Delanoë disaster. The Mayor is killing Paris. Oh, and me, too.

"Aren't there any taxis in Paris?" asked my innocent visitors from Rome, who had walked all the way to my house from the Place de la Concorde (about 45 minutes) in the middle of the day without finding one. On a Friday.

 

 

"I hate the mayor! I hate the mayor!" I have taken to chanting in the car as I sit in interminable pointless traffic jams whenever I venture out of my neighborhood. Pointless, because the traffic jams are produced for the sole reason of making my life hell, as you can see from the citation* above. Merci, Monsieur Delanoë!

For example, a left turn is the obvious way to get to the boulevard Magenta [the major thoroughfare in and out of Paris to the north] from the Gare du Nord parking lot.

So-- let's block it! says the mayor.

Make all the drivers go around the block onto the completely snarled boulevard de la Chapelle! (Snarled because of the mayor's innovative bus lanes now completely hogging the avenue.) A maneuver which now takes half an hour. All the while,  the cars honk; they get into accidents sliding past each other with centimeters to spare; they run their engines; they clog the intersections so pedestrians can't cross; they block the buses.

Going around the block would take even longer if there were not a disgusted-looking policewoman making everyone run the red lights.

This mayor, who has no driver's license, is creating a city in which drivers waste 62.2 million hours a year in traffic jams.  But that's okay, because drivers are bad!

He has absolutely no understanding of what it takes to be a mère de famille in a large city. I think he hates us. We're not cool. We're not his image of young, fun Paris, zipping around on our bicycles going to museums and gallery openings, or riding to work on the metro with a newspaper as seul bagage. (The mayor is a confirmed bachelor.) 

Not mothers doing the shopping for a family, or bringing children to different schools the same morning, or picking up people at the train station with large suitcases.

Not foreigners who are passing through Paris for a day or two in their car. Not an old person who can't walk easily. Not a delivery man who has to work longer hours and is late for appointments because the traffic is deliberately stalled. Not inner-city shops and restaurants who need customers from too far away to walk home. (I scarcely go there any more.)

Especially, not anyone from the suburbs. The suburban commuters are suffering the most, but they don't vote in Paris, so the mayor doesn't care about them. Even though most car drivers in Paris work there. And even though most people in Paris use their cars because they NEED them.

This is a city where large packages are forbidden on the bus. Anyway, buses are stuck in traffic jams despite the mayor's giving them two-thirds of the road (which is the reason there are traffic jams). So that most people who do take the bus are people without jobs. (Did I mention that buses have two-thirds of the road?)

A city where you cannot get a cab at night, in the rain, during school holidays, on weekends, if there are more than three of you, or after the metro closes. [Shortcut: each word is a link to people complaining how you can't get a cab in Paris.]

A city where there are no elevators or escalators into most metro stations, and where a current "respect" campaign pictures as public enemy number one a mother trying to get onto the metro with a baby stroller. How dare she?

Today I had the malheur of having to go to the Gare du Nord and the airport in one day.

*Update: Here is the quotation, which was posted under "Today's Quotation" for that day:

Ce n'est qu'en leur faisant vivre l'enfer que nous obtiendrons un jour des automobilistes qu'ils renoncent à leur bagnole.

The only way to get drivers to give up their cars is by making them live through hell.

--Yves Contassot, the deputy mayor for the environment under current Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoë

Comments

[sfgirl]

....and the new lights every 10 meters? one right-immediately around the corner from another? construction on every street going on all at the same time? one way streets that suddenly changed directions headed the other way? two lane streets reduced to one?

[L'Amerloque]

Hi !

Some of the latest actions by this Mayor and his ecoayatollah cronies are going to be examined very, very closely by the Cour des Comptes within the next few years, if rumours are to be believed (and, of course, if Sarko takes home the brass ring …).

One involves the recent "expulsion" (the lease wasn't renewed) of the Racing Club from its traditional and historic haunts in the Bois de Boulogne. The concession has now been handed over to … the Lagardère Group ! Another is the "expansion" of the Roland Garros tennis grounds.

