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LIFE IN PARIS

Paris could introduce 30km/h speed limit throughout the capital

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo is planning to implement the speed limit in the whole city from early 2021. Parisians can have their say until November 27th.

Published: 29 October 2020 12:22 CET
Paris could introduce 30km/h speed limit throughout the capital
The Arc de Triomphe roundabout is notoriously chaotic. Could a 30km/h speed limit help? Photo: AFP

Parisians can now have their say on the mayor's plan to implement a 30km/h speed limit all over the city. An online consultation started yesterday and will remain online for a month, until November 27th.

The speed limit will be in place in all of Paris streets, except some the périphérique highway that encompasses the capital, and already existing 30km/h zones and pedestrian zones.

Around 60 percent of the capital is already subject to to a 30km/h speed limit, according to the City's proposal.

 

People on the website are already debating, some of them saying that the measure is “excellent” and “necessary”, while others depict it as “ridiculous”, according to Le Parisien.

A generalised 30 km/h speed limit aims at reduce speed for “road safety and city calming”, Anne Hidalgo’s deputy for transports David Belliard (EELV) told Le Parisien last week.

 

The plan would also encourage the use of “active transport solutions” such as bikes, according to a statement on the Mairie de Paris website.

Reducing speed limits is part of Anne Hidalgo's eco-friendly plans for the French capital that were announced after her re-election in June.

To have a say, Parisians can either fill out an online form via this link or send an email to [email protected].

Those who wish to participate must include personal information such as postcode, age, whether or not they work in Paris and what means of transport they use.

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TRAVEL

Striking workers block Paris airport terminal, flights delayed

Striking airport workers have blocked part Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport, with some flights already delayed by at least one hour.

Published: 2 July 2021 12:29 CEST
Striking workers block Paris airport terminal, flights delayed
Striking airport workers outside Charles-de-Gaulle airport in Paris. Photo: Geoffroy van der Hasselt | AFP

Last month, trade unions representing workers at the Aéroports de Paris (ADP) – the city’s Charles-de-Gaulle-Roissy and Orly airports – called for a strike between July 1st and July 5th in an ongoing dispute between French airport workers and bosses over contract renegotiations.

A second wave of protests are expected next week, after a strike notice was filed for July 9th.

Tensions mounted on Friday morning as some 400 protesters staged a raucous demonstration at CDG’s terminal 2E, which mostly deals with flights outside the Schengen zone, as police officers looked on.

At Orly airport, meanwhile, some 250 people demonstrated “outside”, while a small group was inside.

The dispute is over a long-term plan by ADP to bring in new work contracts for employees at the airports, which unions say will lower pay, job losses and a reduction in rights and bonuses for employees.

The strike is being jointly called by the CGT, CFE-CGE, Unsa, CFDT and FO unions, who said in a joint press release that the proposals will “definitively remove more than a month’s salary from all employees and force them to accept geographical mobility that will generate additional commuting time”.

Unions say that staff face dismissal if they do not sign the new contracts.

ADP said on Wednesday that it expected ‘slight delays for some flights but no cancellations’ to services – but it urged travellers to follow its social media operations for real-time updates.

On Thursday, the first day of action, 30 percent of flights were delayed between 15 minutes and half-an-hour.

ADP’s CEO Augustin de Romanet had said on Tuesday that ‘everything would be done to ensure no flight is cancelled’. 

ADP reported a loss of €1.17 billion in 2020. 

Stressing that discussions are continuing over the proposed new contracts, the CEO called for “an effort of solidarity, with a red line: no forced layoffs.”

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