Policy

How Anne Hidalgo Changed Paris and the Limits of Replicating It

Anne Hidalgo has just finished up as the mayor of Paris after 12 years. She has been lauded for some of her transport transformations, but she has also faced significant opposition. This summary is based on several articles reviewing her tenure, including this one from Bloomberg and this one from Fast Company.

Key Takeaways

• Seven major squares were remodelled, with the proportion of their area devoted to cars reduced, enlarged sidewalks, bike lanes and new banks of vegetation taking their place.
• She undertook a wave of pedestrianisation projects, most famously a 2-mile stretch of the banks of the Seine, which once channelled 43,000 cars across the city daily.
• She reduced speeds to 30 kilometres per hour on all streets except a few main arteries.
• Paris has removed 24,000 parking spots in the last six years.
• When Hidalgo first ran for mayor, air quality was at the heart of her campaign. Pollution from both nitrogen dioxide and fine particles dropped between 2012 and 2022, while carbon emissions from vehicles decreased by 35%.
• The changes have been controversial, but election results have proved they are popular with Parisians. However, suburbanites who do not get a vote in Paris elections have been much less enthusiastic.
• Paris has added 550 kilometres of bike lanes over a decade, doubling its modal share for bikes, from 5% of all journeys in 2020 to over 11% in 2025.
• Major streets such as the Rue de Rivoli have been largely cleared of cars, while vehicle lanes on many other streets have been reduced and replaced with bike lanes or trees.
• Collisions involving death or hospitalisation dropped 6% between 2023 and 2024, while bike-related collisions rose from 61 to 69, as the overall number of bikes on the road rose.
• Hidalgo’s also embraced an agenda to create a city of 15-minute neighbourhoods.
• In front of elementary schools, around 300 streets have been closed to cars.
• Her messaging focused on livability and health, not technical topics like climate change and bike lanes.

Comment

There is a lot to take away from Hidalgo's time as mayor - vision, ambition, messaging, understanding her core electorate and being willing and able to resist the people arguing for the status quo.

However, many politicians do not benefit from a dynamic as favourable as Hidalgo's, in which she could ignore the views of suburbanites because they don't vote in her elections.

Inevitably, this means that Hidalgo's playbook is hard to replicate exactly and that many political leaders are far more cautious, even if the direction of travel is the same.

The Paris transformation looks set to continue as her successor has promised to carry on her work and rode a shared bike to his victory speech.

What Next?

What lessons can you learn from Hidalgo's legacy?

Data

All Aboard the Data Train — But Where's the Timetable?

Data is often seen as a key enabler for modern transport systems, yet few places have reached a high level of maturity in its use. The UK has just published its transport data action plan as it attempts to move up the maturity curve.

Key Takeaways

• Vision: We want people to have the information they need to make the journeys they choose, and organisations to have the data they need to improve the services they deliver. We are working towards a transport system where high-quality data, and ultimately information, flows more easily.
• Sharing, Discoverability and Access: To make data useful, it must be shared with those who need it.
  • We will champion more data sharing, removing unnecessary barriers and enabling responsible access to data.
  • We will promote suitable APIs as the expected method of sharing transport data where appropriate, by developing APIs for new and existing DfT published datasets, and encouraging other organisations to do the same.
  • We will develop a Transport Data Marketplace, exploring the best way to bring in and link to existing marketplaces, creating a single port of call for transport data.
• Data Standards and Quality: To create a joined-up transport system, our data must work across organisations and modes of transport.
  • We will work towards a consistent view of data standards for the transport system to use.
  • We will further explore the use of technology to improve the quality of data in the transport system.
• Skills, Culture and Leadership: Data only generates value when people and organisations are equipped and eager to use it.
  • We will create further opportunities for organisations to learn from each other, bringing together a wide range of data expertise to benefit all.
  • We will further embed a positive culture around data in transport organisations, promoting materials and examples to inspire leaders and enable wider capability building.
• User Needs and Communication: Data should reflect the real-world needs of people and organisations, especially as those needs change.
  • We will ensure that the data used to design and run the transport system accurately represents the needs of all the people who travel.
  • We will engage with transport experts and stakeholders to ensure work involving data reflects real-world needs.
• Governance, Protection and Ethics: Data should always be used responsibly, legally and ethically.
  • We will ensure that we are maximising the value of data in the transport system to support government missions and transport priorities.
  • We will help organisations apply relevant guidance and frameworks to enable our vision of an integrated, data-driven transport system.

Comment

A plan to improve data use is welcome. However, in transport, we are very good at creating strategies and plans but much less good at seeing them implemented.

Unfortunately, this plan provides little detail on specific objectives or timescales for deliverables.

What Next?

Do you have a high-quality plan for moving up the data maturity curve?

Active Transport

Safe, Social, and Fun: Rethinking Cycling Policy for Young People

The Nordic Cycle Network is publishing a series of cycle planning memos. The latest memo is on how to build the next generation of cyclists.

Key Takeaways

• There are 7 key messages from the literature:
  • Younger adolescents are more likely to cycle compared to older adolescents.
  • Time and distance influence adolescent travel behaviour
  • The built environment influences adolescent travel behaviour
  • Active school transport works when it is also a social activity
  • The role played by parents is mixed
  • There is a positive relationship between active transport and health
  • Traffic and other safety remain concerns for adolescents, but this is not an issue exclusive to cycling
• Transport strategies for young cyclists include a focus on:
  • Cycling safety
  • Cycling infrastructure
  • Introducing and supporting cycling for young people
  • Initiatives to promote cycling among children and young people:

• Recommendations:
  • Increase physical activity through active commuting
  • Consider the built environment
  • Change behaviour through culture
  • Emphasise the social side of cycling
  • Consider the effects of school location
  • Recognise diversity across ages
  • Make it fun
  • Include children's perspectives for developing safe cycling
  • Coordinate age and safety regulations across public and private actors

Comment

I am a big believer in policies that support children and young people in walking and cycling to school. However, I am often disappointed by how policies to support these objectives often pull only one or two levers at a time.

In this paper, I particularly liked the emphasis on making it fun and social. It is not difficult to see why school cycling buses are popular.

What Next?

How good are your cycling policies for encouraging children and young people to cycle?

Quick Adventures in Transport Wonderland

Here is what else I came across this week:

• ​Mobility Hubs across Europe: Local Implementation Approaches - Four mobility hub case studies.
• ​Shared micromobility discount ride programs: knowledge, enrollment, and travel behavior - Research into why people on low incomes do not take advantage of shared micromobility discount programs.
• ​An alternative to feasibility studies? - A blog that discusses whether feasibility studies for cycle paths are a waste of money.

Podcast

Should Generalists Be Put In Charge Of Transport?

The latest Transport Leaders podcast discusses what happens when generalists are put in charge of transport systems.

You can listen here​

You can watch here​

Tool

Implementing Decide & Provide: Requirements for Transport Assessments

To move from "predict and provide" to "decide and provide" planning, Oxfordshire County Council in the UK has created this implementation guide.

Innovation

High Speed Rail For Freight

Japan has been using its high-speed rail passenger trains for cargo since 2021. It has now launched a dedicated high-speed cargo train. That should help the business cases for high-speed rail.