with the arrival of new lines, the practices of residents of Greater Paris are changing

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The place of the car in Greater Paris is one of the most divisive subjects. Whether we are talking about lowering the speed on the ring road or expressways, a Limited Traffic Zone or the cost of parking, it continues to divide Parisians and Ile-de-France residents. Beyond the restrictive policies, the development of the public transport network Does it have an influence on driver habits? In a study carried out in collaboration with the Société des Grands Projets (SGP), Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM) and the RATP, the Atelier Parisien d'urbanisme (Apur) draws up an observation: where the transport offer improves, the number of households owning or using a car is decreasing. Particular focus on the two areas studied in Seine-Saint-Denis.

A cause and effect link?

Apur has followed, over around fifteen years, the evolution of household travel modes around eight quarters small crown. They are located in Gennevilliers, Asnières-sur-Seine, Créteil, Aubervilliers, Montrouge, Villejuif, Châtillon and Saint-Denis, where metro stations were created or connected with a tram line, between 2006 and 2018. based on the demographic statistics from INSEE, the study shows that, while the number of households present in these neighborhoods increases in 15 years, the role of the car tends to decrease.

“These results are compared on the same dates to the behavior of all households in the Metropolis outside Paris, the reference area. The differences observed, in annual rates or in evolution, suggest a possible impact of improving public transport service“, estimates Apur, while specifying that additional surveys with residents would be necessary to confirm this.

If the situations “can vary from one station area to another”, Apur also points out “a less use of the car to go to work. Those who still use it to go to the office are 24% in 2020, while they were 31% in 2006.

47% of households in the station districts of the study do not have a car in 2020 compared to 40% in 2006. The parameter which seems to change the most in the districts where transport services improve, compared to the rest of the Greater Paris (excluding the capital) is the significant drop in the number of cars for a household : they are 12% less between 2006 and 2020 in the districts targeted by the study, while this parameter remains stable across the whole of Greater Paris. “It is as if, with the improvement of public transport services, having several cars seemed less useful.” Finally, the demand for residential parking decreases by 3% within the scope of the study.

Sightings in Seine-Saint-Denis

In the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, two districts are studied. In the sector Saint-Denis – Porte de Pariswhere line 13 was connected with the T8 tramway in 2014, households equipped with a car fell by 7% between 2006 and 2020, going from 37% to 30%. Those who owned at least two went from 7% to 4%. Households without cars increased from 56% to 66%. To go to work, more and more residents of this district are using public transport (61% in 2006, 67% in 2022), while car use drops from 24% to 16%.

Around the station Popular frontopened in 2012 in Aubervilliers, the results are more mixed. This is the only district in the study where the role of the car increases between 2006 and 2020, with households without a car increasing from 62% in 2006 to 54% in 2020 and an increase in automobile equipment (40% of households own a car in 2020) compared to 31% in 2006. However, the number of households without cars increased by 128% over this period of time. This can be explained by the very strong increase in the number of households settling in this area (+162%), much greater than in other neighborhoods where it does not exceed +22%.

Close observation of travel modes in Greater Paris is expected to develop in the coming years. While the Grand Paris Express and its 68 new stations are on the way, the Apur study will be able to be updated “as the population censuses published by INSEE progress, integrating thus the 18 stations of
metro created between 2020 and 2024 in the Metropolis outside Paris”.

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