governing nighttime mobility in paris. levers and challenges of a public policy
TRANSCRIPT
Noémie FOMPEYRINE
Master Governing the Large Metropolis
Sciences Po Paris
Governing nighttime mobility in Paris
Levers and challenges of a public policy
Professional Dissertation
Supervisor: Nicolas LOUVET, Bureau de recherche 6T
April 2015
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Abstract
This professional dissertation aims at understanding the roots and perspectives of nighttime
mobility policies in the Paris region. Focusing first on the specificities of the nighttime city, its
people and its territories, it defines a landscape of mobility choices. These choices stem from the
development of the public transports offer as well as individual modes and new technology
mobility services and reveal some disruptions. Thus, this paper observes how nighttime mobility
became a matter of interests for local governments and a policy window in Paris, specifically in a
context of global competition among cities. It also analyzes the main priorities and constraints of
decision-makers as well as the levers and hindrances for dialogue among them. Eventually, it
observes the opportunity that lays in new technologies to adapt to the particularities of nighttime
mobility, or even to define new patterns of development of the offer. The opposition between
hardware and software logics is underlying this research, as it is creates a new set of actors and
unprecedented governance challenges.
Key words: mobility, nighttime city, governance, time-related urban policies, agenda setting,
right to the city, technology, disruption.
Contact: [email protected]
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Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Nicolas Louvet, for his availability, kindness and added value to this research;
To Christophe Najdovski and his advisors for trusting me and teaching me their methods;
To the administration of the city of Paris in charge of roads, mobility and public spaces (DVD)
as well as the direction organizing the Parisian board of the night (DDCT), for their help;
To Julie Roussel, Florian Guérin, Catherine Espinasse and Emmanuel Munch, for their insights
about research methods, and their records;
This research could not have ended anywhere without all the actors who accepted to take time to
discuss with me and trust my approach to this topic.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
List of main acronyms…………...…………………………………………………………….p.6
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….p.7
I. Paris at night: moving in a city of another kind…………………………..……………..p.13
i. Picturing the Parisian night: symbolics, rhythms, functions, actors and territories……p.13
The symbolic of the night is changing. …………………………..……………………….……….p.13
Cities have different rhythms changing over time. …………………………..…………………….p.14
The Parisian night has different functions...…………………………..………………………..….p.15
Observing different types of mobility along the night …………………………..………………….p.17
There are various types of users who move and get around the city at night. ……………………….p.18
Exclusion and social inequalities…………………………..…………………………….……….p.21
The territories of the night…………………………..……………………………..…….……….p.22
ii. Increase and diversification of nighttime mobility opportunities…………………...…p.24
Public transports in Paris: from the subway to Vélib’ and taxis…………………….……..……….p.25
The business of mobility is evolving ………………………...…..……………………….……….p.29
Individual modes remain solutions for flexibility at night.…………………………..…….….…….p.31
At night, individual strategies to move in public spaces are different. ……………………..……….p.32
II.Nighttime mobility becomes a policy matter…………….………………..…………..….p.34
i. Priorities for an agenda setting on the nighttime city…………………………….……p.34
Adapting to changing ryhthms and lifestyles …………….…………….…………..…………..….p.34
Building knowledge on the nighttime city became essential. …………….………………….…..….p.35
Nighttime mobility gains entry in municipal elections.…………….………………..…………..….p.36
Nighttime mobility is intrinsically related to nighttime economy…………….………………..……p.37
Nighttime workers are essential targets for nighttime mobility improvements. ……………...…..….p.38
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ii. Promoting night life: engines for dialogue and circulation of policies…..……….……p.39
Whistleblowers and citizens participate to the agenda setting. …………….………………..….….p.39
Various institutions and dialogue instances stem from these debates…………….……………...….p.42
Policies on nighttime mobility circulate among metropolises. …………….…………..…..……….p.43
iii. Nightlife and attractiveness: a modern signal for a dynamic metropolis……….……...p.45
Attractiveness of cities is an important lever for competitiveness. …………….………..……….….p.45
Night events are also tools to promote cities and test transport networks. …………….….……..….p.46
III. Decision makers, their priorities and constraints…..….………………..…………..….p.50
i. Public transports authorities governance and priorities…………………………..……p.50
The STIF is at the heart of transport governance in Paris…………….………………..………….p.50
Both political and territorial logics are intertwined at the STIF. …………….…………………….p.51
ii. Improving safety and quality of service at night: actors coinciding on priorities……..p.53
Various actors grant security and safety as priority goals to improve nighttime mobility.……..…….p.53
The quality of service, accessibility and visibility are also priorities.………………..…………..….p.56
iii. Constraints to the development of public transports at night…………………….……p.58
Is the subway the answer? …………….………………..…………….………………………….p.58
The financial and social costs of reinforcing the offer are significant. …………….…………....….p.59
IV. Improving nighttime mobility: perspective for incremental changes……………...….p.63
i. Tailoring nighttime mobility: new models and answers……………………………….p.63
New mobility businesses are answering to territorial and accessibility priorities …………….…….p.63
New models bring responsiveness and flexibility to tailor mobility for nighttime ………….…….….p.65
So, mobility services become actors of the Parisian nightlife and the festive landscape. ………...….p.67
ii. From disruption to convergence: a new governance of nighttime mobility…..……….p.69
Innovations create disruptions and unleash conflicts. ………………………………….………….p.69
So transport companies start welcoming inovations through trial and error ……………………….p.71
Convergence between all actors, including the users, shall lead to integrated policies…………..….p.72
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….p.75
Bibliography and references……………………………………………………………...….p.78
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List of main acronyms
APUR: Parisian Agency of Urban Planning
DVD: Direction de la voirie et des déplacements (City of Paris, Direction of roads and transport)
ICT: Information and Communication Technologies
FNAUT: Fédération nationale des associations d’usagers des transports (National federation of
users of public transports)
NTE : Nighttime Economy
PP : Préfecture de police (police prefecture)
RATP: Régie autonome des transports parisiens (Autonomous Public Company in Charge of the
Parisian transport system)
RER: Réseau Express Régional (Regional Express Network)
SNCF: Société Nationale des Chemins de fers (Railways National Company)
STIF: Syndicat des Transports d’île-de-France (Region Ile-de-France Transport Union)
TFL: Transport for London
VTC: Véhicule de tourisme avec Chauffeur (Delivery cars)
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Introduction
On the 24th
of September 2014, Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, declared that the
London underground would be extended with a “Night-Tube” on Friday and Saturday nights by
the end of 2015. One week after, on the 1St
of October 2014, the Parisian representatives at the
board of the Paris region transport authority (STIF) asked for a feasibility study assessing the
night offer and the possibility to extend the public transport schedule. Among the ten most
frequented undergrounds in the world, only New York’s subway works 24-hours. Other cities
like Berlin, Copenhaguen or Barcelona have undegrounds functionning all night during festive
nights and weekends. On the 10th
of February 2015, during the Paris Council, Anne Hidalgo,
Mayor of Paris, declared she wished “to extend the Metro schedule (…) that could work all night
eventually” (JDD, 10.02.15). During her campaign, in March 2014, she already shared with her
main opponent, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, a discourse on the extension of the Métro schedules
on weekends. In December 2014, the Parisian board of the Night was launched at the Paris City
Hall as a new instance bringing together elected officials, institutions, and professional and civic
organizations in order to discuss tracks of actions. Among the seven organized workshops, one is
about nighttime mobility. Thus, it appears that mobility at night has become a matter of interest
for public actors, nay of public policy, in Paris.
The goal of this research stems from that context: understanding the levers of the governance
of nighttime mobility in Paris. By “governance” we will understand all private and public actors
sharing beliefs, goals and perceptions and “ who seek to manipulate the rules, budgets and
personnel of governmental institutions in order to achieve these goals overtime”1. Defining the
specificities of the Parisian night and mobility offer existing during that timelapse will be at the
core of this paper, as the social relevance of this work. We shall better observe the set of actors
and their relations, meaning the governance of this policy, analyzing the agenda setting
processes. If the night is a different space-time, we shall differentiate it by understanding why
there are specific stakes related to it, and mobility opportunities and choices. So this paper seeks
to reveal the main challenges faced by urban leaders concerning nighttime mobility.
1 Hank C. Jenkins-Smith and Paul A. Sabatier, “The Study of Public Policy Processes,”in Policy Change and
Learning: An Advocacy Coalition Framework (Westview Press: Boulder, CO,1993), p.5
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Literature shall also guide this paper. Research on the nighttime city is still recent and there are
few references. Yet, the city at night became a topic at the end of the 1990’s in France, when
sociologists begun to analyse different rhythms and habits. Underlying the question of mobility
at night also lays the normative question of the 24-hours city: is it a possible or a desirable
future? This dilemma is part of the “prospective of the present” academic work; it reveals the
need to understand the role of tendencies, dreams and technical constraints in order to think the
future society. According to Edith Heurgon (2004, p.5), it is a tool for research that allows
participating to democratic governance and committing to change society. Indeed, researchers on
the nighttime city have been advocates, real actors and partners for decision-makers. One of
them, the geographer Luc Gwiazdzinski, foresaw (2003, p.306) that nighttime cities had four
different “possible futures”. The first would be trivialization, through a continuous city, with no
rhythm, that would go round and round in circles. The second would see the autonomisation of
the night, with different people separated from the daytime people and no continuity. The third
would suffer explosion, confrontations and violence, as the night is the time for extreme
behaviors. Eventually, one possible future could be harmonization, territorial continuity and the
conciliation with the right to the city, as Henri Lefebvre defines it2: « the demand ... [for] a
transformed and renewed access to urban life ». Indeed, costs are higher and distances longer at
night. The entrance point to the night also was the analysis of physical barriers and social
barriers coming with the dark (Espinasse, 2004). Moreover, social justice cannot be dissociated
from time-related urban policies3. In 2005, Gwiazdzinski observed that the night had “a lot to
teach to the day” and that the ideal “figure of a tailormade city” was emerging (p. 14). This
paper will be anchored in that assumption and explore this new figure of the night. Furthermore,
as the Parisian context reveals, competition among metropolises for attractiveness makes the
night be a matter for differenciation and a policy lever. Mega events, international clubbing and
festivals are other illustrations of this seduction game for the “creative class”, as Richard Florida4
refers to it, this paper will observe how this translates in the Parisian case and how the mention
of quality of life is influencing public policies for nighttime mobility.
2 Summarized in LEFEBVRE Henri, Writings on Cities, p. 158, 1995.
3 MALLET Sandra «Les rythmes urbains de la néolibéralisation», justice spatiale, juin 2014, http://www.jssj.org
4 FLORIDA Richard, The Rise of the Creative Class; And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure and Everyday Life,
Basic Books, 2002
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Local governments have long been prudent about the night, as Anne Cauquelin already noticed
in 19975. Since the 1990’s, the policy window (Kingdon, 1995, Chap.8) for nighttime mobility
opened. This concept refers to the opportunity for advocates to put forward their ideas and
solution within the policy process. Indeed, the field of transport, even if rush hours are still
structuring the networks6, synchronization of dominant rhythms related to work shifted towards
leisure-related movements, which created new opportunities for policies. Observations shall also
be inspired by tools developed by British researchers in the 1980 to analyze the concept of
Nighttime Economy (NTE). It considers the economic activity between 10 p.m. and 05 a.m.,
mostly restaurants, bars, clubs, cleaning, logistics and maintenance activities. This economic
concept is widely used across the channel, although less so in France. Moreover, policy brokers
have managed to change the administration and current affairs - the “politicy stream”- through
political campaigns, petitions, etc. In Paris, the “Time Office” (Bureau des temps), created in
2002, first illustrates this idea. So this paper seeks to understand how actors invest their
resources and perceive the opportunities related to nighttime mobility. Altogether, the agenda
setting as well as perspectives for nighttime mobility will be analyzed. According to Georges
Amar, “mobility is more and more understood as the creation of links, opportunities and
synergies between actors” (2010, p.16). The classic idea of transport managing the flux through
the “hardware” progressively gives way for empowerment and “software”. Indeed, Information
and Communication Technologies (ICT) influence the very definition of mobility, which is now
reachable behind a screen of a “mobile” phone. This invokes the notion of “habitele”, developed
by Dominique Boullier, as the process of inhabiting extended to the personal data ecosystem, the
portability of mobile phones (Boullier, 2014) and flexibility applicable to delivery cars systems,
for instance. Overall, these academic tools will structure observations of nighttime mobility
policies and allow grasping the main levers and perspectives.
The research question of this paper is based observations. Recent discourses and political
decisions about nighttime mobility invite to analyze the engines of the evolution of the mobility
offer. So, this paper seeks to understand to what extent nighttime mobility is a distinct policy.
Consequently, it questions how different actors have seized the question and how these actors
5 CAUQUELIN Anne, La ville, la nuit, Paris: PUF, 1977.
6 http://www.metropolitiques.eu/_Munch-Emmanuel_.html
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share or not some priorities. In the end, this research tris to graps what does mobility say about
the nighttime city and what can the night bring to mobility and transport policies in general.
Four major hypotheses stem from these questionnings. First, the nighttime city reveals specific
needs in terms of mobility and is treated differently (1). Also, the agenda setting on nighttime
mobility has multiple roots from the need to adapt to changing rhythms to economic challenges
and competition among cities. So night events and promotion strategies bring operators in front
of the scene to test transport networks at night (2). Furthermore, there are points of convergence
between actors concerning the improvement of the existing offer in terms of public transports:
safety, security, quality of service, for instance. Yet, other priorities seem to exist and find no
sustainable answer in the classic answer through infrastructure. Hence, divergences and
disruptions lead some new actors to innovate, adapting mobility to nighttime through flexibility –
software -, enhanced right to the city and contribution to nightlife (3). Eventually, until now, the
dialogue between two visions of mobility was weak or even conflictual. Today, new windows for
convergence might intervene through integrated policies in order to reintroduce the night as a
priority in any urban policy. Hence, despite hindrances, a new governance system of nighttime
mobility is emerging to contribute to the new “figure of the nighttime city” (4).
The methodology used to write this paper ensues from various sources. This research was
conducted during a six months internship at the City of Paris, in the office of Christophe
Najdovski, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of transports, mobility, roads and public spaces. The
topics of my mission within the office were defined with the Chief of staff near Christophe
Najdovski. Among them, the extension of the Parisian Métro schedule appeared, as it is inscribed
in the deputy mayor’s roadmap agreed with Anne Hidalgo, at the beginning of their mandates in
March 2014. In this context, I actively took part in the Paris board of the Night. This position
gave me a fascinating background to anchor this research in accordance with current affairs
through observant participation. Hence, I have focused my research on the metropolitan region
of Paris as I could witness political mechanisms from the inside. Still, this paper includes
observations of policies in other metropolises as they circulate and help understand choices. In
fact, the study of London is crucial to the decision-making processes in Paris and one cannot be
observed without the other. Moreover, I have conducted semi-structured interviews with more
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than forty actors between January 2015 and April 2015. These meetings allowed me to
understand the landscape of actors, speeches and interactions. The grid of interview included
topics such as the governance of mobility, the role of the interviewee in the policy stream, the
paradigm of transport and the territories of the Parisian night. The variety of angles allowed
inferring or confirming the hypotheses described previously. In the meantime, I focused on
collecting data about nighttime uses of different mobility modes and based my research on
reports and official documents. The chart below details this method. Yet, its limits stem from my
position as an intern, involving to judge and be judge. As I was involved in the decision-making
process, taking distance from the temporality, discourses and methods of political actors was a
major challenge for this work, as I needed to remain critical and avoid parochialism. Also, the
data used was delivered without restraint, except in some cases where its value to actors made it
hard to obtain. Eventually, I had the opportunity to access the city and the office’s internal
documents. In due respect for their trust, I will respect confidentiality.
This professional dissertation is built as follows. The first chapter is dedicated to defining the
concepts and the context of the topic. It aims at understanding the specificities of the night as a
space-time in Paris (I.i.) as well as the evolution of the mobility offer in Paris, its recent
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evolutions, to suggest a definition of nighttime mobility (I. ii.). The second chapter seeks to
understand how nighttime mobility became a policy matter, tracing the roots of agenda setting
(II.i) and analyzing the engines for dialogue and circulation of policies (II. ii.). Eventually, it
observes why nightlife and attractiveness are modern signals of dynamic metropolises and
opportunities for actors to test tools and cooperate (II. iii.). The third chapter’s goal is to
understand the governance (III. i) and the different priorities agreed by most actors of nighttime
mobility, such as security and quality of service (III.ii); it also observes the main constraints that
create divergences between actors (III. iii). The last chapter shows perspectives for changes to
improve nighttime mobility and its governance. First, the added value of new technological
models is treated (IV. i.) and then perspectives are drawn as well as the main challenges faced by
the main actors of nighttime mobility (IV. ii).
