WORKING PAPER SERIES Are car-free centers detrimental to the periphery? Evidence from the pedestrianization of the Parisian riverbank Léa Bou Sleiman N° 03/ Feb 2021 CREST Center for Research in Economics and Statistics UMR 9194 5 Avenue Henry Le Chatelier TSA 96642 91764 Palaiseau Cedex FRANCE Phone: +33 (0)1 70 26 67 00 Email:
[email protected] https://crest.science/ Disclaimer: This paper has not been peer-reviewed or subject to internal review by CREST. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the CREST. Are car-free centers detrimental to the periphery? Evidence from the pedestrianization of the Parisian riverbank* Léa Bou Sleiman† February 11, 2021 Abstract This paper evaluates the impact of the downtown "Georges Pompidou" riverbank closure in 2016 on the Parisian ring road traffic conditions. Using high-resolution hourly data and a difference-in-difference design, I show that the closure increased the probability of congestion on ring road lanes with the same flow direction as the riverbank by 15%, translating into an additional 2 minutes spent on a 10 km trip. Train use and pollution data suggest that (i) only a small fraction of affected commuters switched to public transportation and (ii) a majority of affected residents suffered from a decrease in air quality. Keywords: Congestion, Air Pollution, Public Transportation, Route Choice JEL Classification: R41,R42,Q53,Q54 *Acknowledgements: This paper has benefited from comments by my Phd supervisors Benoit Schmutz and Patricia Crifo; but also Geoffrey Barrows, Pierre Boyer, Julien Combe, Xavier D’Haultfoeuille, Gabrielle Fack, Antoine Ferey, Germain Gauthier, Yannick Guyonvarch, Miren Lafourcade, Florian Mayneris, Isabelle Méjean, Martin Mugnier, Francis Ostermeijer, Bérangère Patault, and Filippo Tassinari as well as many seminar and conference participants.