Paris has historic car-free day

Paris had its first ever car-free day on Sunday in a bid to raise awareness of the alarming pollution levels in the French capital.

Parisians and tourists walked, cycled and skated down the city’s streets that are usually clogged with traffic including the famous Champs Elysées after successful lobbying from the Paris Sans Voiture (Paris Without Cars) citizens’ collective.

With the exception of taxis, buses and emergency vehicles, the ban was imposed on a third of the city.

Elsewhere in the capital, cars and trucks were forced to slow down to 20km per hour.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo told reporters that the initiative showed that people “are not obliged to move around in a personal car, there are other ways to approach mobility in a city.”

According to Reuters, France has the highest percentage of diesel cars on the road in Europe, mainly due to government efforts in subsidising diesel making it 15 per cent cheaper than gasoline.

Hidalgo proposed in December to ban any diesel vehicles built before 2011 from the streets of Paris by 2020.

Paris will host the crucial United Nations Climate Change Conference from 30 November to 11 December and the ban was designed to raise public awareness and support in the build up to the meeting.

Hidalgo added: “Paris can operate without cars.”