The "bail" for the Auteuil and Longchamp racetracks has finally been signed. Guess what ?!

In the Bois de Boulogne, and as part of the deal, there is now going to be a new "campground" for … Gypsies and Rom ! (les gens du voyage).

One hectare and a half ! That's 3.7 acres ! Hello, property values ! Merci, Monsieur Delanoe !

Delanoe and his whole crowd are destroying Paris. Fortunately, there are always the forthcoming elections !

Best,
L'Amerloque

[BarryB]

Your comments about car usage in Paris apply equally to all the major cities within Europe.

There is no simplistic solution. Indeed, given the Stern Review Report issued in London today, it is irresponsible to consider that we can go on as we are, the car can no longer be king:-

TEMPERATURE

Carbon emissions have already pushed up global temperatures by half a degree Celsius

If no action is taken on emissions, there is more than a 75% chance of global temperatures rising between two and three degrees Celsius over the next 50 years

There is a 50% chance that average global temperatures could rise by five degrees Celsius

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

Melting glaciers will increase flood risk

Crop yields will decline, particularly in Africa

Rising sea levels could leave 200 million people permanently displaced

Up to 40% of species could face extinction

Increased examples of extreme weather patterns

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Extreme weather could reduce global gross domestic product (GDP) by up to 1%

A two to three degrees Celsius rise in temperatures could reduce global economic output by 3%

If temperatures rise by five degrees Celsius, up to 10% of global output could be lost. The poorest countries would lose more than 10% of their output.

In the worst case scenario global consumption per head would fall 20%

To stabilise at manageable levels, emissions would need to stabilise in the next 20 years and fall between 1% and 3% after that. This would cost 1% of GDP.

However, there is still continued resistance within the US to the scientific consensus.

There is a reluctance of major developing nations to accept any constraints on their economic growth.

Within a democracy, parties advocating any degree of economic pain typically fare poorly.

[Sedulia]

Barry,

Thanks for the lecture. But I imagine you do agree that people need to get around in a city. What I am saying is that the mayor of Paris is making life hell for drivers WITHOUT providing an alternative. There are simply not enough metros, trains and taxis in Paris for the needs of the people who live in, work in, and visit the city.

My comments certainly do not "apply equally to all the major cities within Europe." A direct comparison between Paris and London, made by a study published last year by economists from the World Bank and the Sorbonne, showed that the traffic restrictions in Paris had cost the city 900 million euros in four years. In the same period the much more extensive traffic restrictions in London, which is four times bigger than Paris, cost 170 million euros.

In Frankfurt or London, I never used my car because public transportation and especially taxis were available whenever I needed them to transport several people or heavy things. In Paris the lack of cabs is a scandal and there is no alternative to driving.

[BarryB]

Sedulia

My comments were not meant to be a lecture, but a statement that unfortuneately life can no longer go on as before and that individuals, together with local and national governments have to change their behaviour.

I cannot agree that London's public transport system is better than Paris. However, where I do agree with you is over the restrictive practices of Paris cab drivers - this is a disgrace.

Barry

[L'Amerloque]

Hi BarryB !

Perhaps BarryB is too young to remember all the "chicken little - sky is falling" nonsense in the 1970s, put out by the Club of Rome and its disciples.

Briefly stated: the world was running out of resources and if things went on the same way, the world would be out of food, copper, coal, oil, fresh water and God knows what other natural resources by the year 1985. (Amerloque has exaggerated only slightly for effect when he says " food, copper, coal, oil, fresh water … ".)

The Club of Rome was quite specific: catastrophe was imminent. The "scientific consensus" was overwhelming: catastrophe was imminent. The media screamed shrilly, in every paper, on every radio channel, on every TV channel: catastrophe was imminent. Schoolkids were programmed, politicians quoted reports: catastrophe was imminent ! ! !

There was no catastrophe. It was all politically-correct bee ess. It was for the peanut gallery, designed to pull the wool over people's eyes and impose an agenda.