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I. Paris at night: moving in a city of another kind
The aim of this chapter is to understand the geography and sociology of the Parisian night at its
different stages. It also observes the nighttime mobility landscape, its specificities and its
evolutions during the last decades.
i. Picturing the Parisian night: symbolics, rhythms, functions, actors and territories
The symbolic of the night is changing. Its evolutions are full of information about the human
mind, fears and suspicions. To some extent, the night is opposed to the day, a resting time for a
frenzy society. According to Edith Heurgon (2005, p. 5), it is the time when our relation to
reality changes; for poetry, magic but also for fear. In 2003, 13% of French people were afraid to
go out at night, and 19% of women. Urban dwellers were twice more worried than rural people
(Gwiazdzinski, 2003. p.32; INSEE7). These perceptions are influenced by culture: the night is at
the heart of pop culture as the common trait of vampires, werewolves and murderers. In that
context, often, it has been depicted as “devilish” in opposition to
peaceful or tedious days. These patterns have shown public transports
as some forbidden places of the night. For instance, night trains and
buses have inspired horror movies directors. “Creep”, released in 2004
and directed by Christopher Smith, takes place in London’s tube last
train. A woman “misses the taxi and decides to take the tube”, she is
trapped in the underground station and “the nightmare begins”, as the
poster suggests. These perceptions are not trifling; they might
influence actual mobility choices! However, even if the night will keep
on inspiring pop culture, our perceptions are progressively changing,
and twisting the night’s role8, at the heart of our urban imaginary. In fact, darkness becomes time
for justice, super heroes or comedies (e.g. Scary Movie). As a mirror to these cultural changes,
cities are making up with their nights, branding and marketing them. In that context, nights are
democratized and night-life becomes a modern space-time, where attractiveness plays with
7 INSEE, Insécurité : perception et réalités, 2006 : http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/docs_ffc/donsoc06zs.pdf
8 COHEN A., 26.01.15: http://www.pop-up-urbain.com/et-si-les-creatures-de-la-nuit-eclairaient-le-city-branding/
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imagination inherited from this culture and sells the darkness. In some cities, neighborhoods find
their identity at night, from the red-light district of Amsterdam to Khao San Road in Bangkok or
Pigalle, in Paris. These evolutions impact social life and mobility choices. Indeed, people who go
out and use public transports at night more often are less subjected to fear all things being equal9.
So perceptions seem to be closely related to culture and symbols, and are nourrished by
imagination. Particularly, they can have consequences on mobility choices at night.
Cities have different rhythms changing over time. New York is known for being the “city that
never sleeps”, with many services opened all night and ongoing activities available. Along with
the big apple, Paris, slowly, is taking that pace; and “by-night” has become a peculiar dimension
of Paris that deserves attention. First, the city is composed of undersystems connected to one
another: localization (use of the soil), movement (goods and people influx) and a system of
inhabitants’ practices and social relations (city-dwellers activities)10
. At night, these
undersystems change. The night is both the continuity of the day and a space-time in its own
right. Every night, French people sleep 7:47 hours on average, whereas at the beginning of the
20th
century, they slept 9 hours. Therefore, progressively the day gains ground on the night,
which seems to be less a “pause” than before. Luc Gwiazdzinksi (2003, p. 148) observes that
cities follow the biological concept of circadian rhythms, with different oscillations that go
around. There are steps into the night (Armengaud, 2010; p. 9) and « the night is not a city’s
diminished state, it is an essential time for the fabric of its value, its organization and its ability
for variation ». There are three major stages throughout the night. First, from 9:30 p.m., the
urban night functioning begins and the evening is in full swing. From 1:30 to 4:30 a.m., it is the
“heart of the night”. Eventually, comes the dawn, from 4:30 to 6:30 a.m. It appears that the
nighttime city lives more and more outside the prive sphere, in public spaces11
. The illustration
below (Armengaud, 2010, p. 305) suggests that some services make the city pulse 24 hours a day
in the French Capital, like drugstores and food places. We can already notice that Vélib’, the
9 Institut d’Aménagement et d’Urbanisme (IAU), Sécurité dans les transports en commun: des actions pour
rassurer, Note Rapide, 2012, n°603
10 BONNAFOUS A., PUEHL H., 1983, Physionomie de la ville (Face of the town), Les éditions ouvrieres, 165 p.
11 PRADEL Benjamin, Rythmes événementiels et aménagement des espaces publics à Paris, Bruxelles et Montréal,
in Society and Leisure, Vol. 36, Urban Policy and Territorial Planning in the Festive City, 2013
15
self-service bike system, functions 24/7 and that some mobility services operate all night.
Moreover, in recent years more businesses have begun to operate outside standard hours,
contributing to a culture of long or unusual working hours12
. The model of a city that works 24/7
is related to the network of cities working in shifts at the scale of the planet as interdependent or
« interconnected nodes » 13
. The impact of neoliberal policies in time-related urbanism can
already be questionned (Mallet, 2013). These globalization processes and the individualization of
societies influence historical mutations accelerating time and densifying work. In the meantime,
ICT evolutions increase this constant connectivity. Hence, there are less “dead times” in cities.
The Parisian night has different functions. Indeed, Sandra Mallet (2013, p.2) observes the
“polychrony” of spaces and places flooded by a multiplicity of social times and activities. At
night, places have a different role. The City of Paris ordered researches to the Parisian Agency of
Urban Planning (APUR 2004; 2010) in order to understand Paris at night. Among the results, a
division of “typical nights” was depicted and various hubs of activities identified. First, the city
“on duty” includes fire brigades, the police, law courts, emergency services and casualty
department in hospitals or pharmacies on duty; it also involves, urban network services on duty
like the PC Lutèce, in charge of regulating traffic lights. The second nighttime city is the
“backstage of the day”, with logistic centers, sorting offices, the ring road and the maintenance
of the networks like the RATP railways, for instance. This second city is more active from 10
p.m. to 5 a.m. before the early morning sees bakeries, press services, markets, storing offices and
12
Russell Foster & Leon Kreitzman, Rhythms of Life, Profile Books, London 2004
13 Castells, Manuel and Cardoso, Gustavo, eds., The Network Society: From Knowledge to Policy. . Washington,
DC: Johns Hopkins Center for Transatlantic Relations, 2005, p. 7
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logistics centers opening again. Indeed, in Paris, just like in London14
, freight management and
logistics increasingly use the time-space of the night to gain efficiency and avoid nuisances. The
third nighttime city has a different cartography during the week and on weekends: it is the
partying city. From 10 p.m. to midnight, bars, restaurants, clubs, boats, cinemas, museums, peep
shows, sex shops and swappers clubs all open. After midnight and in the early morning, bars and
restaurants progressively close to leave only clubs, video stores and swappers clubs. In the
meantime, the “market city” stays open: before midnight, with retail stores, drugstores,
bakeries, libraries and kiosks, and after midnight with very few drugstores disseminated in Paris,
with a small concentration around Pigalle and Place de Clichy. Automatic devices stay open:
banks, condom and food distributors, for instance. The sleeping city, in the meantime, is spread
in residences and hotels, with a high concentration of hotels in the 8th
and 1st arrondissement and
more residents in the peripheral neighborhoods. The last one is the city of the margins, mostly
inhabited by homeless people and prostitution. The map below (Apur, 2004, p.18) suggests that
interventions for homeless people are concentrated around train stations: Gare de Lyon, Gare
d’Austerliz, Montparnasse, Gare de l’Est and Gare du Nord, and Saint-Lazare.
14
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/info-for/freight/moving-freight-efficiently/retiming-and-out-of-hours-deliveries
17
Overall, the rhythms of the night are associated to the functions of the night and, consequently,
to its actors. If nothing else, this mutation brings other questions: who can access and who makes
the nighttime city? How does movements adapt to these new rhythms and functions?
Observing different types of mobility along the night reveals that mobility follows these
different rhythms and functions of the night. The number of people using public transports
between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. is constantly increasing. The graph below (APUR, 2004, p. 50)
suggests that movements happen increasingly later at night – and also later in the morning.
Mobility is about places, public spaces and landmarks, which stem from the different stages of
the night (FORS, 2013, p. 26). First, when the evening starts, from 9 p.m. to 11 p. m., active
people are more numerous and functional mobility prevails, especially after 10 p.m., when
people join other people to go out. At that time, concentration around some points like bus stops
or Métro stations is great (FORS, 2013, p.29). From midnight until 3 a.m., at the heart of the
night, the transition towards a lower-intensive city starts: the “last Métro” gives way to slower
circulations and disseminated trajectories, train stations are emptied out and few pedestrians are
going home, mainly masculine (observation Gare de Lyon, 12.03.15). At that time, cars, bikes
and motorbikes go faster (DVD, 2013), and trajectories are more random and anarchical.
Progressively, private vehicles disappear while police cars and taxis are more visible. During the
lower-intensity night, from 3:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m., tracks of life are more visible: trash, light,
shop windows. There are few circulations but speed is higher. At that time, bakers and bartenders
18
meet with partygoers15
before the day begins, as the synthetic chart below suggests. After that,
until 7 a.m., the city of logistics and cleaning begins again (Apur, 2004). Hence, these different
functions involve different populations who meet and move at night in the city.
There are various types of users who move and get around the city at night. First,
partygoers are an important population of night owls in Paris. Indeed, nightlife is an important
activity in the Parisian night. There are more than 12 000 places open every day, 9000 have the
authorization to open in the terrace and 800 clubs are apt to host clients after 2: a.m. The Ile-de-
France region is the region with fewer nightclubs with respect to the number of inhabitants, and
30% of the Parisian nightclubs earn turnovers superior to one million euros per year. Still, 42%
of French cultural jobs are located in Paris, with a thousand of festive events organized every
night in Paris. Furthermore, among the 19 to 29 years old, there are four categories of night owls
(Espinasse, 2004). First, the “home-phobic”, who experience a social contrast between night and
15
http://www.timeout.fr/paris/quoi-faire-a-paris/tourisme/metro-cest-trop-tot?cid=outbrain
19
day and are out 4 to 5 times a week. Then, there are “without day or night”, who also go out
much and are usually passionate about their work, sometimes even artists. These two first
categories have yearning for the night and express needs for more and cheaper mobility. The
third type of young people going out is the “alternators”, usually older and more balanced, who
go out mostly on weekends. The last category is the “home-philes”, who only go out for
professional reasons or because they are involved in sports or civic organizations. They live
further from the city centre and work later at night. The graph below (Armengaud, 2010, p. 305)
also suggests that social groups have habits and go out on different days of the week.
The last global studies on transport in the Paris region (EGT, 1997, 2010) show that trips for
leisure have risen substantially, up to 20% of movements, during the past decades. Nighttime
mobility results from this evolution. Also, it appears that the choice to go out depends on the
season. Indeed, a survey conducted in September 2010 on 700 Parisians and suburban residents
from 18 to 40 years old (IFOP 2010) reveals that 35% of interviewees don’t go out at wintertime,
while 53% go out at least once a week in summer. Also, men appear to be more inclined to go
out at night than women (p. 1). Executives enjoy their purchasing power and go out more
regularly than others. Among the activities, having diner or a drink are the more frequent, usually
in order to meet friends (69%). There are also communities like electronic music lovers,
Flamenco or Salsa dancers, which meet in particular places when they go out. Also, nightclub
owners or bartenders are preoccupied by transport in order to scatter the clients quicker and
avoid nuisances16
.
16
Ville de Paris, Emploi et rythmes de vie à Paris la nuit, CDG Conseil et Vérès Consultants, 2005, p.11.
20
Also, there are 33.5 millions of tourists coming to the Paris region every year. These tourists
staying “overnight” also have nighttime activities. According to the committee for Tourism in
Île-de-France (int.), young tourists often come to Paris to party and these tourists are
“repetitors”, so they will come again if they come once. Night-tourism increases as the “by-
night” has become a city’s dimension in its own right” (Gwiazdzinski, 2003, p.99). Techno-
tourism also developed in specialized hostels with DJ nights, like in square Colonel Fabien.
Furthermore, night-workers also people the Parisian night. In 2011, nighttime work concerned
approximately 16% of the French active population (INSEE, 2011), twice more than in 199117
.
Indeed, staggered working hours are common and concern very different sectors of the economy.
We can separate evening workers, from 8 p.m. to midnight from night workers, from midnight to
5 a.m (INSEE, enquête employ 2008) sometimes called “small or big nights” (int. CGT-RATP).
In Paris, 37,3% of the 1,7 million active people declare that their professional activity takes place
occasionally or usually at night. Hence, around 600 000 people are concerned and among them
230 000 work between midnight a 5 a.m. There are more people working at night regularly. This
evolution might be due to a law passed on the 9th
of May 2001, supervising night work and
allowing it for women. Since then, there are more people working on Saturdays and Sundays at
night: 33% of nighttime workers in 2008. Executives are the first category to work at night: 42%
17
http://www.lefigaro.fr/conjoncture/2014/08/21/20002-20140821ARTFIG00246-le-travail-de-nuit-a-double-en-vingt-ans.php
21
of them. Paris nightlife employed 13.1% of nighttime workers in 2008, meaning 83 000 people,
mostly men (69%) working in restaurants, hotels or performing arts. The city “on duty” employs
21.8% of nighttime workers, half of them being women, with 27.6% working between midnight
and 5 a.m. Moreover, 6% of nighttime workers work in the transport sector, 83% work for public
transports and 5,8% of them are taxis, mostly men (77%). Also, the sector of services to firms is
the first employer with 33% of evening or nighttime workers, mostly men (67%), which usual
schedules go from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. These workers have special contracts due to social, health and
economic costs related to staggered working hours. Eventually, we can observe that, on average
the traffic is higher in Paris from 1:00 am to 3:00 am and higher in the suburbs between 3:00 am
and 5:00 am, when workers with staggered shifts leave or come back from work to the suburbs,
where they often live (STIF, 2013; int. STIF, CGT-RATP). Hence, various populations live and
move in the nighttime city, with different purposes and conditions.
Exclusion and social inequalities are patterns of the nighttime city. For instance, some people
live at the margins, at “the edge of the world”, as the documentary by Claus Drexel depicts18
.
According to Luc Gwiazdzinski (int.), the night it is a caricature of the day and homeless people
are even more excluded, just like “integrated citizens” will be even more “social” at night.
Catherine Espinasse follows the same arguments when stating that the night reveals the darkness
of the day and has a “magnifying glass effect” (Int.) on misery, social revenge, and violence.
During her fieldwork in the night bus, at the beginning of the 2000’s, she observed “buses
without heads”, as everyone was sleeping in the buses. Moreover, discrimination can be higher at
night. Indeed, an analysis of neighborhoods with a dynamic nightlife in Utrecht, Rotterdam and
Groningen, showed very low numbers of women and a weak diversity of ethnicity in nightclubs.
Women are specifically absent in the late night. An international organization even created a
demonstration called “Take back the night”19
, to raise awareness and incite women to go out and
not fear the night. Furthermore, the participation of racial or ethnic minorities seems to be related
to the type of nightlife entertainment supplied 20
. In Paris, the rule of bouncers in clubs has long
been associated to discrimination; a justice trial was even instigated 2007 by the organization
18
http://www.allocine.fr/video/player_gen_cmedia=19540665&cfilm=220999.html, Au bord du monde C. Drexel 14
19 http://takebackthenight.org/
20 T. Schwanen & Al., Rhythms of the Night: Spatiotemporal Inequalities in the Night-Time Economy, 2012
22
SOS Racism21
for that matter. In clubs like the Nuba22
, financed by the city of Paris, there are
still bouncers selecting people at the entrance. Therefore, the nighttime city can also be exclusive
and, in some ways, another “boarder to the city” (Gwiazdzinski, 2003).
The territories of the night are also different and influence residents’ choices and habits. There
are few maps to find one’s way in the Paris region out of the city center. Yet, the Parisian
metropolitan area is constituted by 412 cities, spread over 2 845 km² and concerns 10,6 millions
inhabitants. Inside this urban area, we differentiate the inner city of Paris from the inner suburbs
(“petite couronne”) and outer suburbs (“grande couronne”). They cover decreasing densities:
when Paris has 21 347 inhabitants per km², the inner suburbs count 6766 inhabitants per km² and
the outer suburbs 458. This differentiation has consequences in terms of transport, network
density and modal shares23
. For instance, in 2010, the motorization rate was of 0.49 in Paris, 0.92
in the inner suburbs and 1.39 in outer suburbs (EGT, 2010). Also, 7 out of 10 residents in the
region spend more than 10 minutes walking from home to the closest station. While distances
are longer, waiting time and costs are also higher at night (Gwiazdzinski 2003, p. 182). In Paris,
the phenomenon of the “last subway” is structuring time. So, when the transport system stops,
Paris is isolated from is environment. Its doors are closed, as the modern “drawbridges” of the
city. Moreover, more trips are related to leisure in Paris - 24.2% - than in the outer suburbs -
17.4% (INSEE-SOeS Survey, 2008). This contrast is higher during the week as the graph page
16 confirms. On weekends, 15 to 25 years old are numerous to come to Paris through public
transports, with a peak after 22h (EGT, Week-ends, 2010). Hence, observed mobility is much
related to territories. At night, the geography of the city changes and “lively neighborhoods form
archipelagos, are hardly accessible islets in the city” (Gwiazdzinski, 2003, p. 184). A dynamic
analysis24
of the Global Transport Survey (EGT) observes different movements in the region. It
focuses on work, leisure and time spent at home. The later it is, the more people are home except
21
http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2007/05/10/quatre-discotheques-jugees-a-paris-pour-le-premier-proces-du-
testing_908742_3224.html
22 http://www.nuba-paris.fr/
23 Transiloscopie « Les chiffres clés sur la mobilité en Ile-de-France », Transiloscope n°2, SNCF, OMNIL
24 http://www.driea.ile-de-france.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/la-dynamique-des-loisirs-et-visites-en-ile-de-
a4674.html ; image: people home at 11 :05 pm (screen capture)
23
in Paris, as the map below illustrates. Indeed, “dwellers of the suburbs prefer to stay home or
host people on weekends” (6T, 2014, p. 40). These choices reveal that the urban environment and
the organization and functioning (p.78) of the city have a direct or indirect influence on mobility.
And transport can mark one more invisible barrier between Paris and its periphery and can
entrain rhythms and define practices in a “chronogeographic perspective”25
.
These territories of the night are extending to the Greater Paris. During a conference
organized by the paper Libération26
on the 29th
of November 2014, the architect Yves Lion,
declared that the Greater Paris was “the Paris ring road confronted to a worrying territory,
uneasy to transform and include”. Today, the metropolitan area is subjected to an institutional
25
Parkes D, Thrift N, Times, Spaces and Places: A Chronogeographic Perspective, J Wiley & Sons, 1980
26 http://www.liberation.fr/forum-grand-paris,100464
24
reform to harmonize the governance at the scale of the urban region. In this territory, nightlife is
changing progressively; new places open with different capacity and ability to host the public,
outdoor events and other entertainment facilities (Armengaud, 2010, p 394: cartography of night-
life entertainment in the Paris region). The opportunity that lies in the industrial built heritage
constitutes a potential for renewal of nighttime activites, especially for electronic music, which
extends to the suburbs and industrial wastelands27
. So nightlife is mobile. It evolves with
territories but also with transport. Indeed, the Greater Paris new Métro project - Grand Paris
Express - inspires nightlife actors who wish to organize ephemeral festive events on spaces
generated by the work (int. Eric Labbé, Didier Lestrade). This potential is such that Marc
Armengaud suggested: “what if we made the Greater Paris beginning by the night” (p. 326).
Overall, different social groups intervene and print new rhythms in the Parisian night. Yet, their
participation depends on their access to the city, which rises as the night goes forward and
transport opportunities decrease. Therefore, we shall observe in details to what extent transport
and mobility evolutions can influence opportunities to access to the city and move at night.
ii. Increase and diversification of nighttime mobility opportunities
The question of transports plays a major role at night in terms of access to the city, its services,
activities and hospitability (Gwiazdzinski, 2003; p. 80). As the data visualization called
“cities.human.co”28
illustrates, people move increasingly more at night. This section aims at
understanding the landscape of the mobility offer and its consequences on strategies and
movements. This exercise is topical as the STIF is currently waiting for a research department29
to deliver an assessment of the nighttime transport offer in Paris. At night, people do not go
randomly: “they have their day-time routes and their nighttime routes” (Gwiazdzinski, 2003,
p.9). According to Luc Gwiazdzinski (in E. Heurgon, 2004), mobility at night is wriggling: users
go to various places at night before going home, and use different means of transport.
27
http://www.enlargeyourparis.fr/avec-la-fete-on-repousse-les-frontieres-de-paris/
28 http://cities.human.co/
29 http://alenium.com/v2/index.php
25
First of all, public transports in Paris are an important service. Between 1992 and 2004, the
number of users between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. rose by 67 % and by 86 % between 10 p.m. and the
end of the service. In Paris, half of the modal shares go to public transit– 23% in inner suburbs
and 13% in outer suburbs. In the region, the STIF controls the public transport network and
coordinates the transport companies: RATP, the SNCF and Optile30
. According to IFOP (2010)
78% of night owls use public transports to go out.
The subway is predominant as the formula “Métro, boulot, dodo” – Métro, work, sleep –
suggests; indeed, “periodicity of transports infiltrated urban time” (Gwiazdzinski, 2005, p. 7). It
is a major mean of transport in Paris and inner suburbs composed of 16 lines, 302 stations and
220 km of railways. Since the 19th century, nighttime mobility developed. First, “through
vagrancy or with night horse-drawn trams” (Armengaud, 2010, p. 307). Then came the
underground, which has a determinant role because of its capacity (Armengaud, 2010, p.65). In
2012, it enabled to transport 4,18 millions people per day. What characterizes the Parisian Métro
is the density of stations, with a median distance of 548m between each (data, RATP). According
to the RATP, the state-controlled corporation of Parisian transports operating the Métro, there
are 40 000 users between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. on Saturday nights, and 10% of travels happen
between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. while only 5% happen at these hours during the week. Hence, when
the Métro is closed, from 0:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. during the week and from 2:15 to 5:30 a.m. on
Fridays and Saturdays, the access to the city is restricted. The structure is determining, to such an
extent that nightclubs operate according to the Métro’s timetables (“Seven2one”) in many cases.
Regional trains – RER, Transilien - accounted for 3,32 millions of passengers per day in 2013.
SNCF, the French railways company, operates this network serving the suburbs until 0:50 a.m.
and starting at 5 a.m. every day. Finally, tramways, light and fast mass transit systems,
reappeared in Paris, following the ring road and going in the suburbs, they stop at 0:30 a.m.
The bus network is also very developed. In 2010, the daytime network was composed of 353
lines among which 60 go through the city of Paris. Still today, some of them close early in the
evening: 5 lines stopped at 8:30 p.m., 2 lines at 9:30 p.m. and 9 lines at 10:30 p.m in 2013. Yet,
since 2010, a restructuration of the system is organized by the STIF and includes the extension of
schedules and continuity of almost all buses until 0h30, with a reinforcement of the frequency.
30
Private bus company serving suburban areas
26
This daytime network, mostly used by regular customers, adapts progressively to the demand
and gains ground in the evening and the night. Since 2013, the STIF decided to reinforce the bus
lines during the evening and a plan is set until 2016, until now, many lines have been reinforced
until 0:30 a.m., among them: lines 32 and 56 were reinforced in 2014, for instance.
At 0:30, when the bus system stops, another bus network takes over:
“Noctilien”. This network’s aim is to replace the subway and RER
and compensate the absence of mass transit system at night, so it
follows a different logic than the daytime bus network. Noctilien was
born in 2005. Until then, another network called “Noctambus” was
in place, inheriting from an old “Autobus de nuit” as the poster
illustrates31
. At that time, the network was structured as a star-
shaped system from Châtelet – central station – to the suburbs and it
was designed for nighttime workers at RATP. In 1944, it already
allowed 800 000 people per year to move in Paris at night (Heurgon
& Al, 2004; int. RATP Paris Agency). Between 1998 and 2003, its rate of frequentation was of
36%, and regular users mostly used it: 77% during the week and 50% on weekends (Apur,
2004). This led to its restructuration to cope with the demand and relieve the traffic congestion
on Châtelet. The main purpose of Noctilien was to “bring back home the youth and the workers”.
Today, 47 lines cover the urban region Ile-de-France. Since 2013, 6 lines have been reinforced in
order to adapt the network to new tramways. There are 21 000 users every night during the week,
35 000 on weekends with a peak at 42 000 during festive nights. 70% of the total traffic of
Noctilien is on weekends (RATP, int.). The night bus system counted 2,9 millions of passengers
in 2000, 8 millions in 2008 with Noctilien, 9,5 millions in 2013, and in 2014, the frequentation
rose by 10% (int. STIF). The chart below illustrates this constant increase (Omnil, 2014),
Both RATP and SNCF manage this network. It is composed of 32 RATP buses within Paris and
the near suburbs, and 16 SNCF coaches serving the most remote suburbs: 45% of km in Paris,
31
1959 Ancetres des Noctambus sillonnent la capitale et ramenent la jeunesse et les travailleurs de nuit a leur
domicile. Le réseau est déja tres développé PHOTO RATP, Armengaud, 2010, p. 300
27
39% in inner suburbs and 16% the outer suburbs (STIF, 2013). Radial and crossing lines are the
most used, whereas very suburban or central lines have lower traffic (between 8 and 15% use).
200 municipalities are served. Since 2005, the system was reinforced with the creation of new
lines (December 2006, 2014), more frequency during weekends and public holidays (June 2011,
December 2012) (STIF, 2013) and, more density of bus stops: 206 bus stops in 2009 and 254 in
2013 (Omnil, 2014). The SNCF noctilien reach the RER last stops every hour or half an-hour
depending on the destination32
. Noctilien is free for subscribers, but has many flaws like security
issues or law efficiency. Indeed, going from suburb to suburb is fastidious. For instance, from
Fontenay-aux-Roses to Montreuil after 1 a.m. on weekends involves taking 3 to 4 different
Noctilien and almost two hours trip – whereas it only takes 1 by bike (obs.)! Thus, metropolitan
routes are uneasy at night through public transport, even more than during the day. So, some
complementary networks have appeared like Filéo, another bus system serving municipalities
around Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle airport, and replacing regular lines. Also, buses go to Beauvais
Airport from Porte Maillot from 5:30 a.m every morning.
Vélib’ is a bike sharking system born in 2007. Its implementation deeply change nighttime
mobility habits as it begun a new public transport alternative opened 24 hours. It enables to rent a
bike for short trips for 1.70€ for the non-subscribers, and 29€ per year for subscribers, who were
283 000 in 2014. Vélib’ is massively used at night, specifically when the Métro stops33
. Indeed,
there are 45 000 travels between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. every months. More than 12% of rentals are
made between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and the use of Vélib’ doubles during weekends, from 10% to
20% of use rate (APUR, 2010). The chart below shows the demand on an average night in 2014,
between midnight and 8 a.m. during the week and on weekends (Internal data, DVD, 2014):
0h-01h 01h-02h 02h-03h 03h-04h 04h-05h 05h-06h 06h-07h 07h-08h
Semaine 2007 1199 638 346 295 428 906 3840
Weekend 3196 2857 2925 1752 1231 751 527 757
In Paris, 6% of users declare that they take a Vélib’ to go out. The neighbourhoods with most
frequentation, Bastille, Oberkampf, Marais, République and Saint-Michel, have dense nightlife.
32
Panorama de l’offre Transilien SNCF, 2014
33 JABOEUF Alice, Le Vélib’ a-t-il changé les habitudes de mobilité des parisiens?, IUA Paris IV, 2014
28
On a random day, Tuesday 24th
of March 2015, there were 4281 Vélib’ trips in Paris between 10
p.m. and 4 a.m. Most bikes were rented in these arrondissements with most departures from the
11th
: 367 trips. Also, residential neighbourhoods record less trips: the 16th
111 or the 7th
114, for
instance (Data, DVD, 2015). Vélib’ users “go out much, use the bikes for shopping or go party”
according to the Time Office in Paris34
. Workers also use Vélib’ as an alternative: 40% of
destinations are workplaces or universities. Finally, tourists rent bikes, as it combines use and
pleasure. It is a positive experience of freedom “inherent to the fluidity of nighttime” (Espinasse,
2007, p.9). It even inspired the singer Philippe Katerine, who dedicated a song to “Vélib’ at
night” as another way to experience the city35
. Thus, since 2007, the installation of Vélib’ in the
French capital provides a tangible alternative to public transport for nighttime.
Autolib’ is a car-sharing public system available in the Parisian metropolitan area since 2011. A
federation of 75 cities, where 3073 vehicles are spread in 906 stations, rules the service.
Subscribers can pay between 5,5€ and 9€ per 30 minutes depending on their initial contract. So it
is more expensive than other services available at night but cheaper than a taxi, for instance. The
graph below (Autolib’, 2014) illustrates the simultaneous locations of Autolib’ in November and
December 2013. We can observe a peak of use
at the beginning of the evening and again
around midnight, every day of the week.
Hence, we notice that Autolib’ is not used
much to go out late at night but rather in the
evening. Still, in the very early morning, at 5
a.m. on Saturdays, we notice that there are
more (50) locations registered. Initially,
Autolib’ was meant to reduce the modal share
of private cars. Today, 40% of Autolib’ users
are ready to abandon their car. Autolib’, just
like Vélib’, still is an alternative for some
night owls, particularly partygoers36
.
34
Véronique Jeannin, 2010, interview Ville et Territoires Cyclables, Ville et Vélo, 2007
35 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wErnfdBbCpc
36 http://www.20minutes.fr/paris/1312574-20140302-20140302-velib-tient-corde-rentrees-tardives-parisiens
29
Taxis are also considered as a public service in Paris as the state police regulate it. There were
17 636 taxis in 2013, more per inhabitants than in New York37
. They are very important actors of
the Parisian night. As 10% of them are registered for two shifts, at least around 1800 drivers
work at night, without counting the staggered schedules (int. PP). The IFOP survey (2010)
reveals that 78% of 18 to 40 years old use public transport to go out, but only 68% use them to
come back. This difference is consistent with the fact that 6% of them take a taxi to go out and
18% take it to go home. Indeed, when the last Métro passes taxis take over (FORS, 2013).
However, some neighborhoods, territories and populations are « excluded because taxi drivers
need to amortize the numerous costs and limit all the risks of their own jobs » (Jouffe, 2007, p. 1,
p. 7). So taxi have their strategies to « meet the client » (cruises, radio calls, etc.) and their own
constraints. This leads to a more expensive service and unequal access. At night, the cost of taxis
raise by 40% on average. Sometimes, taxis turn down clients because they are drunk or cannot
pay, legally, or even refuse them because of fear or discrimination, illegally. According to Jouffe
intensity is much lower between 2:30 am and 5:30 a.m., and Paris for taxi drivers “looks like a
countryside town” (2007, p. 10). Also, collective taxis38
develop. Still, habits need to change
because taxis are often used as an intimate mode enjoyed exclusively and individually, (p. 12).
Overall, public transport has constantly developed to provide more supply at night in Paris. Still,
the structuring absence of a mass transit and efficient network as well as the unequal access to
public transports give more ways for individual means of transport and new mobility offers.
The business of mobility is evolving and “a new culture of mobility is emerging; it mixes
transport and interactive information and reconsiders the materiality of public spaces”
(Armengaud, 2010, p.279). Indeed, the city becomes both more nocturnal and more virtual. ICT
have allowed new opportunities for mobility in Paris, at any hour. In France, new companies
base their activities on what are called VTC (delivery cars). There are 7 212 operators. Among
them, start-ups like SnapCar, Chauffeur Privé, Le Cab39
were created in Paris. Since 2011, the
American company Uber40
operates in six French cities including Paris. In total, Uber is present
37
http://www.slate.fr/monde/82347/davantage-taxis-paris-new-york-vtc-video
38 https://www.wecab.com/fr
39 https://www.snapcar.com/ - - http://www.chauffeur-prive.com/ - https://www.lecab.fr/
40 https://www.uber.com/fr/
30
in 300 around the world and, along with its competitor Lyft41
overtook the market. For instance,
in New York, there are fewer taxis registered than in Paris, but 50 000 delivery cars able to take
passengers “anywhere, at any hour” and can “guarantee that everything can come in less than 5
minutes” (slogans). In 2011 there were approximately 60 drivers in Paris. In April 2015, we
estimate almost 5000 drivers registered on Uber. The “market size” of Uber is potentially huge.
