Traffic Paris reserves highway lane for carpooling

SDA

1.2.2025 - 00:22

The regulation on the city highway is part of the traffic turnaround in Paris, which aims to reduce car use. (archive picture)
The regulation on the city highway is part of the traffic turnaround in Paris, which aims to reduce car use. (archive picture)
Keystone

From March, Paris is reserving one lane of the city highway for car pools, cabs and buses during rush hour. The measure is aimed at protecting the climate, the city announced.

Keystone-SDA

In addition, the 550,000 residents of the Boulevard Périphérique, as the 35-kilometer-long urban highway around Paris is known, are to be given a healthier living environment. In Paris, the busy highway is the area with the highest levels of pollution and up to two and a half times higher levels of particulate matter.

In order to reduce air pollution and the number of accidents, Paris had already lowered the speed limit on the Périphérique from 70 to 50 km/h in October. During the Olympic Games last summer, one lane had already been temporarily reserved for participants and contributors to the Games.

Around 1.5 million cars use the highway every day. According to the city, 80 percent of drivers are traveling alone. If more people formed a carpool, this would reduce traffic jams, noise and environmental pollution.

Fines of 135 euros threatened

Accordingly, the leftmost lane will now be reserved for cars with at least two occupants, cabs, buses and people with a disability card from Monday to Friday between 7.00 and 10.20 am and from 4.00 to 8.00 pm. During a transitional phase, drivers who disregarded the ban would be asked to change lanes on illuminated signs. From May 1, a fine of 135 euros will be imposed if the AI-supported monitoring system registers a violation. In the event of traffic jams and accidents, the lane can be reopened at short notice.

Separate lanes for carpooling are already being tested in other French cities such as Strasbourg, Grenoble, Rennes, Lyon, Lille and Nantes. A new traffic sign - a white diamond on a blue background - indicates the regulation.

Paris wants to reduce car use

The regulation on the city highway is part of the traffic turnaround in Paris, which aims to reduce car use. In the autumn, parking fees for heavy cars in the city were also drastically increased and a traffic-calmed zone was created in the city center, which only residents and people who have something to do there are allowed to enter. The aim of the measure is to reduce through traffic through the city center.