Turning transport into a tool to fight a pandemic

In France, and in the Paris Region in particular, the Mobility and Transportation ecosystem have been at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19, taking important initiatives to help face the pandemic. The following examples illustrate very well the extent to which the transport and mobility sectors were put to contribution:

• Hundreds of patients were able to get transferred in medicalized TGV (high-speed trains). The trains were turned into mobile intensive care units allowing the relocation of critically ill patients to less exposed hospitals in France. Read more
• IDF Mobilités, the Paris Region public transportation authority, created 22 dedicated bus routes free of charge for healthcare workers. In addition to the free shuttle buses, IDF Mobilités also offered free access to 100 e-bikes to facilitate the movements of healthcare professionals in the Paris Region. Read more
• Dott, an e-scooter operator, keeps operating half of its fleet while other operators stopped their activities. The 1,500 scooters are primarily made available as a means for healthcare workers to commute to the hospitals where scooters were redeployed. Rides are offered for free to all healthcare professionals in Paris. Read more
• A cluster of French groups, including automotive companies, joined forces and pledged to produce 10,000 ventilators in 50 days to help the treatment of severely ill patients. Air Liquide will coordinate the effort while Schneider Electric, Groupe PSA and Valeo each contribute their unique expertise. Read more 

The pandemic side effects on climate change

We are living in a difficult moment, and many interrogations remain as to how and when we will overcome this pandemic.

A side effect of the lockdowns enforced in Europe is a large drop in air pollution and CO2 emission across Europe, which, is good news amidst difficult times. As a matter of fact, according to a Sia Partners study, daily European CO2 emissions have dropped by 58% under the current lockdown measures, and especially CO2 emissions due to light individual vehicles (-88%). The European Space Agency also observed significant NO2 reductions in Paris and in major European cities.

This fall in CO2 emissions, however, will not be sufficient if we want to limit global warming and stay within the range of a 1.5°C temperature increase limit, according to several media (read more) and consulting companies.

We, at Choose Paris Region, work hand-in-hand with companies and organizations in the Mobility industry to help them tackle these new collective challenges.