The system started with first-class services like Uber X or Black, and opened to a larger public
with UberPop, released in 2014, allowing drivers to exercise easily, without a professional card,
on the basis of “carsharing” rules. This cheap service attracts lots of young users, mostly
beginning by upper-middle classes (int. Uber Manager). The taxi sector suffered from this new
mobility alternative bringing competition. The taxi license, which cost 250 000 euros in 2013
cost only 200 000 euros in 2014. It appears that most of the time occasional customers become
recurrent ones (int. Uber Manager). Uber is highly used during weekends, specifically with peaks
at 8:00 p.m. and again higher from 1:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., as the graph below suggests42
. As the
Métro shuts down, the demand of Uber decreases substantially until 5:30. Overall, we observe
that the service is used to go out but even more as a mean to go home at night.
41
https://www.lyft.com
42 By Uber April 2015
31
Other companies like the Parisian Heetch or Djump43
, from Brussels, offer the same kind of
mobility service as UberPop but they focus their activity as they only open at night. Indeed,
Heetch is specialized in “nighttime mobility” and the demand is skyrocketing. Projects like Loue
ton Sam or Padam44
are emerging in order to offer mobility services on demand. Both firms are
young: Padam was launched in January 2015 and Loue ton Sam’s website will be available
shortly. Their goal is to adapt to the specific patterns of the mobility demand at night. Padam is
specifically presented as “the new shared night transport in minivans”. Along with these
mobility services based on technology, we can mention punctual mobility solutions. For
instance, places like Fondation Louis Vuitton, in the Boulogne woods, have their own private
shuttle services that usually work in the evenings or at night. Eventually, tourists increasingly use
delivery tricycles45
, such as Aniltuktuk, Paris Tuktuk, Cyclopolitain and Taxi King Clovis. Also,
“Paris By scooter” allows visiting Paris in a Vespa and is available all night long. Thus, these
mobility businesses are other opportunities to get around the city at night, and are diversyfing.
Individual modes remain solutions for flexibility at night. First, if public transports are much
more used during the day, the car takes over at night: one third of inhabitants use a car to go out
in Paris, 29% to go and 31% to come back home (IFOP, 2010). This is also illustrated by
growing number of valets in bars (obs. Parisian Board of the night). In order to facilitate trips
and avoid traffic, parking is free from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. in Paris and 7000 delivery spots,
distinguished by dotted lines, are open to individuals from 8 a.m. to 7 a.m. from Monday to
Saturday, as well as on Sundays and public holidays. Therefore, using the car is easier at night.
Yet, the use of the car at night is often associated with car accidents. Indeed, in 2013 in Paris,
more than 10 000 alcohol screenings were conducted on weekends (int. PP) and 11 000 people
benefited from prevention advice linked to the dangers of driving drunk and too fast. Overall, the
night accounts for 10% of the traffic but 44,7% of deadly accidents. There were 373 accidents
related to alcohol in 2013, 127 related to drugs both leading to 13 deaths in total. Also, scooters
are used up to 5% at night and can also be dangerous. Private bikes are used more often: 10%
43
https://www.heetch.com/ - http://djump.in/
44 http://www.louetonsam.fr/ - http://padambus.com/
45 http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2013/05/10/velos-taxis-les-cles-du_succes_n_3251208.html
32
use it to go out and 30% of Parisian households have a bike46
. In 2004, the bike was related to
fear of aggression and theft (in. Heurgon, 2004), but in 2007 reports suggested that the bike was
related to freedom in the city, as we observed for Vélib (Espinasse, 2007). Eventually, walking
is one of the most frequent modes: 21% of Parisiens walk when they go out.
At night, individual strategies to move in public spaces are different. Squares and train
stations are places for movement. First, main transit hubs usually close after that last train at 1
a.m. and open again for the first train in the morning, at around 5 a.m. For instance, in Gare
Saint-Lazare, functional mobility is important in the evening as people are going back to the
suburbs and wait in the train station until 0:30 (FORS, 2013; p. 34). Also, immobility within
mobility is important, as stations are places for waiting or shelters for homeless people. In public
spaces and squares, trajectories depend on many factors. For instance, in winter, when people
“pass by” the public space and stop much less. At the end of the night, there are many obstacles
in public spaces: public works, dustbin, and parked cars. The closure of public gardens at night
can also change regular routes. In that context, walking becomes a challenge. “We can never
walk a strait line on sidewalks in the evening”, tells a woman interviewed by FORS in 2013. In
some cases, festive zones are reassuring because of human presence, a 65 old man said « when I
go home at night I am not worried because all the shops are open near my home »47
So
depending on place and time, pedestrians would change their strategies. Another factor is
gender. A recent study by the High Council for Equality between Women and Men released in
April 201548
revealed that 100% of public transport women users have experienced at least once
in their lives gender harassment or sexual assault in public transports. Some women confessed
that they would rather choose the bike in order to avoid the promiscuity of public transports or to
take public transport at night. The organization Genre et Ville and the City of Paris studied these
specific routes of pedestrian women and revealed that they are influenced by the built
environment and atmosphere, also defined by public lights49
. Thus, they would choose another
46
http://blog.velib.paris.fr/blog/2012/10/09/le-velo-prend-de-lampleur-en-ile-de-france/
47 ESPINASSE C., Le deuil de l’objet voiture chez les personnes agées, PREDIT, 2006.
48 http://www.haut-conseil-egalite.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/hcefh_avis_harcelement_transports-20150410.pdf
49 LAVADINHO, S., Le renouveau de la marche urbaine. Terrains, acteurs et politiques, thèse de doctorat en
géographie, sous la direction de Y. Winkin, septembre 2011, ENS-LSH de Lyon
33
sidewalk, avoid visual contact, or go faster in transit areas 50
. Some women avoid train stations –
those with long corridors, the largest ones – and lines, for instance Line 4 or the Noctilien, “dirty
and full of drunk people” (int.), and even wagons51
. These perceptions structure women’s
strategies to move at night. So thinking the night implies to look specifically at insecurity, gender
perceptions and psychology of the users (C. Espinasse, int., 2005), it is a matter of public spaces.
Overall, trajectories and mobility choices at night differ from daytime routes. Either much longer
or more expensive, the transport offer is less accessible at night. Hence, individual modes are
still often priviledged. Also new businesses have developed in order to compensate the lack of
public transport and answer to a growing demand for nighttime mobility. So, as the rhythms of
the city and its functions evolve, mobility concerns every user, from nightclubs and partygoers to
nightworkers, tourists or tourism prescribers. As a peculiar space-time, the night involves diverse
expectations and different habits. Mobility choices are communicating vessels, and the increase
of the mobility offer is a clue that public policies have not ignored the growing demand. Hence,
we shall observe how the needs were identified, voiced and answered to by different actors and
how nighttime mobility became a public policy.
50
Ferreira José, 1996, Métro, Le combat pour l’espace : L’influence de l’aménagement spatial sur les relations
entre les gens, Paris, L’Harmattan
51 Pratiques urbaines des femmes la nuit à Paris - Mémoire de Master 1 Aménagement et Urbanisme, Claire
Gervais, also the author of the blog : http://www.lebugurbain.fr/
34
II. How did nighttime mobility become a policy matter in Paris?
The aim of this chapter is to provide elements about the roots of actors’ interest in nighttime
mobility as well as the main engines and levers of action.
i. Priorities for an agenda setting on the nighttime city
Adapting to changing ryhthms and lifestyles was one of the first challenges for policy-makers.
At the end of the 1990’s, sociologists alerted governments that lifestyles were profoundly
changed (Boulin, 2003). Thus, surveys were ordered as the state’s attempt to make society
legible52
, understand populations. It begun in two French urban regions: Poitier, where a Time
Agency was created, and the Territory of Belfort, that settled the “House for time and mobility”
in order to build dialogue with partners. In 2001, Edmond Hervé, representative of the city of
Rennes, handled a report to the government. This report revealed the need to adapt transport
offer at night and based its conclusions on the two examples of Poitier and Belfort (Hervé, 2001).
Then, a prospective group called « Time and territories » was created at the state level, under the
Prime Minister Lionel Jospin53
. Its goal was to convince local governments to take into
consideration time, lifestyles and changing rhythms within their public policies. It advocated for
the creation of Time Offices, “Bureau des temps”, and of new transport services (Hervé, 2001.
p.25). Saint-Denis, one of the largest cities of the Parisian suburbs, also created a Time Office.
At the same time, Strasbourg’s candidate for mayor stated the need for “occupying the night and
opening later public services” (Gwiazdzinski, 2003, p.17). In that context, “mobility plans”
inside firms were encouraged at the national level. This movement spread further away, for
instance in Italy where Lombardy was pioneer and passed a regional law on “coordination and
administration of the time of cities” in October 200454
. In March 2001, Bertrand Delanoë was
elected mayor of Paris. Soon after his election, in 2002, he created the Parisian Time Office, in
order to study rhythms of Paris, personal, professional and family habits. Among the actions
52
SCOTT James, Seeing like a state, How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition have Failed, Yale
University, 1998
53 DATAR, 2001: http://www.datar.gouv.fr/sites/default/files/datar/temps---territoires-f.pdf
54 http://62.101.84.82/gs/Portale/FR/Portale.nsf/Pagine/TempiDelleCitta?Opendocument « Tempi delle città »
35
proposed: more childcare centers, opened later, concierge services in different neighborhoods,
municipal places for teleworking, shops open 24 hours, nighttime pedestrian zones and adapted
transport for nighttime workers in hospitals, hotels, etc. The report suggested establishing a
mobility agency in the ZAC Rive Gauche, a large-scale urban project where many offices were
being built and lots of jobs located. It also suggested creating a transport firm dedicated to the
night. Two years later, the STIF created Noctilien. So the Time office helped finding solutions
for adapting the city’s services to different rhythms: opening facilities earlier in the morning or
later at night, changing the schedule of parks and gardens (1st of May 2007), opening libraries
and museums later, but also the arrondissement town hall. Since 2009, Paris City hall is cleaned
during the day, in order to avoid the hard conciliation of staggered schedules and private life. So
timetables have progressively become a matter of reflexion at various levels of government.
Building knowledge on the nighttime city became essential. When the Time Office opened in
Paris, Anne Hidalgo, current Mayor of Paris, was in charge of it and also deputy mayor near
Bertrand Delanoë. In 2004, the Parisian urban planning agency (APUR) and RATP conducted a
study to understand the habits of Parisians and the cartography of the Parisian night. Researchers
played a major role in setting the agenda on night-mobility policies. At the end of the 1990’s,
Catherine Espinasse or Luc Gwiazdzinksi observed a great lack of knowledge, data and attention
to the night. Through their researches, they influenced public policies from the inside by being
recruited as a research associate within RATP for the first, and a member of the House of time
and mobility in Strasbourg for the second. Peggy Buhagiar, psychosociologist working with
Catherine Espinasse was also recruited at the City Hall. When both women presented their
methodology to RATP, their interlocutors answered, “They did not want to lose two
researchers!” (int.). So, “they were afraid of what might happen in their own buses!”. Hence,
researchers also needed to influence perceptions and prejudices of the main actors. Catherine
Espinasse even said: “I had the feeling that I rock the RATP! My research contributed to the
creation of Noctilien”. Edith Heurgon, in charge of prospective studies at RATP organized a
seminar at the Castle of Cerisy to speak about the night and nighttime mobility in 2004.
Instigators of the Noctilien participated. One year after, Noctilien was created and two years after
the RATP extended the schedule of the Métro, of one hour on Saturdays in 2006, and one on
Fridays in 2007, from 1:15 to 2:15 a.m. With the influence of the Mayor for Culture Christophe
36
Girard, the General Estates of the Night – Etats Généraux de la nuit – were organized in 2010 to
discuss these topics. New researches were conducted at that time with consultants and research
units (IFOP, Aristat, LH2, and APUR) in order to understand the cartography of the Parisian
night and its evolutions since 2004. This reflexion led the architecture centre, Pavillon de
l’Arsenal, and the philosopher Marc Armengaud to organize an exhibition and publish the book
“Paris la nuit” (Armengaud, 2010). These examples reveal that experts played a major role in
defining nighttime issues and co-building policies on nighttime mobility.
Nighttime mobility gains entry in municipal elections. The Métro extension happened right
before the municipal elections in 2008, when Bertrand Delanoë stated again that nightlife was a
cultural challenge at the core of his first mandate evaluation and its second campaign.55
After his
second mandate, he left his chair for Anne Hidalgo, socialist candidate elected in March 2014.
During her campaign, the current mayor of Paris claimed that the city had “different rhythms”
and stated “I want public transport to be more flexible, especially through the extension of the
Métro’s schedule” (p. 60) (…) and a metropolitan service for taxis”. Her main right-wing
opponent, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, reminded: “a Parisian in three employees has staggered
working hours in the evening or on weekends; I suggest that the city adapts to new lifestyles”
(campaign website). In order to communicate on this point, she published a web-series which
first episode was about a Métro opened all night, staging two young men waiting for the Métro
during one hour until a man passes by and mocks them: “how old are you men? Go out! The
Métro is opened all night on weekends now!”56
. The candidate suggested that the Métro should
function all week until 2 a.m. and all night on weekends, while Anne Hidalgo committed to a
restricted promise: reinforcing Noctilien and developing “a structuring network functioning 24-
hours”, first with lines 1 and 14 (automatic), then lines 6 and 8 (circular) and the RER A and B.
When she was elected, she nominated a Councillor in charge of the night, Frédéric Hocquard,
under the portfolio of Bruno Julliard, deputy-mayor in charge of Culture and first deputy-mayor.
Soon in 2014 all political parties submitted wishes at the Paris City Council in order to improve
the night transport system: UMP and Left-wing radical party included. Hence, transport at night
intruded discourses and campaign promises at the municipal level.
55
Toute la culture, Discours, 2008
56 http://video.lefigaro.fr/figaro/video/la-campagne-nkm-imagine-le-metro-ouvert-toute-la-nuit/3313793976001/
37
Nighttime mobility is intrinsically related to nighttime economy. As the CODEV (Paris
Economic Development Council) published a report on lifestyles in 2003, it set objectives:“to
improve Paris attractiveness and quality of life to bring employment, develop all types of solvent
demand able to create employment and create a comparative advantage for firms with staggered
working hours” (p.2). In London, this topic has been widely calculated. When TFL announced
that the London tube was going to be open non-stop on weekends on five lines57
, this decision
was based, on a report evaluating the economic impacts of the Night Tube. In London, the
daytime bus system works 24 hours and is much developed than the Parisian bus system, mostly
for governance and urban planning reasons (Tillous, 2004). 128 lines work at night, 60 of them
are 24-hour lines and 68 compensate trains, like Noctilien. Since the 1980’s, London researchers
and economists have focused on quantifying the impact of nighttime activities on the local
economy, like in Camden Town, for instance. A report ordered by TfL concluded that the
London Night Tube on weekends would lead to a gross impact of 1965 permanent jobs, generate
2.70£ for each 1£ spent on delivering the service and 1.20£ more for “wider economic impacts”.
Also, TfL should employ 200 more people58
. Nighttime activities are prevalent in some suburbs
of the capital city – 17% in West End as the map below suggests59
(Volterra, for TfL, p.22).
57
Central, Jubilee, Northern, Piccadily and Victoria Lines; London Tube stops at 12.30a.m and starts at 5:30 a.m. 58
“Veille sur les transports à Londres, IAU, 2014
59 Mayor of London and TfL, Travel in London, report 7 (p.70)
38
London is an interesting example as it places the economy at the heart of the transport offer, both
through quantitative and qualitative arguments such as the reduced demand for illegal minicabs,
the potential for longer operating hours in bars and the improved accessibility to Heathrow
airport (TFL, Volterra, 2014, p.4). Other cities based their night policies on this concept. Sydney
developed its “policies after dark” and launched the “Sydney OPEN strategy 2013-2020”60
, in
order to better rule its nightlife and provide accessible public transport. In France, different
actors agree on the fact that local governments “should be the ones to define whether increasing
the transport offer at night would have a positive impact on employment and on the economy”
(Int. RATP, Comité de Tourisme Région IDF, Ville de Paris). So Parisian actors acknowledge
the positive impact of the transport offer on the nighttime economy, without formalizing and
naming it as such. Yet, an IFOP study ordered by the City of Paris revealed that inhabitants spent
on average 61 euros for nighttime activities, the amount being lower for young people from 18 to
24 years old with 46 euros on average. Recently, a group of entrepreneurs, Quartier Libre61
,
gathered to talk about “Urbanuité” and the capacity for innovation in the nighttime city. A
famous nightlife “baron” declared during the General Estates of the night, in 2010: “if nightlife is
changing, there is one sector that does no change: transports”. Thus, transports are a challenge
intrinsically related to nighttime economy and life, but it is argued differently among cities.
