David Ho: Hmm…‘One simple trick’ Paris used to reduce air pollution 40% ahead of the Olympics. Is it cloud seeding? Tell me it's cloud seeding. Oh no, it's kicking out cars.

Hmm…‘One simple trick’ Paris used to reduce air pollution 40% ahead of the Olympics. Is it cloud seeding? Tell me it's cloud seeding. Oh no, it's kicking out cars.

The 'One simple trick' Paris used to reduce air pollution 40% ahead of Olympicselectrek.co The ‘One simple trick’ trope has long become a running joke among journalists, usually signifying the beginning of a scam....

By a remarkable coincidence, Beijing also introduced restrictions on cars before the 2008 Olympics (banning odd/even number plates on alternate days) and achieved similar results. Still, correlation does not imply causation, so it was probably something else that caused it.

Paris have been doing that since before they knew the Olympics were coming.

Yes, I know.

Beijing did this too in 2008. You could only drive on odd-numbered days with an odd licence plate, and vice versa. It wasn't enough, so plates ending in 1 couldn't drive on a day ending in 1. The sky was clearer than it was in decades. Then they ended it right after the Olympics.

Except Paris started with a very similar policy years ago. Nothing to do with Olympics, more to do with "la transition".

Yes, they've been on a long decrease, with the old diesel car ban starting next year.

Other than rich people getting multiple cars, what should we expect from such a policy?

Rich people did get multiple cars, but most people did not, mostly switching to transit or carpooling. The famous haze over Beijing disappeared, and the air didn't feel bad to breathe.

When one simple trick means investing $55B US into one of the largest transit system expansion projects in the world:

Map of the Grand Paris Express, Europe’s Largest Transit Expansion Project - The Urbanistwww.theurbanist.org Paris is already home to its famed Métro, which holds the honor of being the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow. But an ambitious expansion project called the Grand Paris Express will ...

Ah ! Socialists, war against motorists blablabla... Yeah, people adapt.

Doesn't a suddenly evolved shark factor in somehow? I just saw the Netflix movie and it seems like sharks should be at least partially relevant.

📌

Surely Los Angeles will learn from ... 🤣🤣🤣

it hasn't actually reduced air pollution in all of the city: www.lemonde.fr/planete/arti...

Près de 9,7 millions d’habitants d’Ile-de-France sont exposés à une pollution sonore et atmosphérique qui « excèdent fortement » les recommandations de l’OMSwww.lemonde.fr Airparif et Bruitparif publient la première cartographie croisée de ces pollutions, qui concernent environ 80 % de la population de la région.

bsky.app/profile/rhei...

Also that website is hilarious, is that a PR site for electric vehicles? The article describes the ban of (to rent) scooters as a "setback" in Paris' transformation, when it was actually a major part of the progress. Rentable bikes and scooters had become a scourge because the city had

Electrek can be at times absolutely hilarious, since it started as a site to boost Tesla, and Tesla/Musk has been one of the worst opponents of investments into public transit.

Oh wow, I was wondering but that explains a lot.

They tried this for the Beijing Olympics, a more brutal test. But what really helped was rain too!

Alright, LA. We've got 3 years to implement congestion charging.

Post