What about the year 2000 bug, aka the millennium bug ? Catastrophe was imminent ! Imminent ! The scientists said so. There was consensus. Yada yada yada.

Sound familiar ?

These are the same people pushing the "global warming" catastrophe scenario.

They've now pulled the "peak oil" scenario out of thin air, too, but since the announcement of the recent discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico, they have been heard from far, far less. (grin)

Out here in the real world, there are people like Amerloque who need cars to move around with. There are people like Sedulia who have to pick up clients at the airport and trundle them around Paris. There are real people who do real shopping and who do real business and who are, quite simply, getting shafted by the politically correct proponents of global warming, ecoayatollah, anticar catastrophism.

Red Ken's bee ess road tax in London has, according to the figures that Amerloque has seen, which came frim the London Chamber of Commerce, caused a drop in business of something like 30 to 40 percent in parts of the capital (that's less tax money for the City, by the way). Paris is emptying of people and businesses: taxpayers all. Paris will probably end up like Venice, sooner rather than later, in Amerloque's view.

Humanity, by the way, will certainly "go on as before". It will take one step backward for every two steps forward, just as it always has. If the climate warms up, and poor ol' London or New York are flooded, humanity will deal with it. Always has dealt with change, and always will.

By the way, many people Amerloque knows have purchased 4x4 vehicles because of all the catastrophists. It's their own way of making a political statement. More power to them.

Best
L'Amerloque

[lorcan]

There really is no justification for driving. Only excuses.

From Sedulia: I can tell you don't have kids.

[marco]

dear l'amerloque,

i'm pretty much upset by parts of the comments raised by BarryB as well, and I agree with you on the fact that Paris is going to increasingly become like Venice if nothing is done to help it be the real capital it should be (in terms of economy).

But I think you lack some kind of dynamic reasonning. If you keep quoting examples from the 70's, or even the 90's, it's that you are not grasping the technological, demographic and geopolitical changes which make those comparisons pointless today.

I'm not going to give you a lecture, I guess you can figure out the numbers by yourself if you're a bit travelled or read good articles, but in a world where technology can be increasingly powerful, and hence destructive, where 2.5 billion people dream of the american way of life and might get there sooner than we expect, and where oil is mostly controlled by not so liberty-fond-of regimes, buying a SUV for the fun of it *definitely* definitely makes a political statement. But not necessarily the most intelligent.

parisian-type Ecoayatollahs are pretty much what we want to avoid. But people who do not have the pragmatism of understanding what's going on, and take these restrictions it as a "freedom" issue are pretty useless as well.

[LA Frog]

I live in L.A. now (the ultimate car-city), so I don't feel qualified to comment. But from my experience as a native "parisienne", there are enough buses, métros, and other means to get around in Paris without having a car (something I bitterly miss in La-la land). I never had a car in Paris. I had a bicycle, which I rode whenever possible. I lived in Paris intra-muros [city center], though. the Banlieue [outer suburbs] is a different story. As a non-car driver, I was happy with Delanoë's initiatives, because they meant less room for cars = more room for the others. Bottom line is: Paris inside the Périphérique [ringroad] is NOT a city for cars.

[nardac]

I'm sure there are no kids or mothers in Amsterdam.

Don't take this the wrong way. I don't have kids but I think there are many people in Paris who have kids who don't have cars and just make do. It's not simple but one always finds solutions when forced to. For example, I have friends who come and I never pick them by car... I make them take the RER and Metro like any decent person. When I have to move heavy objects, I phone the one person I know who has a vehicle and we arrange a time. I try not to put myself in a situation where I need a car because I've had to deal without one for awhile.

I agree they're useful, but cars are not indispensable. Maybe he doesn't have children but luckily he's thinking about the future anyways.

One gripe I do have, though, is that there simply aren't enough escalators and fast easy access for the physically handicapped in Metros. And yes, taxis are a rare breed in this city, but even this confirmed party panther has found solutions.

[L'Amerloque]

Hi Sedulia !