Nighttime workers are essential targets for nighttime mobility improvements. The initial
night bus system in Paris was dedicated to RATP nighttime workers. In 1998, there were 641
workers using the Noctambus. In 2004, there were 3900 users, mostly workers during the week
and young partygoers during weekends. On its website62
, the City of Paris insists on the actions
conducted in favor of night-shift employees. Two studies conducted by IFOP and Aristat in 2010
focus on the needs of these workers. 45% of Parisians occasionally work after 8 p.m. The City
also insists on the need for night-shift workingwomen to travel in improved conditions on public
night transports. Along with the reinforcement of Noctilien and the extension of the Métro
schedule, the city of Paris states that Vélib’ is a complementary mode for workers, as it is open
24 hours and can be “an alternative to taxi, buses and walking”. Furthermore, the French Labor
60
http://www.urbis.com.au/think-tank/general/the-night-time-economy-and-the-importance-of-safe-transport-access
61 http://blog.choisirquartierlibre.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Urbanuit%C3%A9-conversation1-CR-web.pdf
62 http://www.paris.fr/politiques/citoyennete/dossiers-d-actualite/paris-la-nuit/rub_7827_dossier_62773_port_18040
39
law valorizes nighttime work and regulates it. A law passed on the 9th
of May 2001, relative to
professional equality between men and women, regulates night work (MIE, 2014, p. 5) and
brings its threshold from 10 p.m. to 9 p.m. - until 6 a.m. The Macron Law63
, communicated in
October 2014, involves extending working hours to improve the city’s competitiveness and
creating special zones for international trade and tourism that would be opened later at night
(ZTI). Consequently, the City Council of Paris ordered a report64
to assess and draw perspectives
on nighttime and Sunday work in the capital city. Moreover, the law does not force to give a
bonus for night-shifts, but voluntary work at night is often motivated by bonuses, higher than in
the United States or United Kingdom, but on which the lack of data is important (MIE, p.32).
Parisian representatives insisted on the fact that there are many night workers specifically in the
peripheral arrondissements like the 20th
(Julien Bargeton, Débat nocturne, Etats Généraux de la
Nuit, 2010), and that some reflexions need to be conducted along with companies in the realm of
their Transport Plans65
. Overall, these topics have led different levels of government to think
about the adaptation of transport system to changing rhythms in cities since the 2000’s.
ii. Promoting night life: engines for dialogue and circulation of policies
Whistleblowers and citizens participate to the agenda setting. Indeed, the night was absent of
the political arena for a long time until some isolated “policy brokers” decided to take the lead on
considering nightlife as a matter of interest for urban policies. Among them, Eric Labbé, a
“nighttime activist” launched a petition called “When the Parisian night dies in silence”66
in
2010. It received 17 000 signatures. Five years later, Eric Labbé considers that this petition gave
a kick-start to nightlife and clubbing (int. 29th
of April). Signatories advocated for a revival of the
Parisian night; public institutions were accused of “killing nightlife” especially because of a law
passed in January 2008. This law pushed smokers outside clubs and bars, and was blamed for
aggravating relationships between bar managers and neighbors. Eric Labbé also launched a
63 http://www.gouvernement.fr/action/le-projet-de-loi-pour-la-croissance-l-activite-et-l-egalite-des-chances-economiques
64 MIE : Mission d’information et d’évaluation sur le travail dominical et nocturne, Conseil de Paris, 2014
65 Plan de Déplacements d’Entreprise ou Interentreprises.
66 http://www.lesinrocks.com/2009/11/02/actualite/quand-la-nuit-parisienne-meurt-en-silence-1136219/
40
website www.parisnightlife.fr, and created the event “Nuits Capitales”, which became “Night
Yourself!”67
, to promote nightlife in Paris. In the meantime, a famous TV speaker created a show
to promote Paris nightlife with a critical look on conventional places for nightlife68
. In 2013, Eric
Labbé launched the election of the “Mayor of the night” organized in 42 bars and clubs of the
capital. Clément Léon R. was elected to represent night owls with 31.34% of the votes, out of 13
candidates. One of the conditions for running the elelection was “not to be inserted in any
political party”. At that time, elected officials looked at this with a curious eye. Ian Brossat,
president of the communist party at the City Hall and current deputy-mayor declared that this
election was “an excellent thing to make the voice of the public heard”. The Parisian mayor of
the night is not isolated and other cities have experienced this kind of representations: since
2003, the actors of Amsterdam’s nightlife elect their « Nachtbrugemeester ». Nighttime public
transports were Clément Léon R.’s second campaign priority, along with pacifying relations
between residents and bar patrons. He built his discourse in opposition with official priorities.
During the General Estate of the Night, he said: “you can’t go from
an A point to a B point when you want (…) there is no political
will”. Recently, he denounced the lack of visibility and
information around the Noctilien and questioned the positions of
Frédéric Hocquard, who had said that Vélib’ and Autolib’ were
alternatives to mass transports: not enough, according to him. He
accused leaders to ease their conscience with events, which he
actually called to boycott, like the famous “Fête de la musique”, on
the 21st
of June, as the poster illustrates.
Another broker was Edouard Meier, founder of the collective “Paris nous appartient” – “Paris
belongs to us”69
– who suggested to organize concerts in public spaces and train stations.
Moreover, citizens organized to raise awareness on this topic, such as “Phare de la jeunesse”, as
the tweet below published on the 1st of March 2015 suggests: “what if the Parisian subway
worked one more hour everynight? The STIF thinks about it, what do you think?”
67
http://www.irma.asso.fr/Les-Nuits-capitales-deviennent
68 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crzwotuy93g
69 http://www.lemonde.fr/culture/article/2010/11/13/paris-se-reve-a-nouveau-en-capitale-
nocturne_1439414_3246.html#4GHvrSZ0dMtQpD5p.99
41
Yet, the question of nighttime transport seems to be intrinsically related to youth and nightlife.
« Against » this trend, associations like Vivre Paris or Accomplir protest against nuisances
caused by nightlife and denounce public health issues. Some residents have even put up posters
asking for their “right to sleep”, as the picture below suggests (Le Marais, 29/04). When it comes
to mobility at night, residents associations are critical: “it seems like policies are only designed
for the youth” (obs.). So, participation is sometimes based on
confrontation. Moreover, apart from these involved citizens, other
users’ are silent. Few surveys directly observe and interrogate them.
Yet, “when populations understand the classic expertise of transport
policies, the consultation is productive” and consultation can have “a
substantial influence on the procedure” (Louvet in Kaufman, 2010).
According to IFOP (2010), satisfaction of Parisians about nightlife
was of 7,5/10 and this number is higher in Paris (7,9) than in Saint-Denis (7,1). Only 23% of the
interviewees consider that the nightlife offer is made for all the categories of the populations,
suggesting again the unequal access to nightlife (chapter I.ii). When it comes to the satisfaction
in terms of transport, the average is only of 6,3/10 and the appreciation is lower for buses and
taxis than for the Métro. Parisians and residents of Hauts-de-Seine, western suburbs, advocate
the most for an extension of the Métro schedule, with respectively 68% and 66%. For 40% of the
18-24 years old, extending the schedule of the Métro is the first priority to improve nightlife in
Paris. The Paris Youth Council also expressed its will to improve public transport at night in
2010. Also, satisfaction regarding the security in public spaces at night is only of 5,9/10. Since
2010, no survey was conducted for that matter. Still, “the city should include this external
opinion on public policies” (int. RATP Paris Agency). Yet, only organized some opinion leaders
and associations are heard today. The world of civic organizations is involved to such an extent
that the current coordinator of the Parisian board of the Night was recruited from an association70
in charge of pacifying public spaces at night. Moreover, federations of professionals of nightlife,
70
http://www.lespierrotsdelanuit.org
42
clubs and bars71
are major advocates. These organizations host workshops and conferences, like
in May 2014 the SACEM organized a seminar called “For the night to live”72
. Their main
argument: the 171 clubs in Paris have a major role in its economy. Thus, they play a predominant
role in discussions about the night at the City Hall, to such an extent that an UDI73
councillor
asked during the Paris City Council of February 2015: “do not leave debates about nightlife
monopolized by lobbies, you need to audition the party-goers!” Eventually, these patterns
illustrate the idea that “communities go forward and governments follow” (Heurgon, p.5).
Frédéric Hocquard even acknowledged “Paris became aware of its nightlife very late” (obs. 29th
April). He even followed with irony telling, “Paris official touristic guides have one page
dedicated to nightlife and fifteen to Napoleon’s life; whereas in Amsterdam nightlife takes five
pages”. Hence, both nightlife whisleblowers and residents associations have nourished a debate
that pushed the night to the front of the policy arena (Kingdon, 1995).
Various institutions and dialogue instances stemed from these debates. In 2010, the former
Mayor in Charge of Culture, Christophe Girard, and Bertrand Delanoe organized the General
Estates of the Night, under the impulsion of two current deputy-mayors interested in the topic,
Ian Brossat, in Charge of Housing and Mao Peninou, in charge among other things of organizing
the Paris Council. These representatives had been called to mind by the ongoing debates. The
first meeting at the City Hall gathered associations, opinion leaders and professional
organizations. Few authorities in charge of mobility were present, apart from the RATP. The
discussion was mostly focused on public peace issues. Four years later, Anne Hidalgo introduced
the first meeting of the Parisian board of the Night, on the 9th
of December 2014. During that
meeting, she came back to the results of the General Estates and declared that mediation was at
the core of night-related policies, which were about “dealing with conflicts related to different
lifestyles”, she said she needed to play here “a mediator’s role” (Actes du Conseil parisien de la
Nuit, p.5). The Parisian board of the Night is composed of five colleges of actors: institutions
(representatives, region, police), associations (prevention, mediation), professional organizations,
(UMIH, Bartenders), specialized organizations (RATP, STIF, SACEM) and qualified individuals
71
For instance, Synhorcat, CSCAD, SNEG, UMIH, Culture Bar Bars
72 https://societe.sacem.fr/universite/colloques/pour-que-vive-la-nuit : « Pour que vive la nuit », with C. Espinasse
73 The centre-right wing party, Question d’actualité à Frédéric Hocquard, Conseil de Paris, 10.02.15
43
(artists, researchers, etc.). A plenary session takes place twice a year; the following will happen
in June 2015. Its aim is to lead to a whitepaper detailing the actions to conduct in favor of the
Parisian night. Seven different workshops meet regularly, among them: mobility at night. This
group seeks to find solutions to facilitate movements at night. It is composed of institutions like
the police, the DRIEA74
, the region and the STIF. Different administrations of the City of Paris
are also represented: the DVD, the youth council and the direction of cultural affairs. Some civic
organizations also have seats: residents associations but also Genre et Ville working on gender
issues in the city, and mobility advisors. There are public transport companies (SNCF, RATP) or
smaller ones like Captain Drive Back, which focuses on prevention. Eventually, trade unions
such as the CFDT transports, experts and users associations have seats, including the FNAUT
(Public transport users association). This association’s general secretary is an administrator of
RATP. Their position is clear: “there is no justification for opening the Métro all night, we would
have to close it during the day for maintenance” (int. 31st of March); Noctilien and taxis are
“efficient to cope with the needs for mobility at night”. So they support companies.
Representatives of other governments participate to another workshop on the “new spaces for the
Parisian nightlife” like the départements 92 and 93, the cities of Saint-Denis and Montreuil, the
state police. Through this board of the night, the city is hoping to build dialogue with its main
partners: the state, the police and the STIF, main decision-makers in terms of transport policies.
Policies on nighttime mobility circulate among metropolises. Indeed, the Parisian board of the
night is similar to a policy implemented in Barcelona, Spain, in 2003, which took up the
challenge to adapt public transport to nighttime needs, including specifically for workers and to
mitigate conflicts between neighbors, clubs and bars. The resulting program, Bonanit “Good
evening Barcelona” was based on community-involvement, dialogue with associations and local
representatives. Since 2003, there also is a city councilor in charge of the night in Barcelona. The
program led to the extension of night buses lines and the diversification of mobility services.
Barcelona’s experience reveals the room for manoeuvre that such councils can have to find
solutions. Some actors facilitate the circulation of these policies gathering different local
governments, associations and academic researchers in order to build solutions in common.
74
Direction Régionale et Interdépartementale de l'Équipement et de l'Aménagement d'Île-de-France (DRIEA), in
charge of transport and mobility matters in the urban region.
44
Among them, the “City on the Move Institute” organized a conference, the International Forum
on nighttime mobility, in Rome, Italy, in 2004 and participated to the elaboration of an
experimentation project called “Troll”, to test mobility at night in cities75
. This protocol stem
from a research project conducted by Marc Armengaud and the agency AWP. It aimed at finding
ways to make cities more hospitable at night by experimenting
possible mobility choices in cities. Also, the Club for cycling
cities ordered a research on the use of bikes at night to
Catherine Espinasse76
. Recently, on the 13th
and 14th
of April
2015, the National Conference on Nightlife (CNVN) was
organized in Nantes (see poster), again with the help of a
federation of bars called “Culture Bars Bars”. This conference
aimed at becoming a “collective and perennial pact between
actors, which mutualizes thoughts and experiences”, a “toolbox
for territories, in order to better approach these questions”.
The focus on public health, security and the economy related to
nightlife was significant. The French Forum for Urban Security
(FFSU) also participated to this conference. This organization seeks to raise awareness of policy-
makers on security issues and to facilitate the circulation of policies. Through their program
“Résolutions”, security in public transport at night is treated. They even invited mayors to “a
night visit of Gare du Nord security agency as well as the Noctilien devices” (int. FFSU). Also,
many charters have been signed: Lille, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux and even smaller size cities
like Périgueux. There can also be charters of mobility, like Bordeaux’s Grenelle des Mobilités77
released in January 2015, which provides the creation of a Time Agency, to adapt mobility to
time-related practices and nightlife. In Brazil, the night manifesto was released for the same
reasons78
. Hence, many actors take part in the dialogue about nighttime mobility and policies
circulate among different cities through increasingly more diversified instances.
75
http://trollawp.free.fr/ - Institut pour la Ville en Mouvement
76 http://www.villes-cyclables.org/?titre=le-velo-dans-la-nuit-urbaine&mode=observatoire-mobilite-actives-etudes-
sondages&id=4928 - Club des villes et territoires cyclables
77 http://www.aurba.org/L-a-urba/a-ctualites/Pour-une-nouvelle-mobilite
78 http://www.colaboratorio.art.br/cronourbanismo/manifesto-da-noite
45
iii. Nightlife and attractiveness: a modern signal for a dynamic metropolis
Attractiveness of cities is an important lever for competitiveness. As Barcelona and Berlin
were experiencing severe crises, nightlife became a lever for economic development. The two
cities, “poor but sexy”79
, attracted new residents. Berlin has become a model. Indeed, in Paris, an
electronic music collective is called “Die Nacht”80
as the german language inspires a certain idea
of urban nightlife. The Long Night of Museums that will take place in many European cities on
the 16th
of May 2015 first begun in Berlin in 1997. Its concept is to open musuems all night and
every year the frequentation skyrockets. As Luc Gwiazdzinski observed already in 2003 (p.103),
« metropolises are competing on criteria of quality of life and activities ». Indeed, the night
reveals the dynamics of cities and their density of activities. As the architect A. Grumbach
shows81
from the sky view below, the metropolitan print is more visible at night, between Paris
and the port-city of Le Havre. The night reveals the dynamic of territories.
In New York or Japan, shops are open 24 hours. Cities with dynamic nightlives have developed
transport systems at night: New York City, but also, Canadian cities betting on non-stop bus
systems at night, such as Caligary. In Europe, since 2003, Berlin has a non-stop transport system
with tramways working all week; the night bus (Nachtbus) and the underground (U-Bahn) pass
every fifteen minutes on weekends from midnight, serving a 1000 km2 perimeter. London
follows the same path and it is a major source of comparision and inspiration for Paris as they are
79
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-08-11/-poor-but-sexy-berlin-economy-outstrips-germany-as-a-
whole-diw-study-say 80
http://www.die-nacht.fr/ 81
http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/2009/04/04/lhorizon-havrais-de-lequipe-grumbach-la-capitale-a-bon-port
46
competing. “In terms of transport, we constantly look at London” (int. RATP). The study
ordered by the STIF in March 2015 includes a “benchmark of public transport systems at night
in other global cities (…) at least in London”. The wish of Parisian representatives to study the
nighttime offer was expressed one week after Boris Johnson announced the Night Tube: this is
not anodyne! Indeed, improving nightlife is a way to keep the pace of global competition.
