Raise the Hammer

Don't get me wrong I am not being anti cycling here but, Paris HAS TO do this type of planning because they have no other choice. Like Toronto they are in the midst of huge and impressive Rapid Transit building program but, also like Toronto, they really need to spend about 2-3 times what they are actually spending to really make the difference they need to make. So limiting cars and vastly improving cycling is a must because they can't afford to do it any other way. Toronto too is now also building up a large network segregated bicycle lanes and facilities (although at much more conservative pace than Paris) because its simply cheaper than most of the alternatives! Regardless of what the Rob Ford's of the world want more cycling infrastructure is going to be "interfering" with the car travelers of the world. I just whish people would realize that, most Parisians don't care about the mode as long as they get some kind of improvement to their daily transport journeys. Most people in the area around Paris don't live in the old historic city that is pictured in the main map of this article (mainly inhabited by tourists, the rich elite classes and the top portion of the upper middle class). Most of them live in suburbs that good or bad, don't look all that much different than our suburbs. They face daily traffic and transport headaches that would dwarf anything that we put up with. Many of suburban Paris's 14-15 Million commuters take very long bus rides to expensive long distance RER and Regional Commuter Rail Trains to get to their jobs or drive the many expressways in the area as well as the large wide suburban roads. Yes some cycle but just like our suburbs, they don't have much in terms of the new cycling network pictured in this article, yet! The article is correct, Paris's officials are at the least, really trying hard to improve things everywhere. However, its not out of a grand desire to improve all of their countrymen's lot in life. Its because they have no other choice. They live in area that is massive in size and scope (A population of 20 million + in Greater Paris) with not enough resources to fix everything at once.