying so hard to kill it. If Manhattan actually becomes a pleasant place to be in instead of the traffic hell it's been traditionally, people in other cities might ask questions. And that's the stuff that scares car companies, as they've been charging a fortune for what is unfortunately a necessity in many places Americans live.

[–] Snoopy@piefed.social 10 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

While the project is great, i'm kinda disappointed by journalist work. It doesn't explain the challenge of reducing car.

Living at the city center is very expensive. For 8m2, in Paris, i paid 400 euros. So most of poor people either share their rent or live at its border and need a car to go to work as there is fever public transport outside Paris center. And the RER is overcrowded.

So It doesn't explain well how did they plan reducing car. Lot urban planner sketched some interesting idea to decentralize Paris. How did they connect the outside of paris to its center ?

But yes she did a good job, that the first step.

[–] troglodyte_mignon@lemmy.world 8 points 8 hours ago

This article is from nearly eight years ago.

[–] kwr112233@feddit.dk 5 points 5 hours ago

For people interested in this, also check out Pontevedra in Spain. They went (almost) car free and the city blossomed ❤️

[–] coffeeismydrug@lemm.ee 4 points 12 hours ago

i enjoyed cycling in paris so much. i love french people they are in fact really quite based.

[–] Gates9@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 hours ago

Here in America the auto lobby dismantled a growing public transit industry. Fuckers.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy

[–] Suoko@feddit.it 3 points 1 hour ago

Start building sheltered bike paths and you will win.

https://bambutec.eu/concepts/cycle-way-roof-urban-mobility

[–] F_OFF_Reddit@lemmy.world 3 points 11 hours ago (1 children)
[–] atro_city@fedia.io 3 points 10 hours ago

fewer = countable, less = uncountable?

[–] felykiosa@sh.itjust.works 0 points 13 hours ago

Maybe cool in Paris , but the new 30 limitation on the peripheral are annoying