Doesn't sound like "lorcan" has children, as Sedulia says. (grin)

It also sounds like s/he has:

- no handicaps;
- no handicapped - or very aged - members of the family;
- no pets;
- no guests that s/he would like to show around Paris,
- no broken leg(s) after skiing holidays,

among other things, and that s/he does:

- no shopping, with the attendant bulky packages to schlep home;
- no sightseeing with guests visiting Paris;
- not attend salons or shows where one can purchase crates of wine or other spirits;
- not bike outside of Paris and need to take the bike out of town.

(sigh) Isn't life grand ? (grin)

Best
L'Amerloque

[Sedulia]

Hmm, I didn't realize this would be such a controversial subject! I guess what I am saying is that the Mayor of Paris is making it hard to get around, period. I support many of his initiatives, but the traffic has become horrendous and that is not good for anyone.

Amsterdam is one of the best cities in the world for public transportation: it's easy to get a taxi there. The problem with Paris is that you need your car, because there are NOT good alternatives: available taxis at times when people need them; metros with escalators and elevators into the stations (as Munich and Frankfurt have-- I never used my car when I lived there); and buses that actually have room for suitcases, grocery carts, wheelchairs and baby strollers.

Nardac, what are your solutions for parties late at night? I find I have to take a car (and not drink) or I have to walk halfway across the city to get home. No taxis!

[L'Amerloque]

Hi Sedulia !

/*/Hmm, I didn't realize this would be such a controversial subject!/*/

That's an understatement. (wide grin)

Delanoe's policies are killing Paris, and everyone is concerned by it.

* * * * *

Hi cuturi !

/*/If you keep quoting examples from the 70's, or even the 90's, it's that you are not grasping the technological, demographic and geopolitical changes which make those comparisons pointless today. /*/

Sorry, but one plus one always makes two, in the real world. (grin) Amerloque grasps them very, very well, thank you: he deals with them on a regular basis, as a matter of fact. (wider grin)

The arguments, and the numbers, and, more importantly, the same sort of people, crying wolf and chickenlittling are the same as they were in the 1970s and 1990s. Whyever should they be "right" now ? (sigh)

/*/ …/… , buying a SUV for the fun of it *definitely* definitely makes a political statement. But not necessarily the most intelligent./*/

Sure it's intelligent, if they need a SUV for a particular purpose (like hauling around sculptures and paintings, for example, or handicapped relatives, or if they carpool special needs kids to schools across town …).

The whole business about "SUVs pollute more" is a scam. Pick up any study from "les Mines" and look at the figures: there are well known passenger cars which "pollute" –more- (per cylinder displacement) than many 4x4s/SUVs.

If the ecoayatollahs really cared about pollution and the people's health, they would ban diesel-powered vehicles, period. The particulates such vehicles have left in the atmosphere in the past two decades - and are leaving in the atmosphere - will cause a health crisis of huge proportions: as much as obsesity, in some studies bandied about. Nevertheless, the SUVs are in the ecoayatollah wringer, only. (sigh)

/*.parisian-type Ecoayatollahs are pretty much what we want to avoid. But people who do not have the pragmatism of understanding what's going on, and take these restrictions it as a "freedom" issue are pretty useless as well. /*/

Ameloque respectfully disagrees, since when people concerned about "freedom" buy a 4x4 they pay enormous taxes which are then used to finance the bike lanes and bus lanes for the … ecoayatollahs. (grin)

Just because someone doesn't agree with cuturi doesn't mean they don't have the "pragmatism of understanding what's going on": they simply draw a different conclusion.

This all reminds Amerloque of a joke current when he was a child, and which surfaces in each generation:

In the middle of New York City, on 5th Avenue, a guy is walking down the street, snapping his fingers. A shopowner comes out of her place and says "Hey, Mister, every time I see you walking by, I see you snapping your fingers ! Why do you do that ?"

The guy keeps snapping his fingers. He says, "Well, it's to keep the crocodiles away."

