Closure in Seine
Last August, Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, decided to close the right bank of Seine, in hopes to reduce traffic. This six month experiment closes one of the busiest roads in Paris, with approximately 43,000 vehicles crossing its path daily. Some think that this short term change may evolve into a permanent closure, as seen in the success of several other road closures in France and Warsaw. Hidalgo was concerned about Paris air pollution which was caused by heavy traffic. Her decision was met with much opposition, since many didn’t believe that this decision would improve any environmental conditions, triggering protest from the right wing.
More specifically, Jean Francois Legaret, a French political figure, claims that this move would only worsen the traffic conditions in Paris. However, his claims that traffic will worsen may be futile. Proponents for this cause have cited Braess’ paradox as support for Hidalgo’s decision. According to Braess’ paradox, adding a new path in a routing problem will increase traffic. Alternatively, since Hidalgo closed the right bank of the Seine, supporters claim that this will eventually decrease Parisian traffic. For example, Christophe Najdovski, a member of the Ecology Green party, believes that while opposition towards the closure currently exists, people will eventually adapt, mainly through finding new ways of transport, thus resulting in less traffic.
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