Parisian Walkway

At the rate the current mayor is going, that'll be the only way to get around Paris.

First she banned electric scooters.

Now she's making it very expensive to park SUVs in the city.

She's had a vote and 3.11% of the the Paris population said it was a good idea.  How pathetic!  After all, a whole 7.2% wanted to see the back of the scooters.

Needless to say, lot's of people didn't vote.

But how are they defining an SUV?  After all, Volvo define a Polestar 2 as an SUV - and it's very similar in size (including ride-height) to my S60.

So not an SUV.

Apparently, they are going on weight.

But then electric cars are REALLY heavy, what about them?

Well, they are exempt.

As are taxi drivers, tradespeople, health-workers and people with disabilities.

So probably most people in Paris then.

Or, perhaps Mme.Hidalgo is a petrol-head.

Could you imagine if it did actually have an effect?  Imagine a city with no scooters and SUVs!  Just proper cars!

And imagine an end to this sort of thing:

Feeling Congested

Where in Australia is this?

Everyone seems to driving Volvos...

...on the wrong side of the road.

Then I spotted the sign on the far side of the road, "ULLEVI MOTET"

Ah, the picture has been reversed and that should read "IVELLU TETOM".

But hang on, that doesn't make sense either and the E and L's would need to be backwards.

So I looked up Ullevi Motet on Google and found we were in Gothenburg, Sweden.

That would explain the Volvos.

I probably wouldn't have given this article in Australian car site CarAdvice.com.au a second glance if it hadn't been for that photo.  It is about New South Wales using V2I (vehicle to Infrastructure) technology to turn traffic lights green for large commercial vehicles (lorries) travelling about Sydney.  It's all about reducing congestion and pollution in the city.

Sounds very much like my story last year about the same technology being used for patient transport ambulances.  So it comes with the same problems and associated risks.

The commenters on the story keep talking about the M4 motorway which again made me question the Australian-ness of the story given that the M4 is the motorway here in the UK that links South Wales to London.

But apparently there is another M4 motorway in New South Wales.

I think that road should be called "New M4".

But it isn't.

Perhaps Sydney should be looking at the other end of our M4.  The London Congestion Charge seems to be a more effective method of controlling traffic.  The BBC asked if it was working back in 2013, ten years after it was introduced. The concensus is good although it does seem to depend on who you talk to.

Meanwhile, over in Paris, they are going for the shutting off roads to traffic at certain times option.  Successive mayors have been implementing these prohibitions for a while now - I criticised one back in 2012.  The BBC cover the latest score there today.  Here's a picture of it looking more Australian: