Paris said au revoir to cars. Air pollution maps reveal a dramatic change

bri3d · 2025-04-12T17:10:36 1744477836

Worth noting that 50-60% of passenger cars in France are diesel, but Paris have been gradually banning older higher emission diesels (Crit’air 3, 4, 5) from Paris. Banning cars outright also works, of course, but I suspect a lot of the reduction can be attributed to getting particularly bad diesel cars out vs. the limited areas where cars are entirely restricted.

10-1-100 · 2025-04-12T17:18:33 1744478313

Also worth noting that with modern emissions standards (and transition to EVs), over 50% of handful particulates come from tires, brakes, road surface wear, and resuspended dust:

https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/non-exhaust-particulate...

I don't think there's any healthy level of private cars coexisting with humans in a city, without even considering the more immediate harms from crashes, etc.

azinman2 · 2025-04-12T17:27:41 1744478861

Wonder if anyone is working on ways for breaks and tires to be less harmful, or polluting?

mjevans · 2025-04-12T17:06:30 1744477590

"Ban all the cars" does have noticeable effects.

I wonder if something less all / none might have nearly the same effects with far less drawbacks otherwise.

E.G. What if only emissions testing certified low emission vehicles were allowed? What if only electric? How about requiring quiet utility trucks for garbage / freight / etc?

For cities that large / dense, adding in Caves of Steel like people-mover belts might be a great alternative too.

10-1-100 · 2025-04-12T17:20:37 1744478437

With modern emissions standards, more than 50% of the harmful pollution comes from tires/brakes/road surface wear/resuspended dust:

https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/non-exhaust-particulate...

Moving away from privately owned cars entirely seems to be the only way to eliminate the health impact of cars on people in a city.

iambateman · 2025-04-12T17:08:00 1744477680

Paris has certainly not banned all cars. Just reduced their numbers.

Doctor_Fegg · 2025-04-12T17:19:30 1744478370

> What if only electric?

Then the streets would still be unsafe and congested, just with a bit less pollution.

Modified3019 · 2025-04-12T17:17:20 1744478240

It makes sense now why they burn cars every protest (besides being fun). Pollution for a day, clean air for a lifetime

ARandomerDude · 2025-04-12T17:24:12 1744478652

Ah yes, the joy of destroying your neighbor’s property just for fun. Is he a working-class guy, struggling to pay his bills? Too bad. Because nothing says “let’s build a better future” than a riot.

perihelions · 2025-04-12T16:28:10 1744475290

https://archive.is/zWfzo

TulliusCicero · 2025-04-12T17:04:26 1744477466

Those are some really awesome changes. If only we could get more of that for cities in the US.

JasonBorne · 2025-04-12T17:06:54 1744477614

We can. Slowly over time we need to raise awareness of the benefits of this.

onlyrealcuzzo · 2025-04-12T17:06:07 1744477567

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.

davidw · 2025-04-12T17:12:42 1744477962

Given that tires produce a lot of particulate matter, even EV's contribute to pollution significantly.

bill38 · 2025-04-12T17:10:08 1744477808

There's still a lot of cars driving in Paris. And motor scooters.

whimsicalism · 2025-04-12T17:18:00 1744478280

it’s always shocked me how diesel reliant Europe is, smells absolutely terrible coming from the states

pjmlp · 2025-04-12T17:23:53 1744478633

Way cheaper than gasoline, that is why.

jeffbee · 2025-04-12T17:01:25 1744477285

Barely even mentions the noise. Cities aren't loud but cars are. Paris 2025 vs 1995 soundscapes very different.

1over137 · 2025-04-12T17:02:56 1744477376

Yes, this was very noticeable during covid lockdowns too.

altairprime · 2025-04-12T17:06:35 1744477595

I believe https://carto.bruitparif.fr/ represents 2022 levels, but my French is very rusty and I suspect that historical data review is more readily available to a speaker of it. Perhaps that site has lockdown data as a layer somewhere?

williamdclt · 2025-04-12T17:23:49 1744478629

Yep, it says this is a map of noise levels, representing the Lden noise indicator over a full day

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