According to Richard Florida82
, a varied nightlife is perceived as “a signal that a city “gets it”,
even by those who infrequently partake in nightlife”. So the fact of being a city welcoming
partygoers is a matter of preference for individuals, even though they never go out. However,
temporalities, laws and strategies are different from one city to another, and there some limits to
comparisons. Night-mobility is a cross-disciplinary topic, which concerns a city’s activity, its
governance, its users, and reveals much about how cities build their policies in general.
Night events are also tools to promote cities and test transport networks. Recently, the Vice-
president of the Region Pierre Serne expressed a wish at the STIF board so that the Union of
European Football Association (UEFA) Cup would lead to opening the Métro later (1/10/14). In
the Paris region, a special plan called “Grande Nuit” is provided for festive nights such as the
Music festival, “Fête de la Musique”, on the 21st of June and New Year’s Eve. Whit day also
used to be included in that plan but was withdrawn. During those nights, a specific network is
organized by RATP in order to allow users to go
home through public transports, for free, as the
opposite poster and the map below suggest (STIF,
2014). In this case, the Noctilien system is reinforced
and structuring lines are opened: the automatic lines
(1 and 14) as well as circular ones (6 and 2) and lines
service the suburbs (9, and all the RER: A, B, C, D,
E). This plan is financed by the STIF and the region,
the City of Paris participates for almost one third of
the total cost: 516 000€ for a total cost of 1,7 million
euros, taxes included.
82
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2001/0205.florida.html
47
Since 2003, London also offers a free continuous service for New Years’ Eve, financed by TFL
but also by private actors. For instance, in 2004, the beverage company Foster’s financed the free
night tube for New Year’s Eve83
. Thus, “festive nights” are opportunities to test networks, means
and the demand. Actors also promote nightlife in the metropolis through these nighttime events.
Also, Nuit Blanche (Sleepless Night) is an annual event organized by the municipality of Paris
during the first Saturday of October to give access to artistic and cultural happenings, including
in public spaces in Paris at night. The first edition84
took place in 2002, one year after Bertrand
Delanoë’s election and RATP was the first partner of the event, also committed in promoting its
brand, as the banner below illustrates (“On the 4th
of october RATP is doint its sleepless night”).
83
http://www.brandrepublic.com/article/230580/fosters-sponsors-tfls-free-travel-initiative-new-
year?preferredformat=mobile
84 http://www.paris.fr/pratique/culture-patrimoine/nuits-blanches/p6806
48
Sometimes, cultural interventions even happen within the RATP domain itself, like the sound
piece of Bruno Carpentier in the Montmartre funicular85
, for instance. The traffic on Noctilien is
twice higher during Nuit Blanche (60 000 commuters in 2007, 52 000 in 2011) so reinforcements
are organized for mass transit from 2:30 to 5:30 a.m. with two or three Métro lines included in
the “package” that the city pays to the RATP. In 2014, Nuit Blanche was located in the city
centre and southwest, so a North-South line (4) as well as a southern ring (T3) functioned. Every
year, the network is tailor made; the subsidy that the city pays fluctuates between 150 000 and
200 000 euro. In 2015, negociations begun earlier - in March – in order to anticipate
readjustments. Every year, there is a great affluence and RATP does not serve the city centre
with buses, as they “suffered from their own success and were usually taken by storm” (Int.
RATP). So the city of Paris deplores the lack of a regular service in this central perimeter. One of
the wishes of RATP would be to introduce “Nuit Blanche” in the “Grande Nuit” plan so that this
event can beneficiate from a regional network with RER and the company could only deploy
lines that are tried and tested to work all night. But, as the neighborhoods of Nuit Blanche change
every year and, until 2015, the perimeter was restricted to Paris, the “regional impact” of this
event is not acknowledged yet and the municipality restricts the budgets. Still, Nuit Blanche and
Grande Nuit are opportunities to work together for local governments, operators, the STIF and
cultural initiators. This trend is global, and other cities celebrate their nights through events.
Montréal has its own “Nuit Blanche”, for which it advertises even in the Parisian Métro!86
Helsinki organizes the “night of the arts”, Lyon the “Lights festival” every year87
, etc. Moreover,
these events are opportunities to celebrate mobility. On the 11th
of July 2015, SNCF will
organize the “Silent Station Night” in Gare du Nord, which will become a nightclub. SNCF is co-
organizing this event with a private firm. At a smaller scale, the « Roller Friday night fever »
85
Dossier de presse, parcours artistique nocturne, Nuit Blanche 2002
86 http://www.montrealenlumiere.com/nuit-blanche/
87http://www.visitfinland.com/article/night-of-the-arts/ - http://www.fetedeslumieres.lyon.fr/fr
49
happens every week in Paris and hosts thousands of skaters every year. In the United States and
Canada, Fixie nightriders pedal regularly together at night. In Wien, for instance, the
underground is often the place for nightlife, festive events and concerts and some parts of it have
even been transformed in clubs88
. Also, historical touristic tours in Paris are organized in the
Métro at night89
. The Paris Agency RATP manager even suggested, “why not have a Grande
Nuit plan every first Saturday of the month, for instance, in order to promote nightlife?”. The
deputy-mayor in charge of the Time office said during the General Estates of the Night “might
events win the general law on a number of things”. Also, the deputy-mayor of culture is in
charge of the night; and Frédéric Hocquard, is director of the Regional Agency for Artistic
Creation and Diffusion (Arcadi), so he comes from the cultural sector. Thus, the city of Paris
makes no secret of its will to build a nightlife strategy and to develop a model “that would be
unique to Paris and trust itself in the international competition”, as Anne Hidalgo and Bruno
Julliard reminded at the launching of the Parisian board of the night. Hence, cultural events are at
the heart of the policy of the night and are opportunities to make actors work together.
Overall, it seems like for the past fifteen years, the night has become a policy matter in Paris.
First, public action organized around the need to understand and adapt to new rhythms, social
and economic needs. Then, as the night inserted municipal policies and politics, instances for
dialogue developed internally as well as externally, with other cities, other actors and civic
organizations. Progressively, a strategy for the night based on cultural events has emerged and
became the opportunity for different actors to work together and try some actions. Hence,
responses are to be found in the new governance of the night and of transports at night to grasp
main challenges. We shall thus observe priorities and constraints of the main decision-makers.
88
http://www.wien.info/fr/lifestyle-scene/nightlife/nightlife-under-subway « La nuit bat son plein sous le métro »
89 http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/all-night-history-tours-of-paris-metro.cfm
50
III. Decision-makers, their priorities and constraints
The aim of this chapter is understand the governance of transports in Paris and the priorities of
different actors regarding nighttime mobility that led to cooperation and policy implementation.
i. Public transports authorities governance and priorities
The STIF is at the heart of transport governance in Paris. The Parisian Federation for Public
Transport (STP) was created in 1959 and its prerogatives were extended to the region in 1991. In
2000, it became the STIF; the Région Ile-de-France entered the board. In the realm of reforms
for decentralization, the state left the board in July 2005. In 2006 the STIF was established under
the presidency of the Regional Council. The STIF board is composed of representatives of the
region as well as of the eight départements: Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis,
Seine-et-Marne, Val-de-Marne, Val-d'Oise and Yvelines. It is the owner of the rolling material,
including buses and the major fund for transport networks. A specific quadriennial –soon
quinquennal – contract links the STIF to the operators, as the chart below suggests. Its budget is
spread with 47% dedicated to RATP, 39% to SNCF and 14% to the private operator « Optile ».
51
The STIF’s role also is to make operators work together, which is not easy: for Noctilien, the
STIF had to work hard to convince RATP to take the same name as SNCF (int. STIF). The
STIF’s funding is partly based on firms’ contribution through a specific payment called VT
(« Versement Transport »), which corresponds to 36% of the budget. Also, 39% of the funds
come from direct takings 14% from public contribution and 13% from local governments, among
which the region finances 51% and the départements 49%. Moreover, the département of Paris
plays finances 62% of the departments’ contributions and represents only 19% of inhabitants and
28% of the fiscal potential. Yet, the city is better equipped with public transports and the rule of
territorial equality in access to public services comes first. Serving all territories is a major
principle, the “operated effect of decentralization. When the state ruled the STIF, nothing
changed” (int. STIF). In December 2014, a policy was approved, allowing the activation of a
universal pass (Pass Unique), the STIF board decided to harmonize prices in the whole region so
there will be one less costs for residents of the outer suburbs. This costly measure leaves
administrators pessimistic about the possibility to gain the extension of Métro schedules at night
at this stage (obs. Int. City of Paris, STIF, Region Ile-de-France). This governance is complex as
there are more layers and counter-powers linking the actors of mobility than in London for
instance, where the mayor of the Greater London is also president of TfL’s board.
Both political and territorial logics are intertwined at the STIF. Indeed, a right-wing
department could be in conflict with one project both because it is against its political goals or its
territorial interests. Elected representatives of the département of Paris have a great role to
“impulse” decisions at the regional level and suggest innovations. In October 2014, they asked
for the study to be conducted by the STIF in order to improve transports at night and other
representatives followed the lead. In fact, the Vice-President of the region in charge of transports
declared that if we only think about extending the schedule of the Métro, it would only concern
Parisians, while extending the entire network “would offer night transport solutions to people
who don’t have any solution nowadays”90
. He also confided, “we follow Parisian representatives
on that topic” (int.), we don’t have a precise opinion on conditions, except we ask for whatever
night mobility improvement to concern the whole region and, consequently, to include the RER”.
90
http://www.lejdd.fr/JDD-Paris/Metro-de-nuit-Une-ouverture-d-une-heure-supplementaire-a-la-mi-2016-est-a-tester-720468
52
The role of the region is to ensure that no territory is forgotten. The creation of Noctilien in 2004
was a proof of: “the operators’ awareness of a new metropolitan geography” (Armengaud, 2010,
p. 308). A member of the region’s Vice-president’s office added: “We have too much work with
other topics that are more tense, such as rush hours, punctuality and frequency of the trains”.
Hence, regional elected representatives are in favour of extending the transport offer, but do not
take the lead. However, as regional elections are planned in December 2015, we might expect
night transports to become a topic for campains. Already in 2010 during the last campaign, the
current President, Jean-Paul Huchon, committed to “open the Métro all night on Saturdays and
Sundays and from 4 a.m. during the week”91
. Yet, political temporalities as well as changing
decision-makers – like the departure of the President of the RATP in April 2015-, might lead to
accelerated processes and negocations. Furthermore, relations between the STIF and politicians
are sometimes tense, and information takes time to circulate (obs., int. STIF, Ville de Paris,
SNCF, RATP). According to the STIF, they do not work with the same temporality as elected
representatives: “for them, one semester is like centuries. We need more time, we have to launch
call for tenders, recruit research units, etc.” (int. STIF). On the other side, the STIF always
needs to ensure its credibility in front of elected representatives seating at its board. Moreover,
the STIF seems to have its own judgement: “the Green party is very fond of these questions (…)
but the night should not be a question of politics”. The STIF was absent of the workshop of the
Paris board of the Night, and justified: “we don’t have time for this, we have other priorities and
will see whatever results from the debates” (int. STIF). Also, according to the Regional
Committee for Tourism (int. CRT), the STIF should be the instance to evaluate questions of
economy and attractiveness related to nighttime economy, but there is no mention of this concept
in the specifications of the study. No additional offer was implemented since 2010 eventhough
the topic was broached a few times by elected representatives during its board. Overall, logics
are intertwined and result in tensions and hindrances to the policy for nighttime mobility. Yet,
the STIF has not neglected this question since 2004 and has set some priorities.
91
http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2010/02/05/01011-20100205FILWWW00526-metro-huchon-veut-etendre-les-horaires.php
53
ii. Improving safety and quality of service at night: actors coinciding on priorities
Various actors grant security and safety as priority goals to improve nighttime mobility.
Indeed, according to Luc Gwiazdzinski, (2003, p.117), among the objectives is « improving the
security of inhabitants, lowering accidents, developing nightlife and reducing individual cars
and car traffic ». Security of users, specifically when observing the rates of car accidents linked
with alcohol, is crucial. The current project manager of the board of the Night advocates for local
policies and war on drugs92
: so that public health becomes a matter for nightclubs through charts,
labels and local interventions. So, various types of actors seized the question. For instance, the
firm “Captain Drive Back”93
is specialized in bringing people home in their own cars with a fleet
of folding mupeds. This firm has got partnerships with large companies organizing events, like
Suez Environnement (int. CDB). Also, the non-profit organization Wimoov94
created in 1995
and co-financed by the city, organizes awareness campaigns during events to avoid drunk
drivers, provides Breathalyzer tests and drives them back home. Wimoov wants “to change the
attitude of party organizers, student’s organizations and university services and make them feel
more responsible” (int. Wimoov). Thet took action during festivals like Solidays, Rock en Seine,
Inox Park, la Fête de l’Huma and students parties. As the pictures below suggest95
, Wimoov also
gives mobility advice to party-goers and information about public transports nearby.
92
http://thierry-charlois.typepad.com/, Contribution pour une politique de la nuit à Paris, 2014
93 http://www.captaindriveback.com/
94 http://www.wimoov.org/offres-de-services/covoiturage-nocturne/
95 Source, Wimoov. Left : stand at a student’s party ; right, flyer distributed with information on transport
Arrêt Corentin Celton Direction Premier Metro Dernier Metro
Front Populaire 5 : 31 1 : 38
Mairie d’Issy 5 : 52 2 : 13
Equinoxe - La Palmeraie
54
Other private firms took the opportunity of large events to raise awareness. Uber launched a
campaign called “Go Home Alive” during last New Years Eve96
. The company also contacted
Wimoov to take advice on road safety. Furthermore, in public spaces and transports, security has
been a major issue at night, denounced by most of the actors during the General Estates of the
Night and the board of the Night, from gender equality organizations to the operators themselves.
Noctilien are stigmatized as being buses of misery people and the drunken youth (int. Padam,
RATP, SNCF, C. Espinasse). Around ¾ of attacks within the Noctilien happen between 2 a.m.
and 5 a.m. and 60% of crimes are perpetrated during weekends. Along with passengers, drivers
are also concerned by violence97
. In 2010, 30% of police interventions happened between 10
p.m. and 6 a.m., corresponding to 75 000, 200 per night according to the sous-préfet (Etats
Généraux de la Nuit, 2010). Most attacks take place in Paris, often near transit stations. For
Noctilien, both RATP and SNCF took measures to ensure security. RATP Noctilien drivers have
a discreet alarm allowing them to ring the central security desk, and a discreet listening in every
bus. According to Catherine Espinasse’s, there was a high demand, particularly among women,
for reassurance through human presence in the Noctilien. The SNCF Noctilien provide an agent
accompanying the driver in every coach - RATP drivers are alone but closer to central control.
