French Transportation News

Paris is Pledged to Incumbent Mayor Delanoë, Rising Star of the Left

Source: AFP

Translated by Angus B. GRIEVE-SMITH

The Socialist Mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, who has led an energetic campaign to transform the city, appeared to be guaranteed a comfortable reelection, thanks to a divided right-wing opposition that has been reduced to accusing him of using the capital as a platform for his national ambitions.

Mr. Delanoë, 57, and his left-wing electoral list were estimated to receive 43% of votes in the first round on March 9 and 57% in the second round on March 16, according to a poll by CSA published at the end of February.

In order to gain the maximum number of seats in the 20 districts of Paris - each one also electing its own mayor - Mr. Delanoë will have to manage a complicated coalition strategy with the Green Party, his rebellious allies estimated to receive 5% of votes. He must also take into account the centrist Mouvement Démocrate party, which has made inroads with an estimated 9% of votes.

Facing a mayor who is sure of himself, who claims to be “neither anxious nor euphoric,” Françoise de Panafieu, 59, the candidate of the right-wing UMP party, which holds power in the national government, has largely conceded defeat.

Acknowledging a “difficult” campaign, she claims to be challenging “not the incumbent mayor,” but “the candidate for general secretary of the Socialist Party,” who will make the city “a weapon against the government.”

Mr. Delanoë, who has until now refuced to confirm it, is widely considered the likely challenger to Ségolène Royal to take the leadership of the Socialists and run for President of the country in 2012.

A landslide victory in the mayoral election will reinforce his stature. Former President Jacques Chirac, who ran the capital for almost 20 years, had used Paris as a stepping stone to national office.

The first left-wing mayor of Paris, elected in 2001, Mr. Delanoë has run an activist campaign.

In response to those who accused him of allowing Paris to become a city of “rich people” because of the housing crisis, he implemented measures to protect public spaces and promised to relieve the apartment shortage by removing the prohibition against high-rise buildings.

During his first term, he attracted attention by imposing a drastic reduction of lanes dedicated to car traffic in favor of mass transit and bicycle routes, and opened a streetcar line along the southern edge of the city.

Mr. Delanoë, one of the first politicians to acknowledge his homosexuality, was able to satisfy the aspirations of upper-class “bobos” (”bourgeois-bohèmes,” or yuppies). His detractors accused him of being authoritarian and autocratic.

He staked his repuation on media-friendly initiatives like “Paris Plage,” the summer-long transformation of the highways along the Seine into car-free recreation areas, and Velib’, the bicycle rental system popular with Parisians.

The right wing has had little success in attacking the Mayor on this urban policy shared by many large European cities. According to a recent poll, more than 60% of self-identified conservatives claimed to be satisfied with the results that Delanoë had achieved.

In an attempt to draw this conservative support away from Delanoë, the UMP is running celebrity candidates like Finance Minister Christine Lagarde and Justice Minister Rachida Dati. But these efforts could backfire thanks to resulting accusations of “carpetbagging” and creation of dissident electoral lists.

In fact, the UMP, which now holds only eight district mayoralties out of 20, could lose many of them in this city of two million where the mayoral election has always been more than a local contest.

Original: Paris promise au maire sortant Delanoë, étoile montante de la gauche, March 5, 2008. Image: © Marie-Lan Nguyen / Wikimedia Commons

Manifesto of the Traffic “Outlaws”

Photo: celesteh / Flickr

By Vélorution

Translated by Angus B. GRIEVE-SMITH

Hundreds of thousands of cyclists ride the streets of French towns and cities every day. They do this under dangerous conditions because motorized vehicles have taken over the entire street, with the support of the powers that be and with disregard for the most vulnerable users of the roadway.

Because of this, yes, in order to outflank the smelly, noisy motorized pack, cyclists do at times cross intersections against red lights, just like any pedestrian does. And yes, they sometimes ride the wrong way on a one-way street, because it is less dangerous to meet a car or motorcycle head-on than to be passed by one. And in the name of a traffic code that was designed only for motor vehicles, the government sees fit to slap these cyclists with heavy fines.

I affirm that I am one of these cyclists: justified but illegal (at least in France). I affirm having run a red light, and ridden the wrong way. I affirm that, for my own safety, I will continue to do this, with absolute respect for pedestrians and without disturbing other road users, until the traffic code that we demand is passed into law.

Original: Manifeste des sans-voies « irresponsables », October 11, 2007.

It will cost more to ride the Metro incognito

Photo: phverant / Flickr

• The new “Discovery” version of the Navigo card, which guarantees the confidentiality of its user’s movements, will be available for an additional five euros.
• Privacy activists are protesting this surcharge.

Olivier LEVARD

Translated by Angus B. GRIEVE-SMITH

“Why pay more to take advantage of a fundamental right?” demands the organization Privacy International. A new version of the Navigo card that will allow public transit passengers in the Ile-de-France region to travel anonymously starting September first will cost its users five euros more, according to a source close to the agency. The reason given is that unlike with the classic Navigo card, the STIF (the public company charged with organizing public transports in the Ile-de-France) will not be required to pay the card’s distribution costs. Dubbed the “Passe découverte” or “Discovery card,” this contactless computerized card will not contain any of the traveler’s personal information, because the validation will not be connected to an identification number. (See sidebar.)

When contacted by LCI.fr, a representative of the privacy defense organization Privacy International was not ready to cheer. “It’s taken us six years to get this. This is not a victory. It’s a natural, normal step to take.” He was particularly stunned by the surcharge connected with the choice of pass. “Citizens are being forced to make a financial choice in order to exercise a fundamental right!” Continue reading It will cost more to ride the Metro incognito…

Parisian Reluctance over Congestion Pricing

Translated, annotated and hyperlinked by Angus B. Grieve-Smith, February 13, 2007.

The Mobility Plan for Paris that will be debated [and adopted] by Parisian elected officials on February 12 and 13 hinges on the proposals to close (partially at least) the Georges Pompidou expressway, to install a lane reserved for buses, taxis and emergency vehicles on the Boulevard Périphérique [an eight-lane limited-access highway], and to limit automobile circulation in the center of Paris. However, there is no explicit mention of the implementation of “congestion pricing.”

London, Oslo, Stockholm and Singapore have all used this technique to limit access to their downtowns. Milan is expected to do the same in March 2007. In Paris the subject provokes, at this point, strong opposition. The suggestion of the Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin, on November 13, to “request input on” the implementation of congestion pricing in Paris has met with unanimous opposition, even from the UMP [his own center-right party].

Françoise de Panafieu, conservative candidate for the next mayoral elections in the capital, has concluded that “a toll at the gates of Paris would not be possible.” Jean-Paul Huchon, Socialist president of the Ile de France [the greater Paris region], has declared himself to be “firmly against” the idea, arguing that it amounts to “a national avoidance of responsibility,” and “an admission of impotence” in transit finance. Paris’s Socialist mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, has concluded that this plan would antagonize elected officials from nearby municipalities “from the right and the left.”

Eight days after the Prime Minister’s speech, the Regional Infrastructure District of the Ile de France (Dreif), in the context of its new management plan, published a study of traffic in the Ile de France, taking a position in support of a toll for entering Paris. For Francis Rol Tanguy, director of the Dreif, the idea “should no longer be taboo.” The goal of the Dreif is to reduce automobile traffic and bring in funds to accelerate the rollout of mass transit across the region. Continue reading Parisian Reluctance over Congestion Pricing…