Page 376 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Paris

374  SUR VIV AL GUIDE

GETTING AROUND PARIS

Central Paris is compact. The best way to get correspond to the centre and zones 3, 4 and
around is to walk. Cycling and rollerblading 5 to the suburbs and Charles de Gaulle and
are also popular with Parisians and tourists Orly airports. Some suburbs are served by
alike. Public transport is very efficient. The a tramway. River boats make for a scenic
Metro, RER train and bus system operated by mode of transport. By contrast, driving a
the RATP makes getting around Paris cheap car in the city centre can be an unpleasant
and easy, and the city authorities are experience. Traffic is often heavy, there
working on green travel initiatives. The city are many one-way streets and parking is
is split into five travel zones: zones 1 and 2 notoriously difficult and expensive.
Green Travel drains, and recycling bins have
Paris has one of the world’s been placed in RER and a
most efficient and dependable number of Metro stations.
public transport systems and Taxis G7 has introduced
city authorities are keen to hybrid cars to their fleet and
make the capital more is putting drivers through eco-
environmentally friendly. training courses while Taxis
Residents and visitors alike Bleus is promoting the use
are encouraged to swap cars of biofuels, hybrid engines,
for bicycles, and to strap on An eco-friendly Vélo taxi particle filters and better driving
rollerblades or walking shoes as techniques to reduce fuel
busy thoroughfares shut down The RATP is testing buses that consumption (see p381).
to traffic at weekends as part of run on second-generation bio- To estimate your carbon
the Paris-Respire (Paris Breathes) fuels and plans to gradually footprint, click onto the
initiative. The Mairie de Paris introduce vehicles equipped ecocomparateur on the SNCF
(Paris City Council) is enlarging with hybrid electric-thermic website (see p371). This helps
footpaths, declaring more engines in an effort to reduce you work out how much
streets pedestrian-only, fuel consumption along with carbon dioxide your trip
increasing bike lanes and noise and air pollution. The produces according to your
planting trees in an effort to electric tramway is punctual, transport method.
cut down on parking spaces silent and super green – for Vélo taxis, popular with
and wean Parisians off cars. every three trees removed tourists, are electrically assisted
Around 55 per cent of city during its constr uction, four tricycle rickshaws that are
dwellers don’t own a car. new ones were planted. slower than traditional taxis,
In a bid to reduce carbon On the Paris Metro, the MF01 but are adept at zipping in
dioxide emissions by 22,000 trains running on some lines and out of traffic.
tons a year and in order to have been designed to recover With 1,200 bike stations all
improve traffic congestion, two-thirds of all energy lost over the city, the popular
the Mairie has made some 4,000 during braking operations. In Vélib’ self-service bike hire
electric cars (Autolibs: www. addition, a proportion of the system is available 24 hours
autolib.eu) available for Parisians water building up in the under- a day and has spawned a
to pick up and drop off at rental ground network is returned to new generation of street-
stands throughout the city. nature instead of down city savvy cyclists.
Tickets and Travel Passes
Tickets can be purchased at all main Metro and RER
stations, at the airports and several tourist offices.
Individual tickets are relatively cheap and you can buy
a block of ten (carnet) for ease. The Paris Visite pass for
one, two, three or five days includes discounted entry Paris Visite pass
to some sights, but is comparatively expensive unless Mobilis card
you intend to travel extensively.
To get a Passe Navigo Découverte, you do not need
to be a resident of Paris but you will need a passport
photo and to pay €5. A Passe Navigo requires a Paris
address. It has replaced all travel cards. Visitors can
also buy a one-day Mobilis card, valid for travel on
most public transport.
Navigo travel card Navigo Découverte pass

374-375_EW_Paris.indd 374 03/04/17 10:58 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Practical template “UK” LAYER
(Source v1.3)
Date 17th October 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm