[Wilya]

The resistance is already there, it's already happening. Car owners in Paris are furious, and bike infrastructure is already taking away space from roads. High traffic roads in the center have been downright closed and made bike-only.

It is feasible because Paris (the city itself, excluding suburbs) is a very crowded city, where owning a car has always been a luxury. People living in Paris itself who can afford a car, with the associated parking space and everything, are a minority.

People living in the suburbs are more likely to own cars and drive through Paris, but they don't elect the Paris mayor, so their opinion doesn't have much weight.

[retinaros]

problem is car owners are not only from paris but from the suburbs and need a car to commute and cant afford to live in paris to ride a bike

[Schroedingersat]

Then park and ride or park and bike instead of feeling entitled to spend someone else's tax money to make their lives worse.

[retinaros]

i ride a bike. i just practice empathy. you should try sometimes. i live in paris and id rather spend tax money to help less wealthy suburban people commute by car to their work rather than make the life of a few 1% rich parisians better. some people live far because they cant afford to live close by their work place, they cant change 2 or 3 trains to go to work especially looking at the abysmal paris transportation continuity of service. they end up commuting for 4hours of their day every day. (it is always late, always canceled, dirty, polluted, thieves everywhere and I commuted for 10 years as a student)

[Schroedingersat]

Then fix the trains rather than throwing away more money forcing those rich 1%ers into cars rather than letting them get out of the way. The miniscule fraction of land required for a viable bicycle network frees up more space for suburbanites to drive in than tens or hundreds of road widening projects.

It is physically impossible to have everyone in many areas of paris drive, because after a parking garage and a fifth of a piece to drive in there's no space left.

Empathy is not forcing those poor suburbanites to spend a third of their income on a car.

Empathy is not taking up 2/3rds of the land in the outer regions with car infrastructure rather than housing and productive commecial uses.

Empathy is not forcing sparse development for the sake of landlords' property values.

You should try it some time.

Also the entire premise that the actually poor suburbanites are all driving into the city every day is absurd. Mosstof them would be paying more for their car and a parking spot than their wage.

[retinaros]

i dont understand how you cannot see it only favor rich people and landlords… rich people will always drive car. they will use uber. and you know where they come from? the suburbs. young unemployed people are doing uber drivers. so they will drive rich parisians and chinese/americans tourists on weekdays and on the weekend because they are forbidden to drive in paris they ll commute via the 1 train per hour they get from their suburb and that is only if there is no construction on their line, neither strike, neither canceled trains, nor delayed.

fixing trains is not possible when you have to take 3-4 trains to commute… not even talking about people in villages with no trains. a car costs a few thousand euros. you can even get an electric car almost for free if you are on low income. a 1 year train pass costs 800 euros+ and that is if it covers your lines.

you are crazy to believe everyone would bike. again rich and healthy people bike. poor people dont bike, old people dont bike, sick people or people with a handicap dont bike. you are creating a society for the wealthy and the healthy. its what facists wanted to do. this is not empathy. go out of your confort zone go live in a parisian suburb in 93 and see how is the life there when you need to start your day at night and there is no train. go try to ride a bike when your work is a 4 hours drive. paris is one of the densest city in the world i dont know what you talking abt additional housing.

[silpheed5]

I commuted via bus/RER/metro from the suburbs through Paris to La Defense for many years and didn't have that experience. It's not Japan but outside of strikes it was reliable enough. Also, the 'less wealthy' folks usually can't afford nor want all the expenses associated with car ownership in France. It's much more affordable to get a Navigo pass.

[retinaros]

I guess when that is all you ve seen that might be ok. which suburb was that? ladefense is a business district outside of paris. it is not paris.