The bicycle corridor - exclusively reserved for two wheeled, non-motorized vehicles.

The Rentrée: Plan Vélo & Myriaflow

By Françoise Giovannangeli

Paris Kiosque - October 1996 - Volume 3, Number 10
Copyright (c) October 1996 Françoise; Giovannangeli - used with permission

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One of the most noticeable signs of the Rentrée, that frenzied time of year when Parisians all come back from their summer holidays, is the increased volume of automobile traffic and the ensuing atmospheric effects.

On the agenda this fall is the closer study of an interesting idea which calls for the installation of 70,000 small fans throughout the capital to blow air pollution away. When I first heard about the plan, it reminded me of a similar story which was circulating in Montreal a few years ago during a very cold winter. In that city, it was rumoured that large heat-generating fans were to be installed in strategic locations around the island to gently warm up the shivering population. While no one really believed it, everyone secretly hoped it was true.

But Paris's fan proposal is being taken seriously by the government and has been in the hands of Environment Ministry experts since last year. The air cleaning system, called Myriaflow, is the patented brainchild of Yves Lecoffre, a French inventor who suggests that an average of ten small fans on each Parisian street could get rid of nasty air in less than an hour. During periods of peak pollution levels, the devices would be activated in unison by a radio signal.

We should know more about the fate of Myriaflow by the end of the year. For now, efforts are being concentrated on promoting "greener" forms of transportation. An exhibit currently on display at the Hôtel de Ville called Atmosphère capitale extolls the virtues of rapid transit, electric cars and bicycles. It promises that if just two per cent of drivers could be converted, pollution levels would drop significantly.

Easier said than done. For use of the Métro has actually gone down-- by as much as ten per cent since 1995. And, as fewer Parisians take public transportation, the number of cars clogging up city streets keeps going up. In an effort to lure passengers back, transit authorities (RATP) decided in September to begin enforcing the existing ban on panhandling in Métro wagons, including the selling of street newpapers such as Macadam Journal, Le Réverbère and others. According to the RATP, passengers complained about being solicited too often.

The homeless, who were "banned" this summer by other French municipalities concerned about "user appeal", are surely not the sole cause for this drop in business: memories of last December's strikes are still vivid, not to mention the spate of bombings in the preceding summer. Aside from those using their cars, many Parisians are now experimenting with new methods of locomotion: walking, roller-skating and cycling are all on the upswing and during the summer, the first 5 km of an initial 50-km bike path criss-crossing the capital were inaugurated.

The Environment Ministry is planning to organise a meeting between Mr. Lecoffre and a committee of experts in the coming months in order to determine once and for all if his plan is logistically feasible. In the meantime, the latest initiatives are welcome news for Parisians and their beloved city. As I waited to cross the Boulevard Saint Germain this afternoon, however, I counted seven cyclists and three rollerskaters as they weaved in and out of the dense traffic; at the same time, a small white delivery van was parked in the bike lane on the other side of the street --- illegally of course. But that's another problem. .

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Françoise Giovannangeli is a Canadian freelance writer who lives in Paris. She can be contacted via this link.