This story was originally published by CityLab and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
Paris has inaugurated its first bike highway. Opening last May, the 0.5-mile stretch of freshly paved road alongside the Bassin de l’Arsenal is part of the Réseau express vélo (“REVe”), an initiative to build fast-track bike lanes free of motorized vehicles. It’s only the first section of the soon-to-be 28-mile network of bike highways that will cross the city by 2020.
In 2015, the city voted unanimously to spend €150 million ($164.5 million) on expanding and improving its biking infrastructure, including REVe (which translates to “dream” in French). Cyclists will benefit from more bike-friendly rules — including the freedom to turn without waiting for a green light at every intersection — as well as new bike stands and two-way bike lanes on one-way streets.
Sandrine Gbaguidi, a local biking blogger, rarely leaves home without her bike, using it to run errands, get to work, or just find a nearby park. But that wasn’t always the case. When Gbaguidi moved to Paris from Dakar six years ago, she first used pub... Read more
