How much of this has to do with the policies highlighted - removing 50k parking spots, adding bike lanes and green spaces - and how much has to do with cars having better exhaust?
How much less cars are on the road today vs then?
The charts and title make it look like there's no cars in Paris anymore. That's not the case, at all.
I‘m currently visiting Paris for the second time in my life after 2008. I can tell you it’s much cleaner now than it has been back then. There are many electric (cargo) bikes, scooters, cars and buses. The city is much quieter and there is way less crazy traffic. There are few cars parked on the side of the street. However these parking spots were cleared for bike lanes and bike sharing parking. Biggest polluter are the garage trucks, which are still diesel and noisy. If they manage to replace them by electric ones, many parts of the city will be really quiet.
This paper [0] suggests improvements in car emissions has played a big role in reducing emissions in European cities as a whole. Vehicle emissions of all kinds have fallen pretty dramatically across Europe [1], although this is total emissions for vehicles, so it includes policies to reduce driving as well as those to reduce each vehicle’s emissions. So overall trends toward more efficient cars are certainly part of the story. Given these images are between 2007, when emissions had already been falling, and 2024, I’m inclined to think the policies highlighted in the article played a significant role as well.
No, it’s not just that. There’s a reduction in traffic. Traffic is the biggest cause of pollution. Even if the exhaust is “ clean “ (it’s not) there’s also tire dust and brake dust
How much less cars are on the road today vs then?
The charts and title make it look like there's no cars in Paris anymore. That's not the case, at all.