In an American city I would bet on the mobility impaired people to win the cage match against the fewer cars people. They are tougher than they look.
Edit: The responses reasonably talk about the officially mobility impaired people. I was thinking more about the unofficially mobility impaired people by obesity, like me. French obesity rates are ~16% compared to ~42% in the US. That contributes to a fierce US constituency for cars.
A city with less cars is a net positive for mobility impaired people.
It frees space for people (wider sidewalks...), reduce the risks of navigating the streets, and for the ones that have to use a car, there's less traffic and less people stealing dedicated parking spots.
Less cars also means less mobility impaired people. Cars create them through crashes and a lifetime of sedentariness.
Finally, it should be noted that most of the time when someone says "what about mobility impaired people?", when debating reallocating public space to people instead of cars, they are not mobility impaired themselves and don't actually care about them. They just try to guilt shame their opponents to win.
> they are not mobility impaired themselves and don't actually care about them.
That's a baseless and false slur. My first thought was that visiting Paris would be difficult because of all of the walking. I fall in the large gap between disabled and fit. On the one hand I would benefit from more walking, on the other I would not get much enjoyment out of a city that way, and would tend to drive far to services where I could park nearby.
Maybe it's my European bias talking, but "visiting a city" with a car seems like the worst idea possible.
Basically a city is either small enough to be crossed walking, or big enough to have public transportation.
And after walking or cycling, public transportation is the best way to visit the city.
In Paris, there's bus stops or metro (subway) stations everywhere.
A bus or metro puts the passenger at a higher level than walkers/cyclists/car passengers and with huge windows, allowing to enjoy a unique view of the city.
The view of the Eiffel Tower you get when crossing the Seine on the Bir-Hakeim bridge is an experience that can ONLY be enjoyed by riding the metro.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cqIJVzkLD4c
I think you’d have a fairly miserable time navigating any major European city _by car_, even before these policies. They’re largely not designed for it. For a start, where are you parking? It’s not like parking was particularly plentiful or conveniently located before this change.
These sorts of reforms are generally aimed at discouraging people from commuting in by car. People who _regularly drive around central Paris_ (except for delivery drivers etc) would be a fairly small constituency.
> and for the ones that have to use a car, there's less traffic and less people stealing dedicated parking spots.
The article mentions there's now constant traffic jams for city buses in Paris. It seems best for people who can cycle, walk, or people who already live in the city and don't need to travel much.
The occurrence increased, but weirdly, the length (in time spent, not kilometers) was reduced by around the same number. So you enter a bit more traffic jams, but they last a bit less.
My buddy with no arms or legs would beg to differ. He can't afford taxis because he can't work a real job. His friends/family can't drive him around because you need a custom vehicle for his chair. But he can use bike lanes and sidewalks independently without too muuch trouble.
Car-dependent sprawl creates mobility impaired people where there were previously none. Many people are too old, too young, too intoxicated, too vision impaired or too poor to drive. Lack of viable transportation options is the greatest barrier to upward economic mobility for Americans today.
> I would bet on the mobility impaired people to win the cage match
Why frame it as a fight? There’s no need to start there; you don’t need to waste time fighting against people not in your group. You just need to establish group status. If the constituency of obese people is strong, why not seek to establish policy on behalf of obese people and not everyone? As the article and others here have said, reducing traffic congestion benefits everyone in multiple ways, including benefits for the people who still have to drive. Given a choice that doesn’t affect your ability to drive, I assume you’d rather have less pollution, less noise, and fewer other drivers on the road?
The other angle missing from your comment is e-bikes. Most of those ~42% of obese people in the U.S. are still capable of riding an e-bike, and for short trips in busy areas, e-bikes are more convenient and easier to park than cars.
Fewer cars overall should increase the availability for those who need it. Same for drivers overall but most can’t see past the first step which is reducing lanes and parking.
I think you're selling cars short. For one thing, sofas don't have a plethora of cupholders that can accommodate any size sugary beverage within arm's reach.
As an obese person I disagree. Even 40 pounds is a meaningful mobility impairment, a difference between a joy and a trudge. I've experienced 200 pounds, and it is a kind of prison. Even a little bit of that prison is deeply meaningful. Have you not experienced it? I think I did more intensely as a yo-yo dieter. I knew what it was like to be fit from recent memory when I wasn't fit, and hated the difference.
I was 90kg 20 years ago, 65kg now. About 5’9, so from low end of obese to low end of normal. I don’t honestly notice _that_ much of a mobility difference. Def never had any trouble getting around a city on foot/public transport. Now, it’d obviously be different for very obese people, but most obese people are in the 30-35 bmi range.
There is one particular trail that was a very heavy workout for me at 200 pounds. I crash dieted down to 160 and tried it again, and it felt like I was gently floating above the trail. I think most people don't notice because most people don't change so rapidly.
Edit: The responses reasonably talk about the officially mobility impaired people. I was thinking more about the unofficially mobility impaired people by obesity, like me. French obesity rates are ~16% compared to ~42% in the US. That contributes to a fierce US constituency for cars.