AN END TO URBAN MOTORWAYS? A COMPARISON OF TRANSPORT PLANNING IN PARIS AND LONDON

The article compares the problems facing the transportation planners of London and Paris where some 13M trips are made daily, of which half are made by private car, 40% by public transport and the remainder by two-wheeled vehicles. Over a period an increase in private car usage in Paris of about 8% per annum has been accompanied by a reduction in the use of public transport attributable to declining bus patronage. Parisian planning authorities are required to work within the broad framework of the SCHEMA DIRECTEUR plan adopted in 1965 for the development of new towns on the perimeter of Paris with a network of urban motorways, high-speed metros and modernised commuter services. Details are tabulated of the public transport systems of Paris compared with that of London. Increases in fuel costs are lately seen to have resulted in a growing demand for public transport and a reduction in the use of private transport. With more public transport funds and subsidies now available the Parisian transport authority, RATP, is presently proceeding with measures to improve and to increase the usage of public transport. /TRRL/