For the betterment of locals, tourists, and the air, the banks of Paris hope to be be car-free by 2012.
As TIME magazine reports, what is currently a once-a-week pedestrian experiment has plans to evolve into a no-car zone along the Seine River.
"It's about reducing pollution and automobile traffic, and giving Parisians more opportunities for happiness," Mayor Delanoë said at the April 14 project unveiling. "If we succeed in doing this, I believe it will profoundly change Paris."
Paris is the third French city to discontinue the automobile near riverbanks, after Bordeaux and Lyon. Other measures to curtail driving have included expanded parks, bikeshares, lower speed limits and wider sidewalks.