Shopowner says: What ? There aren't any crocodiles around here !!!"

Guy, still snapping fingers, says: "See, it works !"

* * * * *

Hi LA Frog !

/*/As a non-car driver, I was happy with Delanoë's initiatives, because they meant less room for cars = more room for the others. /*/

Seductive reasoning, of course … if there continue to be "others". (grin)

Le Parisien yesterday gave a few stats from the Chambre des Notaires … in the 4th arrondissement, foreigners purchased 1/3 of the available real estate last year. (!) These are non-resident foreigners, who leave their places empty most of the year.

It looks in depth at the rue Saint-Louis-en-Ile: "… le pressing a fermé, la poisonnerie a fermé, les deux marchands de journaux, aussi …"

Overall, 8.1% of the available real estate in Paris last year was purchased by foreigners, most of whom don't live in Paris …

* * * * *

Hi Nardac !

/*/I don't have kids but I think there are many people in Paris who have kids who don't have cars and just make do. It's not simple but one always finds solutions when forced to. /*/

With all due respect, whyever should they be "forced to" ? It's their city, too: they pay the taxes which pay for …(Amerloque is sure Nardac knows what the refrain is …) (grin)

/*/Maybe he doesn't have children but luckily he's thinking about the future anyways./*/

Amerloque begs to differ. Delanoe is thinking about the next election. (grin)

As a matter of interest, given the City's current obscurantist administration, Amerloque has suggested that horse manure be spread in the streets, so as to complete the illusion of 19th century Paris that the ecoayatollahs are attempting to recreate, with tramways, and no cars, and no middle class.

Strangely enough, Amerloque never received an answer to his letter. (grin) Guess they thought he was joking.

Best
L'Amerloque

[marco]

dear l'amerloque,

you look pretty french to me actually, rather than american. dodging the real issues, coming up with a few intelligent arguments which avoid the real point, and throwing a few numbers here and there. But you're not very convincing. You've completely ignored my point on changes in demography, technology, and geopolitics.

1+1=2 you say? sure. So have a look at all the pluses that the East is bringing us. Go and have a look at bigger cities in india and china and start figuring out what life on earth would be like if all the people there who have sculptures, a handicaped relative or friends that want to visit would feel like buying a big SUV to cope with their needs. The fact that they're not rich enough at the moment to do that shouldn't prevent us from giving it a thought. By the way, have you ever heard of buying things and getting them delivered to your place? the point is not having a car or not, the point is using it less i guess.

[L'Amerloque]

Hi marco!

/*/you look pretty french to me actually, rather than american. dodging the real issues,/*/

Ah, yes, the ad hominem argument, coupled with a tinge of racism. Can't forget about those, eh ? (sad sigh)

/*/You've completely ignored my point on changes in demography, technology, and geopolitics./*/

Amerloque is old and experienced enough to know that one can "prove" anything with numbers.

For example, all men 100% (!) who nursed at their mothers' breast ... before the year 1800 ... are dead, right ?

Amerloque is not ignoring the numbers, or the "changes in demography, technology, and geopoltics". He is simply drawing different conclusions than marco cuturi. If Amerloque was not clear about this, he apologizes. (smile).

One obvious conclusion, for example, is that not running a SUV will have no influence whatsoever on the behavior of China or India, now or ever.

/*/ …/… So have a look at all the pluses that the East is bringing us. Go and have a look at bigger cities in india and china and start figuring out what life on earth would be like if all the people there who have sculptures, a handicaped relative or friends that want to visit would feel like buying a big SUV to cope with their needs. …/…
the point is not having a car or not, the point is using it less i guess./*/

Surely you are not suggesting euthanasia for handicapped children and/or relatives and/or relatives ?

