Transportation
In Paris’s Suburbs, a Bike Trail Plan Carries a Big Promise
Cycling advocates have proposed a network of bicycle paths connecting the suburbs and city center, comparing their plan to the region’s rapid transit system.
Paris may be developing a reputation as a bike-friendly city, but that friendliness still has its limitations.
Arguably chief among those limitations is the region’s inner beltway—the Boulevard Périphérique, the chronically clogged highway separating the historic city from its (very dense) “suburbs,” in which safe lanes are fewer and the distances are longer. Recently, however, Paris’s suburbs have been catching up, and a new proposal could make them radically easier to navigate by bicycle.