[sustran] "A crisis is a terrible thing to waste" -

[Eric Britton]

Subject: A Transit Free Day in Paris France

 

"A crisis is a terrible thing to waste"  I have always thought so too, and
in the field in which I do much of my work – i.e., the ways that people get
around in their day to day lives – it has consistently struck me that one
terrific learning opportunity that we all seem to rush by is what happens
when parts of the system go down.  Or are taken down as they are in a
strike, as for example one such as we are living these days in Paris.

 

So true to form for a guy like me who thinks he can learn more from
observing, talking to people and learning from the street than he can stuck
in a chair in most international conferences (which you have to CO2 fly to
in order to sit in that chair), I grabbed my camera, jumped onto my bike,
and went out into the street yesterday morning to see where the action was. 

 

Weird. It was by all signs a great day for getting around in Paris. Lots of
bikes of course (the close to 1:1 Vélib’/non-Vélib’ split that Ken Coughlin
pointed out is standing up pretty well), a fair number of skaters and no
metros (but you can’t see them anyway).  And a few buses. But what struck me
was that at most intersections the cars were moving, if anything even more
smoothly than on a normal working day. Unexpectedly too, much of the time
there were lots of empty taxis waiting at stands around the city. Paris
inter-muros and on the street was looking pretty slick yesterday as this
pretty big transit strike unfolded, and all that in a perfect sunny Autumn
day.

 

So, what did we, what did I, learn from this great learning day?  (In this
particular case perhaps to be thought of as a “Transit Free Day”.)  A couple
of things I would like to share with you this morning before we both get
back to work:

 

1.    Bikes, skating and yes walking have shown once again that they are
great ways to get around in a compact city like Paris.  If you could manage
that you had a good day.

 

2.    The Vélib’s helped a lot. And the fact that there were so many bikes
out on the street certainly made the cycling a lot safer. 

 

3.    There was quite a bit of action reported by the ride-sharing programs.


 

4.    And apparently a fair amount of hitchhiking (not really a French
habit).

 

5.    And oh yes, lots of people stayed home and gave it a miss.

6.    Also, the dynamic maps and reports of the RATP (transit company –
www.ratp.fr), the SNCF (rail company at sncf.fr)  and the street traffic map
(http://www.sytadin.tm.fr/0, http://www.infotrafic.com/route.php?region=IDF,
and http://www.eng.cityvox.fr/trafic_paris/CirculationParis) are very useful
sources for the wary, connected  traveler. (I have not made use of the
information that is available via mobile phones, and I really should. To
follow.)

 

But the people who were paying the price though were the ones I could not
see on the street. Those who live outside of Paris and have to come into the
city to work were waiting for metros and trains for very long times, having
to walk at times quite long distances even to get to the rail station, and
often for trains that never came. And what has to be said is that most of
these people are not among the wealthiest, they are for the most part hard
working people with very modest incomes and no choice but to live out in the
low rent districts. These were the sort of people who were paying the price
for this labor action. (Makes you kind of ponder, eh?)

 

So if I were mayor, minister or transportation czar, what would I do next?
(Any offers?)

 

Well, broadly three things. 

 


1.    First, I would keep doing what is already going on in this city, but
even more of it. That is putting even more thought, time and resources into
the process of reinventing its transportation system (and of which you can
get some first glimmers at http://www.paris.newmobility.org). 

Everything that they are doing under their many programs and projects is
going to help to provide a more effective, cleaner and easier transport
system, with more options and conveniences than the old binary (private
car/public transport) system that is no longer serving well. (You can see a
list of many of these tools and measures in the section 1.4 “Paris’ New
Mobility toolbox: Building blocks for a sustainable city”


 

2.    Second, I would make a major effort to improve, expand and make more
widely available the information/communications interface, fixed and mobile.
Information on the street, in the vehicles, and at the stops. Including on
the mobile phones since (a) just about everyone here already has one
(regardless of income levels (since hey if you don’t have one you can either
steal one or get one on the street for a knock-off price . . . a kind of
democracy in action, even if through the back door if you will). 

The other side of the new mobility coin is the information systems that pull
the whole thing together --and if we can’t make full use of the capabilities
that technology has to offer us in 2007 then we are a pretty miserable lot
indeed.

3.    Third, I think I would really get to business on 3 and 4, but not only
for strikes but because that’s really the right thing to do anyway. For both
planetary climate reasons and for the more immediate reasons of more
sustainable  cities and better, softer lives for all, we need to make sharp
reductions in the number of cars on the roads in our cites and the most
effective way to do this (other than shooting every other driver as one of
my more virile colleagues has suggested) is to find agreeable ways to turn
private cars into shared, pubic even, transport.  

We have a lot of tools available that can help us do the job. (And that is
not to say that ride-sharing is either a new thing or  that it had not had
both successes (relatively few in the past but now fast gaining) and less
successful programs and outcomes, but rather that with the new IT interface
this changes everything. And if you are looking for a phrase to describe it,
try digital hitchhiking.

 

So here are the three lessons I for one have learned from this great and
unexpected open university course on the streets of the City of Light.  And
if you have comments, corrections, expansions, well may I suggest that you
aim them at the New Mobility Idea Factory, the mail address of which is
NewMobilityCafe at yahoogroups.com.

 

Eric Britton

 

PS. And if you are looking for a mayor, minister or transportation czar, my
phone number is just below.

 

Reinventing Transportation in Cities - at
<http://www.invent.newmobility.org/> http://www.invent.newmobility.org/ 

The Greening of Transport in Paris –  <http://www.paris.newmobility.org/>
http://www.paris.newmobility.org/ 

Vélib’ City Bike – Policy Brief –  <http://www.velib.newmobility.org/>
http://www.velib.newmobility.org/  

 

Europe: 8/10 rue Joseph Bara, 75006 Paris,  France.    T:  +331 4326 1323

USA: 9440 Readcrest Dr., Los Angeles, CA  90210.     T: +1 310 601-8468

E.  <mailto:eric.britton at ecoplan.org> eric.britton at ecoplan.org. E2.
<mailto:fekbritton at gmail.com> fekbritton at gmail.com Skype: newmobility

 

The Commons: A wide open, world-wide open society forum concerned with
improving our understanding and control of technology as it impacts on
people in our daily lives. Seeking out and pioneering new transformational
concepts for concerned citizens, activists, community groups, entrepreneurs
and business. Supporting local government as that closest to the people and
the problems. Increasing the uncomfort zone for hesitant administrators and
politicians.  And through our long term world-wide collaborative efforts,
energy and personal choices, placing them and ourselves firmly on the path
to a more sustainable and more just world.