The FNAUT also deplores this insecurity as “an issue in RATP Noctilien buses. There are lots of
people troubling, and no one to help the driver contrarily to SNCF buses” (int.). In French, the
bus stop is called “abri-bus”, like a shelter, but “it is called wrong because it is a shelter for no
one” says Catherine Espinasse. This is due to lack of design, comfort and signage, and related to
urban planning, so plans for public lights are still implemented (obs. DVD). In Canada, a recent
experimentation called “between two stops” allows bus drivers to stop women between two stops
if they don’t feel secure to walk. In April 2015, the French High Council for equality between
women and men quoted this measure98
and launched a national debate and a campaign called
“Stop on the whole line” involving the city hall and public transport companies. Along with these
measures, exploratory walks are organized in cities in Canada, the United States and Europe. In
Paris, Genre et Ville organizes wals in order to understand the strategies of women in public
96
https://blog.uber.com/RentrerEnVie
97 http://pcf-ratp-bus.over-blog.com/article-insecurite-sur-le-noctilien-un-temoignage-precis-in-le-parisien-45741930.html
98 http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2015/04/16/comment-lutter-contre-le-harcelement-sexiste-dans-les-
transports_4617592_3224.html#80AfqWTmUVErMKlW.99
55
spaces. Furthermore, among new businesses, security is at the core of discourses. For instance,
according to Padam, their solution responds to the need for security, which is “fundamental in
transports “as” some people refuse to go out because they would be afraid of how to come back”
(int. Padam). Also, technology businesses are conscious of the legal risks they are taking and are
“completely obsessed by security of users, if there is any problem, [we] are responsible and it is
highly mediatized” (int. Uber). In London, a specific police measure, the “Safer travel at night
initiative”99
, aims at reducing the number of cab-related sexual offences. Furthermore, inside
public transport, the police and operations install protection cameras (int. PP); this measure is to
be reinforced (int. RATP, SNCF). Inside train stations, dog masters also work along with
proximity police and drug police every day and nights (int. Préfecture de Police; Gwiazdzinski,
2005, p. 168). Also, the GPSR (Security intervention group) is composed of employees volunteer
to work more, are cruising and working with the police (int. RATP). A special cell was created in
partnership with the charity organization Emmaüs to take care of homeless people. In extreme
cases, RATP uses a centre located in Nanterre, where the police host “homeless and
psychologically dangerous people”: the CASH100
(int. Préfecture de Police). According to the
RATP Paris Agency, “cooperation between RATP and the city to reinforce night-mediators in
hubs was successful”(int.). Still, residents organization complain about mediators: “they are not
supermen, it’s should be the police guaranteeing security” (obs. Board of the night). The
regional police have a special unit for the night and a brigade dedicated to transport networks:
the Railways bridade (BSR) and the Night securisation service (SSNR) mobilized in Noctilien
and train strations. In New York, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) works
closely with the New York Police Department and its Transit Police, set by Mayor Giuliani
during the “zero tolerance” policy in 1993. This led to banning registered delinquents from the
subway. The Sydney Open 2013-2020 policy extended late night public transport in order to
lower “rates of anti-social activity” and prevent people from linger-longering in public spaces
near festive zones, as there used to be fights in these areas due “binge drinking” (int. FFSU). In
Paris, police forces are concentrated in festive zones at night (int. PP). Thus, security isues are
are static (train and Métro stations) and dynamic (bus, tramways). Overall, all actors of mobility
at night seem to agree and cooperate on the question of security related to nighttime mobility.
99
http://content.met.police.uk/Article/Safer-Travel-at-Night/1400007267958/1400007267958 100
http://www.cash-nanterre.fr/: shelter and hospital care
56
The quality of service, accessibility and visibility are also priorities that led to improvements
of nigtime mobility. A report ordered by the City of Paris and the Union of Cabarets and Clubs
of Paris (CSAD) in June 2009101
shows that the among the main challenges, public transports at
night faced lack of visibility and accessibility (p.44). Indeed, facilitating the access to the city at
night is a priority for the municipality. Measures to reduce the cost of car parks in festive areas,
especially in six car parks near the Mouffetard, Opéra-Louvre, Les Halles and Le Marais,
illustrate this. Concerning public transport, the pressure from users organizations is important:
the FNAUT claimed Noctilien should be more accessible102
. Also, in the realm of the Parisian
bus restructuration project, consultation of inhabitants is planned for 2015, including their
opinion on the quality of service. In 2013, 49% of complaints focused on the bus system, so there
are expectations on this particular mode of transport. Moblity’s role in social integration is major
(Nicolas Louvet 6T, p. 21). Hence, accessibility is a matter of agreement among actors, including
the STIF and operators. Today, 100% of buses are accessible for wheelchair users on RATP and
SNCF Noctiliens. Also, a specific network was set for disabled users and is entirely financed by
the city of Paris: PAM 75. In 2014, the service was extended from midnight to 2 a.m. on
weekends103
to allow users to come home later. The city and RATP also organized an event
promoting accessibility to the Parisian nightlife called the “Night of accessibility” 104
. Another
criterion is the information to passengers. Every year, the STIF deplores the lack of progress of
operators and gives them “malus” on
this specific criterion. For instance,
information onboard is not sufficient
with an index of 90,8 in 2013 and 94,7
in 2014, instead of a contractual
objective of 98 as the opposite chart
suggests105
.
101
http://www.ege.fr/download/rapport_juin2009_tourisme_nocturne.pdf
102 FNAUT, Analyse des attentes des voyageurs sur la qualité de service, soutien MEDDE, 2013
103 http://www.pam-info.fr/se-deplacer/les-horaires/transport-pam-75/
104 http://nda2013.jaccede.com/
105 http://www.stif.org/transports-aujourd-hui/services-aux-voyageurs/les-indicateurs-de-qualite-de/article/la-qualite-
de-service-en-chiffres.html
57
Still, efforts were deployed and the STIF asked operators to recruit agents to give information at
night in the five major train stations. RATP published a guide called “voyager la nuit” on its
website106
, Noctilien schedules and neighbourhood maps were included in the new bus stops, an
Internet website was developed, a phone number is available and 1 700 stops are equipped with
interactive screens indicating the remaining time before the next bus. Also, some projects were
abandoned, such as fluorescent maps on bus stops for visibility. The RATP acknowledges that
there is a need « to go further in terms of services, visibility and promotion of services » (int.
RATP). A new application dedicated to nighttime mobility is being “investigated”; it might
allow users to access information more easily by 2016. In Zurich, the public transport authority
created a “mascot” specific for night mobility offer to valorize in a global approach to nightlife’s
development. So there are margins to improve the visibility of the offer at night. Nighttime
services also lack information for tourists. One new project hosted in the city’s incubator for
tourism: Welcome City Lab is called “interactive mobility”107
and provides digital entertainment
for passengers. The manager of this incubator confessed it was the only one and he was “waiting
for a start-up to bring ideas for mobility at night” (int. 15.04.15). So expectations are expressed.
The translation to English of panels and signage was asked to RATP and JC Decaux, in charge of
designing, settling and operating the bus stops. Also, the region is providing free English courses
to taxis. On the tourism website108
, a paragraph concerns nighttime transports. Interestingly, the
FAQ answers to the question of traveling after the last Métro with these words: “There is a night
bus network (Noctilien) consisting of 18 lines starting from the Place du Châtelet and heading
out in different directions to the suburbs”. The hyperlink to Noctilien does not work on the
website, and information about Noctilien is wrong. Yet, the bus is a mode for regular users (int.
RATP), and its nighttime version is not considered as a potential mode for tourists. In the end, it
appears that tourists in Paris don't go out much at night because they do not know how to move
around109
, or they go out earlier, around 22h-23h110
when the Métro is still working. Indeed, the
106
http://www.ratp.fr/fr/ratp/c_20564/voyager-la-nuit/
107 http://interactive-mobility.com/
108 en.parisinfo.com, section : « night transport in Paris »
109 GWENDAL Simon. Pratiques touristiques dans la métropole parisienne : une analyse des mouvements intra-
urbains. Humanities and Social Sciences. Universit´e Paris-Est, 2010. French.
110 http://atout-france.fr/services/chiffres-cles-et-etudes
58
Métro is a “digital mode”, whereas the bus is an “analogical mode”, hence, “one needs to be
conscious of one’s way and the logic of the STIF is not tailored for tourists” (int. RATP). So
tourism is interesting to grasp the question of transports at night (Gwiazdzinski, 2006, p.6). The
question was raised to maintain the daytime bus system in order to gain visibility, but according
to the STIF, it would be more complex as the bus network is complementary to the mass transit
network, serving more territories (int. STIF). Hence, quality of service, accessibility and
information about the public transport remains a matter of interest and improvements conducted
by the STIF along with operators and other actors of the territory.
iii. Constraints to the development of public transports at night
Is the subway the answer? If actors converge in advocating for the improvement of the existing
offer through security and information, developing the offer is another issue. So other constraints
push down on the development of services. Among them, there are technical arguments linked to
the modes. Indeed, Noctilien has a technical advantage because it relieves the traffic congestion
in bus wharehouses and leaves space for the daytime fleet. Also, the extension of the daytime
network schedule was decided to enhance the offer in the evening so that “buses do not go to
sleep with chickens”111
, as the STIF communicated. In 2025, the RATP is expected to have
electric buses, which might be more “beautiful and silent, pleasant at night, and surely more
attractive, like they are in London” (int. RATP). Today, material acquisitions are minimal, but
smaller buses could be used as Noctilien because they would be lighter and more flexible
(Midibus, Minibus). Hence, if buses are considered as a solution, the main expectations concern
the Métro (chapter I.ii), but underground stations are closed at night because 3000 to 4000
people conduct works, maintenance and cleaning operations. In Paris, the network is tight, so the
more it is simple for users “the more the backstage is complicated” (int. STIF). When asked
about nighttime transports, Parisians answer, “extending the schedule of the Paris underground”
as obviousness (Chap I.ii). Asking the same thing to a dweller of Lima or Casablanca, where
15% of inhabitants use taxis, would probably lead to different answers. Hence, the infrastructure
and the symbolic of the subway are crucial. According to Bruno Latour, Paris is an invisible city
111
http://www.lebusdeplusenplus.fr/ « Les bus ne se couchent pas avec les poules », STIF 2014
59
where the infrastructures are embraced in a whole, “they interconnect and form a continuous
material base over which the social world of representations and signs subsequently flows”112
.
So the underground is part of everyone’s daily course. An RATP manager acknowledged:
« Autolib ', it is only « bonus». We do not expect anything from it a priori, while from the Métro,
we expect a lot », so it is difficult to restrict or modify. Also, knowing how this infrastructure is
managed and regulated is a major question113
. Indeed, technical systems are not human;
therefore, the expert is “a central figure of decision-making in the sector of transports” (Gallez
& Al. 2010). Yet, as Gwiazdzinski (2003, p. 18) wrote, “entering the night means that we accept
mobility, movement and processes rather that the only analysis of the structures”. So, according
to RATP, “the only difficulty is technical, not financial not social”, and to add that the pressure is
political and comes “from elected representatives who want to win their campaigns”. The main
argument is the maintenance of the network to
maintain conformity and ensure security (int. RATP,
CGT-RATP; picture by Nicolas Marques, JDD),
which happens at night. In London, authorities
answered to this difficulty by planning more works
during the week, inspired by techniques brought
from Hong-Kong’s underground (TfL, 2014).
Also, after Grande Nuit “Métros are disgusting” so the STIF does “not want that every weekend”
(int. STIF). Moreover, as the Greater Paris Métro is on the tracks, a circular line is expected to
link suburbs by 2030, and RATP already studies the technical constraints of a two ways rail, also
implying maintenance on closing hours. Eventually, local governments regulate mobility, roads
and public spaces. So if the mass transit system is ruled by the STIF, the quality of infrastructure
for transports is unequal: many cities do not have cycle lanes, for instance, and the STIF
acknowledges: “we are all interdependent”. Today, the STIF did not claim prerogatives for other
types of mobility services. For instance, it could be in charge of taxis, today regulated by the
police, etc. So as long as planning, mobility services and transport infrastructures are governed
separately, mobility will be fragmented and the dialogue will remain weak.
112
LATOUR Bruno, Symposium on Interobjectivity, Centre de Sociologie de l’Innovation, 1996
113Gomez-Ibanez J, Regulating Infrastructure: Monopoly, Contracts, and Discretion, Harvard University, 2003
60
The financial and social costs of reinforcing the offer are significant. RATP and SNCF, as a
state companies, depend on the French ministry of budget. The STIF controls their expenses. The
study ordered by the STIF on nighttime transports asked for technical and financial assessments.
First, a year of training would be necessary for employees to learn the processes and extending
one-hour of work would be equivalent to paying all night shifts for RATP. Some lines would be
less expensive than others because they are automatic (1 and 14). Since the extension of 2007,
more than 15 million euros were spent per year (int. RATP), which is more than initially
planned, as this STIF deliberation114
suggests. The Institut Montaigne estimated during the 2014
municipal campaign that extending the schedule of one hour would lead to 7,5 million euros and
operating costs of 42,5 millions euros115
. As for the takings, if RATP extends only one hour, they
are expected to be of 1,1 million of euros for 548 0045 more kilometers produce, with a cost of
operation of 3,565 millions of euros. The cost effectiveness of opening a service only be used by
subscribers is not interesting; it would lead to “empty trains rolling” (int. RATP, Padam, SNCF).
In New York, 1% of trips happen between 1 a.m. and 5a.m. Discussing the cost is related to
knowing “who pays”. Today, local governments would be paying more every year if there were
an extension. No up-raise of the business share (VT) is planned and no private actor has the
capacity to fund a public service in France, contrarily to London where the Emirates financed the
cable car. So the debate about costs will continue. The STIF answers: “making clubs pay, why
not? But you can’t tax firms endlessly, these are small firms”. Its budget is of 9 billion euros, so
it is less a question of feasibility than of priority. Furthermore, these costs come along with social
discussions and conflicts. Indeed public companies employ nightshift workers. At RATP, there
are 34 to 88 Noctilien drivers during the week, and 62 to 149 on weekends along with the
security teams. Among the 45 000 RATP workers, 15 000 work regularly at night and 3 000
every night for maintenance, operations and security. In 2014, there were 157 500 night-works
conducted by RATP. The company’s trade union looks with worried eyes at London, where jobs
might have been cut in order to finance the Night Tube116
. At RATP, night workers are organized
to influence political choices on work conditions. According the trade union CGT RATP, 80% of
114
http://www.stif.org/IMG/pdf/20060285-2.pdf
115http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/sites/news/files/assets/document/2014/03/annexe_financement_chiffrage_de_l_institu
t_montaigne_revolution_des_horaires_2_0.pdf 116
http://www.ce.ratp.fr/extension/cre_ratp/design/ceratp/flash/Frequences/Frequencefluid01_2014/index.html#/13
61
night workers vote for them, which corresponds to mostly 4400 union members. In total, 30,4%
of the company is unionized, so night workers are “a real bastion for the CGT” (int.). The union
has 800 elected members. It defends the extension of the Métro as it advocates for more transport
offer, but it refuses to let changes intensify the work or lead to insecurity. Indeed, the one hour
extention of the Métro schedule in 2007 led to “13% more works but not 13% more employees”
according to them. One of their main fights is to ensure that there would be no isolated workers
on maintenance operations at night and that agents in charge of closing stations would always be
accompanied by GPSR security staff. This fight lasted for long under the slogal “On en a gros”
(We are fed up), as both pictures below illustrate (source. CGT). The union also asked for
specific compensations (20%) for night shifts, which will be granted from July 2015th
on.
According to the Paris Agency director at RATP: “in order to activate the network in “Grande
Nuit” conditions, we have to convince employees: we work on the basis of perennial
volunteering”. In March 2015, in Toulouse, when the company Tisséo decided to extend one
hour the Métro on Fridays and Saturdays, drivers delivered a strike notice of seven months, until
September 2015117
, and threatened stoppage in order to protest against the extension and ask for
compensations. In Paris, the CGT-RATP said that “they would like to be consulted by the STIF
and that they can have opinion from the field” (int.). The operation director at the STIF reacted
to this information:“a driver is payed to drive, smile and welcome, not to give his opinion or
117
http://www.lefigaro.fr/social/2015/03/03/09010-20150303ARTFIG00155-un-preavis-de-greve-depose-pour-sept-
mois-dans-le-metro-toulousain.php
62
recount situations” (int. STIF). Hence, the lack of dialogue is persistent and the political context
within firms essential to understand the reluctance of operators to change the offer. So, if the
STIF decides the extension of the Métro non-stop on weekends at the outcome of the study,
major measures would be undertaken and social constraints would intervene.
Overall, the main actors of mobility in Paris are organized in a complex governance system with
political and territorial forces intertwined. Operators, civic organizations, firms and public
authorities show common priorities to improve the existing offer making it safer and more
visible. Different actors worked together in order to do so. However, political, technical,
financial and social constraints persist when the question comes to extending the offer, especially
the Métro. But other constraints might also push down. The STIF declared, “night transport will
never be a mass transit system, except if we want to dismantle the structure of society” (int.
04.15). This illustrates the prevalence of the infrastructure and the settled vision of the night that
impede changes. Resigned, an RATP manager acknowledged state authorities and companies are
“colossus and unable to move” and that if night mobility should evolve, “things are going to go
their own way through the market”.
63
IV. Improving nighttime mobility: perspective for incremental changes
The aim of this chapter is to reverse the paradigm on the transport infrastructure in order to
understand where and how the actors of nighttime mobility set up a new deal. The challenges
linked to mobility at night are in the hands of new actors; so the lack of services identified (II.i)
woud find its solution in a renewed governance structure that we shall analyze in this chapter.
i. Tailoring nighttime mobility: new models and answers
New mobility businesses are answering to territorial and accessibility priorities with
innovative tools. Indeed, new delivery cars and drivers appear everyday. This phenomenon, it
raises questions of mobility models in Paris and challenges institutions up to legal frameworks.
