> Under her plans, Paris was to remove 72% of its on-street car parking spaces.
Totally a political promise made by the kind of people who think subway tickets cost 5€ and only use official cars that comes with driver and parking.
I hate cars in Paris as much as anyone, but they are required in a number of cases and this measure will hugely impact negatively the mid-class and poors that needs to commute to Paris for work, while not impacting the (very) richs that can live in the center.
This is a common refrain, but I don't think it's supported by evidence. The poorest people cannot afford own a car[1] - and one can hypothesise that the high entry cost (purchasing a car, buying insurance) is a significant reason for this. Other methods of transport, such as cycling, walking, buses and trains do not have this high entry cost and so are much more accessible for the most disadvantaged people in our society.
It's also critical to have a strong urban planning policy that allows people to live near to where jobs and transport hubs are. Suburbs inherently advantage car owners (and, consequently, the richer people that can afford to own a car).
I don't think people commuting to Paris for work use public parking space, the cost is much too high for everyday 9-to-5 usage. Either they use public transports, or have a private parking space at work. In both case they're not impacted by reducing public park space.
It will impact the upper to middle class who go to paris to visit or to shop, and maybe homeless people living in their cars. middleclass commuters don't park on on-street car parking place, and poor, non-homeless people don't own a car when living in or close to Paris.
Also subway cost 35€ a month (well, 70 if you're not working), or ~20 a week if you're a tourist (unless you take one-use ticket, but don't do that, especially if you arrive by the airport). One-use ticket if you stay within Paris last 2 hours and cost ~2€, but it is more expensive if you're not actually in Paris (i think its 15€ from CDG to the center).
Totally a political promise made by the kind of people who think subway tickets cost 5€ and only use official cars that comes with driver and parking.
I hate cars in Paris as much as anyone, but they are required in a number of cases and this measure will hugely impact negatively the mid-class and poors that needs to commute to Paris for work, while not impacting the (very) richs that can live in the center.