Amerloque feels that, to some extent, c'est un dialogue de sourds, as the French would say. (sigh)

Best,
L'Amerloque

[Azure-Te]

Using my car nightly (I have never and would never dream of driving Paris in daytime, unless I really have to), I think Delanoe's policy with cars in Paris can only be called insanity — if only in terms of pollution. And dangerous too. A small detail that tells it all : try the Chapelle/Clignancourt lights: you have to look separately sideways, like hens. When you reach them (after 30 mns of waiting, "accordion driving" that wrecks nerves, engines, and pollutes more than one could say), you find that the left light goes green when the red light remains red, and vice-versa. Depends on wether you're on a "car" lane or a "bus" lane, which you honestly don't know anymore, since they change and overcross each every 20 meters. Someone should be killed soon or later. Now this is just ONE tiny example : the city is just made of those now. Pure insanity.

[nardac]

hmmm... alternative plans to taxis after 1am: hang out with boys with scooters (and thus risk life and limb for a little spin), get drunk enough to walk home without thinking (and hopefully with a drunk friend(s) too), sleep at the nearest friend's house, stay at the party till the Metro starts again, go to another party...

Or you could just call a cab. They're listed in the yellow pages and can thus be programmed easily into the cellphone.

The only time I stressed about getting a cab was one night when I was stuck near AquaBoulevard at 3am and I really just wanted to take off my shoes and sleep... on the street... that's how bad it was. Luckily it's right next to a "Porte" which is another good place to find taxis.

From Sedulia: I live too far from central Paris to walk. I have all the taxi numbers in my phone, but I find that after the metros stop, the only way I have of being sure to get home is to take my own car. It's too bad the Paris taxi situation is so dire; I'm sure it affects night life.

I like the boys on scooters idea. Somehow they don't come along and offer me rides, though, Nardac!

[nardac]

Amerloque.

I'm a bit put off with your anti-ecoayatollah language. It stinks.

Why am I forced not to drive a car? Because I have better things to do than spend money on something I don't see a need for in Paris. Parking is shit, traffic is shit, and exhaust stinks. Why should do you choose to be forced with it? Do you have four three-fingered handicapped grandparents to shuffle around on a daily basis?

[marco]

dear l'amerloque,

i'm french, so i can't really see the racism in my remark. i just feel you enjoy more debating and theoretical arguments than seeking reasonnable compromises, which is a usual problem for french people. or maybe people with too much spare time.

i'm a statistician, so i'm pretty much convinced that numbers mean something. on the other hand i know pretty much they can be easily manipulated. and i know they can only prove something if you have access to the methodology and the way they were collected (read: percentages here and there are close to meaningless)

what i'm saying is that your main arguments (car is better for this, this or that, and we should be free to have big SUV's and care little about the pollution they carry out because after all people are doing worse than us) do not hold if you apply them to the whole population of the earth.

luckily enough for you, these principles were ok to follow when 90$ of the population of the globe was starving and you were in the lucky 10%, be it because you were born in the good place or worked hard to get there. luckily enough for everyone, a big share of these 90% seem to have access now to more material benefits. sadly enough, based on your principles, i guess we didnt seek for optimality in our habits w.r.t environment (w.r.t. costs, labour, logistics yes, but the environment variable was not in the optimization. ever heard of the traveling salesman problem? no one ever put a polution penalty in that problem).

i guess we'll have to change some habits. without pushing it to the limits "ecoayatollah's" way. I'm a scientist, so i'm pretty much convinced technology can do much. But if people do not understand there's a problem, it makes it a lot harder to carry out these efforts.

[L'Amerloque]

Hello Nardac !

/*/I'm a bit put off with your anti-ecoayatollah language. It stinks./*/

Jeez, that's really too bad. (grin) It takes all kinds to make a world, doesn't it ?

Fortunately the ecoayatollah thought police aren't monitoring this … (wider grin)

/*/Do you have four three-fingered handicapped grandparents to shuffle around on a daily basis?/*/

Amerloque is a bit put off with Nardac's sarcastic anti-handicapped language. It stinks.

As a matter of fact, with language like that from someone not in possession of all the facts (or even of any germane facts whatsoever !) … one should never, ever wonder why people like Amerloque invariably come down on opposite sides to positions taken by individuals like Nardac.

Best,
L'Amerloque