Transportation in Paris?

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auckland.

All the answers before mine are correct. I'm French, I'm living in Paris, and have been once to the US.

I will just add some details. As many european Capital cities, Paris is a "crowded" city, when we compare it to American big cities. So you have to imagine that we Parisian guys feel like "wow" while walking down the streets of NYC or LA. And what Rillifane calls "medieval" is not that they look like "medieval" but that they are "narrow".

Paris has a well-developped transportation system. And not everybody can afford taking taxis. So many Parisians are used to travelling on buses and by metro. Driving in Paris is a hard job, and you can often hear people from the countryside complaining about it, and today even some of us who live in Paris do so.

[In Paris "intramuros"] Car is not as important as it is in the US. They are many buses that run through the city, and we can now rent bikes, that is very helpful. The system is quite well appreciated, though it is highly criticized for the lack of "studies" of the city plan.

And if I'm not mistaken the mayor is also planning to create a transportation system via boats taxis ["pÃ©niches"], along the Seine river from the harbour of Tolbiac to the harbour of Grenelle. But I'm not sure about that last thing.

The Shadow

Paris is a very difficult city to drive in. If you look at a map, you will notice that streets go in many different directions and often change names every few blocks. Traffic is congested and parking is scarce. Paris is much older than the automobile, so the city was not planned with cars in mind.

Public transportation is very popular. (In addition to the issues listed above, gasoline is over $8 a gallon.) There is an excellent subway system called the "Metro" which covers the entire city. Busses are also commonly used. There are many taxis, but, as in most cities, they are expensive.

Paris is also connected to many suburbs and to its two major airports by train.

sherine i

I'm french so i can tell you i don't advice you to take the car in Paris because the traffic is very important . In paris you have the tube station , the bus , and the R.E.R (it's a train to go in Paris' surburbs ) .
Of course you can take taxis , but tube station call "mÃ©tro" is very fast .

EYE

OK
Like lots of European Cities, Paris has a very good Public vehicle system. They use Underground ( metro)( which is connected to every part of the city) and other trains which also travel outside the City and long destinations. They also have Buses and Taxis of course, its a very crowded City and its horrible to drive with your car, its much easier and more convenience to use the underground without the rush hour and traffic stress.

Rillifane

Driving in Paris is difficult for several reasons. First is simply the volume of traffic. Paris is the largest city in France and the center of both its government and economy. Second, Paris is a very old city which dates to before the time of the Roman Empire and many of its streets are narrow and medieval. Finally, Paris developed long before the automobile was invented and so parking is scarce.

Luckily, Paris has one of the finest systems of public transportation in the world.

To begin with there are buses with two different systems of routes, the regular day buses and series of night buses that run after midnight called the Noctilien.

There is a system of communter trains that run thru the city and out to suburbs called the RER (RÃ©seau Express RÃ©gional) . These trains connect with the MÃ©tro (short for MÃ©tropolitain) which is what the subway system is called.

The MÃ©tro has 16 lines and 298 stations. Since Paris is a very compact city this makes for the densest subway system anywhere and there is almost no address in Paris which is more than a few blocks from a MÃ©tro station.

Taxis are also readily available in Paris although considerably more expensive than public transportation.

Recently the city of Paris also created a system of bike rental stations around the city which has gained instant popularity.

crazy_ari_girl

The best way to get around most of Paris is walking. I walked everywhere in Paris, except to the airports.

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