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This is very good, both for drivers and pedestrians. I moved from Moscow to Paris a year ago, and I think Moscow is a success story of fixing traffic. * Make
by buybackoff 6y ago
This is very good, both for drivers and pedestrians.
I moved from Moscow to Paris a year ago, and I think Moscow is a success story of fixing traffic.
* Make streets in the center narrower, remove 1-2 lines and make sidewalks wider;
* Remove parking slots, make the remaining ones very expensive;
* No barriers to taxi aggregators or car sharing, just regulations on hours of work;
* Improve public transport (new metro lines);
* (Optional: pave the sidewalks with tiles (Собянинская плитка). Despite bad jokes it really feels nice vs old broken asphalt)
The city became pleasant to pedestrians, traffic jams reduced a lot. Before that I even refused to use taxis, because the price was high, quality was low, and sitting for 1 hour just to move 300 meters was usual. I do not drive myself, but taking a taxi there is no brainer - $5 per ride and much faster than before, without traffic.
Now Paris reminds me of Moscow in the 2000s. Often narrow sidewalks where even two people find it difficult to walk past each other, parked cars that make this difficult even for one person (good luck with baby carriage!). This is not everywhere, not on the main streets, but Paris is an old city and there are many old narrow streets. Those should be made completely pedestrian or keep just one line.
Before the confinement I lived near Petit Champs/Chabanais streets. They made Chabanais and one part of Petit Champs pedestrian, and removed 1.5 lines from another part in favor of sidewalks. Local activity thrived, children were playing, cafes full of people on the sidewalks or streets themselves. I used to joke that they called Moscow mayor Sobyanin to fix the streets. If they didn't, they should... at least not be afraid of radical measures.
And the measures should be radical so that improvements to pedestrians (or taxis, public transport) are big and more people give up on their own cars faster. Biking and scooters are possible all year around in Paris vs just five months in Moscow, so I'm looking forward to more and more of those changes.
P.S. Paris should also make public transport strikes illegal!
- forty 6y agoAt first I thought "wtf this this the second person here who want to make striking illegal", then I realized you are the same :) We are a democratic country, people are free to strike, and it's a good thing. It's a bit annoying sometimes, but it's certainly worth it (I'm sure there is no strike in north korea, but I'm happy to live in a free country with that minor annoyance)
- buybackoff 6y agoSo do you think that surgeons should be able to strike, when other people's lives depend on them!?
- 10000truths 6y agoWell, it certainly doesn't make sense to compel them to work. What are you going to do, throw them in jail for quitting?
- ampdepolymerase 6y agoNo, the correct thing to do is to break the accreditation agencies and professional associations' grip over medical school admissions and massively increase the supply of surgeons.
- fra 6y agoIn France, the government sets the number of 2nd year medical school seats available. Anyone can sign up for year 1, but only the top N students at the end of year exam make it to the second year. This stands in stark contrast with the USA where the AMA calls the shots. In effect, the doctors control the supply of doctors.
- ampdepolymerase 6y agoEither way the supply is controlled. Controlling the supply is the problem, not who does the controlling.
- laurencerowe 6y agoThe restriction on supply is less about the number of medical school places and more about the number of residency training slots available post graduation from medical school. Simply increasing the number of medical school places would result in many people spending years of their life (and in the US, 100s of thousands of dollars in debt) without then being able to then start their career. Some degree of central planning seems reasonable here.
- ampdepolymerase 6y agoRegulations on hours of work should also be removed.
- buybackoff 6y agoThey are not followed in the first place and it's a problem. Drivers who work for 16+ hours per day cause road accidents. But those regulations are a good thing, same as for aircraft pilots.
- adwww 6y agoYeah I'd love my metro driver or other critical safety staff to be working 16 hour days. Can't see what could go wrong there...
- programLyrique 6y agoThere is actually something called "service minimum" by law for public transport workers during strikes. Without it, there would not be any metro or RER at all during strikes in Paris.
- buybackoff 6y agoSo let me, please, pay zero taxes, during the strikes. Or the minimum that doesn't go to those who are striking. It's a public service, like medicine... What if one has an appointment to an oncologist at 11AM, outside of "service minimum" hours. It's so irresponsible!
- megablast 6y agoSo you want to avoid 2c in taxes?? Ok. And there are still a variety of options to get somewhere. Including waking, cycling, scooter, hoping, etc...
- buybackoff 6y agoWell, I want no taxation without representation, literally! Public transportation is financed from taxes. People who take jobs there must have some obligations, like I do to my employer. Why they should decide whether I should go to work or pay so much for taxi, if it's available at all? If those people working on public transport are not happy, I do understand them... But please announce everything in advance, not the Charlie Foxtrot situation that happened a year ago.
- Valakas_ 6y agoI don't know how it is in France, but where I live public transportation strikes are announced at least more than a week before they happen.
- buybackoff 6y agoLast time, it was announced in advance, but for weeks if not months no one knew when it would end.