Paris Bans Half of All Cars On the Road 405
cartechboy writes "Pollution is becoming a very large issue in major cities due to the amount of vehicles on the road. To try and help this issue Paris just banned all vehicles on alternate odd and even license plates today and tomorrow. Of course, electric cars and hybrids are exempt from the new restrictions as they aren't part of the problem, rather they are seen as part of the solution. Naturally taxis, buses, emergency vehicles, and cars carrying three or more passengers (hooray for carpooling) are also exempt. High levels of particulate matter are blamed for all the various respiratory diseases, while higher oxides of nitrogen are a primary cause of smog. We'd have to say that this ban probably won't be the last one as traffic levels increase over time."
Re:Paris had cars? (Score:5, Informative)
You built your cities so that biking, walking or taking the train isn't an option. That's that difference. Many people in Europe, most even, use cars daily, but they're not used for everything by everyone. If people want to take the train or ride a bicycle, they can, because the infrastructure exists. Imagine the traffic jams and the smog if these people also drove their cars everywhere.
Re:purchase time (Score:3, Informative)
Or you could go the legal route and buy a cheap car for the days when your primary vehicle cant be driven. Odd or even days respectively.
Are they also going to ban all those bloody scooters in paris. Those things are cheap to drive and the exhaust is filthy.
Re:Mexico City tried this... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Carpooling (Score:4, Informative)
Carpooling typically covers only the city itself.
If you live in the city - then you normally take the mass transit.
If you live outside the city, then you pick up your carpooling friends outside the city.
Re:Paris had cars? (Score:4, Informative)
Don't the that American ass. Poor you, Europeans are meanies and you totally don't deserve anything they say about you :(
According to the World Bank [worldbank.org] (who's not known to be particularly anti-American), the per-capita oil consumption in the US in 2010 was 1,108 kilograms (clearly they are, in fact, anti-american for not using gallons). France sits at a whopping 113. UK 241. Germany 223. So yes, please, tell me more about the poor Americans who are not sucking up all the oil.
Re:Think you miss the point (Score:5, Informative)
NYC is not the largest city on the continent, Mexico City is bigger.
Re:purchase time (Score:5, Informative)
Are they also going to ban all those bloody scooters in paris. Those things are cheap to drive and the exhaust is filthy.
Those things are serious polluters, both chemical and noise. There's nothing that ruins a nice stroll down the Seine like the grating buzz of a 2-stroke with CVT. And the way they just pile them on the sidewalks everywhere.. ugh.
Re:purchase time (Score:5, Informative)
99% of the responses below (and above) are irrelevant because they ignore that very simple fact.
NYC (Score:5, Informative)
My experience is that people who live outside of NYC think that NYC == "Manhattan" while people who live inside NYC think that NYC == {Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island, Queens}. The latter is the official definition, but apart from that all the boroughs are strongly connected by subway (or ferry/subway in the case of Staten Island), sNYC taxis & busses, NYC income tax, NYC schools, a single mayor and government, and a number of cultural factors (walking culture, bodegas, etc.).
Which isn't to say that we're all one big happy family--people have strong allegiances to their borough, but I think most people in NYC feel like we are one city.
Re:Paris had cars? (Score:4, Informative)
Yet, [Houston doesn't] have the pollution problem of Paris, LA, Mexico City, or Beijing.
Are you sure we don't? I looked at some EPA data [epa.gov], and it seems like on our bad days (in August) we're up in the particulate range that Paris is in now. We also have a lot of trouble with ozone. I'm pretty sure LA's air quality is better than ours now, or at least was for several years.
I don't think comparing Houston to Mexico City or Beijing makes sense. They have a lot more people crammed into a smaller space with worse cars.
Re:Paris had cars? (Score:3, Informative)
The Pacific Electric Streetcars went out of business because they were slow, expensive, and unprofitable. The stretch from downtown LA to Santa Monica averaged 13 mph. That was good compared to your options in 1905. By the 1930s, it was horribly slow.
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/551/did-general-motors-destroy-the-la-mass-transit-system