In April 2015, the ADEME (Environment and Energy Management Agency) launched a public
tender for a study on the market of VTC118
. The details of the tender specified that Uber, Lyft,
Djump and Heetch should be specifically questioned, in order to understand the potential and
specificities of this market. These actors arrived in a highly regulated market, with little room for
manoeuvre. Eventhough taxi G7’s takings reach more than 500 millions euros per year119
and
could compete with these firms, the technology influences practices at such a pace that they got
overwhelmed. Thus, “the battles for mobility today are big battles”, as a Heetch co-founder
observes, and “the market needs to be very competitive”. These new actors brought major
changes to nighttime mobility challenges (chapter I.ii. and II.i). For instance, they serve all the
territories for the nighttime city. Indeed, as the map bellow illustrates, Uber serves many isolated
neighborhoods and covers a great perimeter in the Paris urban region120
. According to an Uber
manager, “10% of Uber trips leave from and go to a ZUS (Isolated Urban Zone)”. Also, 14% of
trips start or end from a point located at more than 1km from a Métro or a RER station (15% for
UberPOP); 1% start and end at more than 1 km from a Métro or RER station. These numbers
partly answer to the coverage challenges finding an answer in the flexibility of the service and its
lower costs as regards UberPop (Chapter I.ii)
118
http://www.ademe.fr/content/realisation-dune-etude-differentes-formes-vehicules-transport-chauffeur-vtc
119 http://www.groupeg7.com/chiffres.php
120 By Uber, April 2015
64
Furthermore, the company Heetch also claims that 50% of its trips involve the Parisian suburbs.
They mostly serve cities located in the western suburbs like Chatou and Versailles (int. Heetch).
Hence, these technology businesses answer to priorities expressed by public institutions: giving
access to mobility services in all territories. As we saw in the first chapter, peaks of demand for
Uber are very high in the evening, specifically to go home, but not reveal a higher demand at the
closure of the Métro. Again, the prevalence of the Métro solution might be structuring: people
leave parties “not to miss the last Métro” (int. Heetch, Padam, Etats Généraux de la Nuit) and the
public transport offer is outlining mobility choices. Still, the main contribution of these
businesses seems to answer to many stakes related to mobility needs. For these reasons, they
look for public support: “we are looking for a city that understands what we can bring in terms
of mobility” (int. Uber). For instance, Helsinki is working with Uber on its “2025 strategy” for
mobility, including the reduction of the use of individual cars. According to an Uber manager,
crossing the data of public transport and Uber data “would be an opportunity to better target and
answer the demand”. Still, today, Uber data is expensive and preserved, in a context of
competition and distrust among actors, and public institutions refuse to share data with Uber.
Thus, these services andswer to territorial issues, bring flexibility and competition to nighttime
mobility and are likely to change behaviors, but they still need to convince other actors.
65
New models bring responsiveness and flexibility to tailor mobility for nighttime. Indeed, the
need for flexibility is crucial at nighttime, as distances are longer and and dynamic territories
more spread (Gwiazdzinski, 2006, p.6). Along with UberPor, start-ups like Heetch or Djump
developed models based on carpooling systems, even if prices remain higher than in classic
pooling logics such as Bla Bla Car121
. These actors adapt to patterns specific to the night and to
the pressing urban demand. 57% of subsequent Uber user trips in Paris begin more than 1km
from where the user was last dropped off. So users choose different modes of transport to get
around the city, such as the Métro, bus, bikes, walking, etc. and then take Uber to get home. This
diversification of options adapts to the wriggling characteristic of nighttime mobility. Moreover,
by associating mobility services to cultural offers (Espinasse, Buhagiar, p.2004. p. 10), services
can adapt to the needs specific to nightlife. Sometimes, party organizers provide themselves the
transport service with coaches and call companies like “Destination clubbing” to bring the clients
to the location of the festival. A firm called SOSAM122
has a specific service called “evening
shuttle”, which works with clubs and party organizers since
2010 to provide mobility and safety advice to clients. The
start-up called “Loue to Sam” (Rent your Sam) seeks to
promote nighttime car sharing. This solution is dedicated to
the youth, but the founders seek to enter the Parisian market
(int. LTS). The City of Saint-Etienne supports them, partly
because, club exits are “places for meetings and noise
pollution”. This project is based on the observation that
carpooling is becoming a habit that should be “adapted to the system of the night” (int. LTS).
Among these businesses, Padam was founded in 2014 by two students in engineering and seeks
to become “the new transport at night in Paris”. It is a mobile application that allows booking in
real time. It has been described as the “Uber of Noctilien” in newspapers123
. Their advertisement
states: “no more need to take two Noctilien or to spend a fortune in a taxi to go home!” “This
121
https://www.covoiturage.fr/
122 http://www.sosam.mobi/
123 http://www.latribune.fr/entreprises-finance/services/transport-logistique/padam-le-uber-des-noctiliens-reinvente-
le-transport-en-commun-de-nuit-470034.html
66
alternative is thought for night owls”. Buses leave from nodal points and follow a line calculated
by an algorithm to bring everyone home. According to the co-founders (int.), “when you create a
business, you have to identify a need. There was a clear need
for mobility at night”. This solution seeks to provide flexibility,
in opposition with public transport, as the poster illustrates,
“heavy modes are not the solution” (int.). This project was born
from a “personal frustration” of the founder, who lived in the
suburbs and “struggled to get home through public transport
and was turned down by taxis refusing to cross the ring road”.
In April 2015, Padam has got between 500 and a thousand
subscribers and already 1600 trips recorded a couple of months
after launching the service. Their aim is to test the product and
“be able to predict the demand” thanks to their software.
Eventually, they consider presenting it to RATP, TransDev or Keolis (SNCF branch). Thus,
through ICT, nighttime mobility might eventually find flexibility for public transports purposes.
Still, for now, the founders of Padam are disappointed: “the Greater Paris or the will to extend
the Métro’s schedule, it means again that we think only by infrastructure and beat the fly with a
hammer. We believe in systems without infrastructures”. Furthermore, these types of responsive
solutions seek to have an impact on territories as they cover the whole city. In the end, Padam
wants to test a technology for mobility and nighttime is just an opportunity to find the demand.
In other cities, public transport companies have tried to provide answers to specific needs at
nighttime. For instance, in Toulouse, since April 2012, a night bus of the company Tisséo is
leaving every hour from the city center towards the main campuses of the city on Thursdays,
Fridays and Saturdays124
; one ticket costs 1,60€. The trajectory was decided through consultation
with student associations. Another company in Toulouse called “Teenage’car” also targets this
category of users125
. Thus, there are windows for different actors to adapt mobility services to
nighttime and its speicificities. However, we observe that these solutions often target the youth
and partygoers, so only a certain part of the night owls (Chapter I.i.).
124
https://www.tan.fr/jsp/fiche_pagelibre.jsp?CODE=25664226&LANGUE=0&RH=1227806842597
125 http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2015/04/08/2083089-teenage-car-remporte-le-trophee-des-transports-de-nuit.html
67
So, mobility services become actors of the Parisian nightlife and the festive landscape. As
we observed in the second chapter, bringing Paris to the rank of a good destination for nightlife
is a lever for policies. Private entrepreneurs are tackling this objective even more deliberately.
For instance, Heetch works every night from 8 p.m from 6 a.m, as the poster below shows.
Heetch’s slogan is “enjoy your night out” (in English). Every week, they send a newsletter with
the “good electronic music deals of the week”126
. According to a co-founder of the firm, the
DNA of this firm is nightlife, not mobility. He thought: “why wouldn’t the party begin when one
goes out of one’s home and ends when one goes back to
it” and the idea of the ride sharing system came after,
when he observed “the difficulty to get around the city at
night”. Noctilien is “a pain, especially for girls”, public
transport close too soon, and taxis or delivery cars are too
formal and expensive for young people, and “it’s a
frustration when one wants to go out”. In order to adapt to the youth needs, Heetch allows the
clients to pay cash with “coins they have in their pockets”. The company suggests a price, with
no obligation to stick to it, and takes a 10% commission. The name Heetch comes from
hitchhiking, “because the platform adds confidence between people” (int. Heetch). Indeed, they
like to think that they create social link and interactions and bring something more to the Parisian
night. For instance, when “the classic client, a young girl from the 16th
, meets the classic driver,
a guy coming from the suburbs”, they are glad because “these two people wouldn’t have met
otherwise”. Eventually, Heetch tries to build a community and a sense of belonging to the night
and be actors of the electronic night. This is why the company has partnerships with trendy
electronic music related brands, places (Glazart, Concrete, and Batofar) and beverages (Club
Maté). Reacting to previous debates, they said, “the night in Paris was supposed to be dead in
2010, but now it is competing with Berlin, and it is not because of the political will”. Just like
Heetch, the company Djump, from Belgium, bases its service on a community that “likes to go
out and meet new people” (website). Indeed, drivers and “djumpers”, share “friendly moments
together, listening to music or just chatting”. All these strategies respond to the priority of the
quality of service too. In France, Uber was first used by the youth because they are the most
126
https://www.heetch.com/night/
68
“tech savy, go out the most and want to spend less money” (int. Uber). A new service called
UberPool was launched in November 2014. Its goal is to allow users who go in the same
direction to share a ride thanks to an algorithm. Uber set partnerships with festivals, universities
and “pushes” every year in September to incite students to sponsor their friends. According to
the New York Times127
, Uber “changed Los Angeles’s nightlife” and “ubering” became an
«indispensable part of nightlife” as people are “suddenly free to drink party and walk places”.
Indeed, Uber became a verb in English! Still, these projects reproduce the fragmented nighttime
geography of the city through their products and suggest that nighttime mobility opportunities
are tailored for partygoers. Indeed, the neighborhoods from which Padam operates (see map
below) illustrate this idea as they are at the core of the Parisian night (Apur, 2004, 2010, p.10).
In other cities, nighttime mobility services also developed with technology. For instance, a
Radiobus on-demand works every night in Milan. Everywhere in France, festivals can be
reached thanks to a dedicated website for festive car-pooling128
. In the same context, the quick
development of “disco buses” like “Bus discotheque”, “All night bus”, “soirée bus”, “Party bus”
or also “Stan and Walter”129
provide exclusive nights where the buses become the club and
drives in the city. Mobility has become a mean for promoting and enjoying the Parisian nightlife.
Hence, these businesses bring a disruptive color to nighttime mobility. By targeting the
partygoers they seek to be actors of the Parisian nights. As Georges Amar observes, “innovation
is not only about creating new tools but is also prefigured at the level of practices” (p.145). So
these businesses do not only innovate as mobility services but also as nightlife contributors.
127
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/fashion/how-uber-is-changing-night-life-in-los-angeles.html
128 http://tawacovoiturage.fr/events
129 http://www.busdiscotheque.com/ ; http://www.allnightbus.com ; http://www.soireebus.fr/ ;
http://www.partybus.fr/fr/ ; http://www.stanandwalter.com/bus-discotheque-paris/
69
ii. From disruptions to convergence: a new governance of nighttime mobility?
Innovations create disruptions and unleash conflicts.
Indeed, as ride-sharing alternatives to public transport
evolve, they encroach on the taxis’ turf and compete,
including in Los Angeles130
as the chart below suggests.
Since 2010, members of the French parliament allowed
delivery cars (VTC) to modernise the market. But
according to Heetch “the professional offer is still not
sufficient to absorb peaks of demand, especially on
weekends” (also Jouffe, 2007, p.3). According to time and demand, prices fluctuate on the basis
of yield management for VTC technology companies, and remain cheaper in most cases. Hence,
legal battles have started between taxis and ride sharing drivers131
like UberPop. A law called
Thévenoud – name of the representative in charge – was passed in October 2014 to regulate the
market. It aims at protecting taxis as a public service and forbids UberPop to operate. Indeed,
this service is considered as competition for taxis as it allow “e-cruising”. In April 2015, Uber
was fordibben in Portugal and in Bruxelles; the trial of an Uber driver led the authorities to
consider a plan for “cohabitation” between taxis and delivery cars. Uber in France conducts these
legal battles as the company “invests in disputes” (int. PP). In April 2015, the Thévenoud law
was questioned by a submission to the Constitutional Council132
on the basis of the inconformity
of pricing and geolocation restrictions that were imposed to Uber. The company also took the
case to the European court. In the meantime, other actors like Heetch and Djump are confident
that they can “stay behind UberPop and wait for legislation” (int. Heetch). The demand is so
high at night that they consider themselves safe because taxis do not complain yet, as “they are
not involved that much in the market of the night” (int. Heetch). In spite of the law, UberPop
130
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/upshot/under-pressure-from-uber-taxi-medallion-prices-are-
plummeting.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1
131 A petition was launched on the 29
th of April 2015: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1aBRP7XBFDAx-
pwaqpLsYZ1EFezXrP8NbQLFDgwYx16A/viewform 132
http://www.lemonde.fr/entreprises/article/2015/03/14/uber-bouscule-la-loi-thevenoud_4593581_1656994.html
70
drivers continued to operate133
. The police conduct operations in order to arrest UberPop drivers:
“this activity needs to stop, it is illegal work” (int. PP). Indeed, the police regulate taxis in order
to protect the clients and ensure the security of the public service, through alcohol tests, legal
commissions, etc. UberPop cannot respond to any legal responsibility and, therefore, should not
operate. In the meantime, delivery cars companies hammer home that they have a very structured
system that allows them to track every driver and ensure security; the police do not agree with
these arguments today (int. PP). Moreover, the working conditions of drivers are increasingly
more observed by the media134
, and denounced by the drivers themselves. A 55 woman driver
confided: “we are constantly incited to drive more, to accept more and more trips, but in the end
it is like we are trapped” (int. 15.04). The police denounces: “Uber is here to make money and
use the workforce reserve, we cannot let the sirens of flexibility convince us to deregulate the
market” (int. PP), and to continue: “our priority is to know how the businessman is going to La
Défense and not how the clubber is going home. This is a big preoccupation for a small world”.
Thus, delivery cars and ride-sharing services have been left on the substitute’s bench by political
institutions because of this tense legal situation. According to Padam, when contacting Parisian
elected representatives, they were steered “from a deputy-mayor to another with no answer in the
end” (int. Padam). Furthermore, they were able to contact the STIF through a digital branch of
the public company Kéolis, and asked them for a meeting. They received a note saying their
interlocutor did not have time. In the end, resigned, they just complained: “public institutions are
not used to take seriously young start-ups and to understand innovative solutions as real ones”.
Heetch’s founders agree, “politicians only listen to you if you are big, otherwise they don’t
bother, and you’re worth nothing” (int.). At this stage, Heetch does not even consider going to
see institutions because “the ratio of power is not interesting”. In this context, the City of Paris
first refused to delivery cars companies to the board of the Night workshops, to “avoid protests
from taxis” (obs.). Still, during the debates, different actors called taxis to mind suggesting
measures: collective taxis, applications for geolocation, taxi voucher systems, etc. To these
remarks, the Union of Parisian Taxis answered that lots of innovations were ongoing. Among
133
http://www.slate.fr/story/101031/strategie-uberpop-taxis 134
http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/2014/05/20/les-chauffeurs-duber-ralent-vtc-nest-plus-cetait-252065
71
them, a free application Paris Taxi135
, will enable to know in real time if taxis are present in their
stations and for drivers to see where the clients are waiting. Moreover, another disruption in this
market is the mode of payment. Many taxis did not accept credit cards onboard until 2015
whereas delivery cars applications allow registering bank details. So “it has been a long work of
conviction and training” (int. PP), but now they are equipped with credit card payment devices.
According to the police taxis need to adapt and be preserved. Hence, innovations seem to create
disruptions, conflicts and lack of dialogue, but also trigger changes within the existing offer.
So transport companies start welcoming inovations through trial and error in order to
provide better mobility services through ICT. Within RATP, a whole branch is dedicated to the
diversification of solutions: RATP DEV, which invited Luc Gwiazdzinski to speak about night
mobility in 2013136
. According to a RATP manager, “both SNCF and RATP have enough volume
to be able to launch an efficient innovation.” So there is no lack of means, but little capacity for
disruption and development of intermodality choices. In Switzerland, in Lausanne, taxis follow
bus routes at night, because they allow more flexibility; in Delémont, there is an on-demand
transport system called “owl” dedicated to nightlife. In France, trials are rare. Yet, recently, the
STIF and Taxi Bleu met in order to find a solution for trips at the end of RER lines (int. STIF).
Also within RATP, experimentations are conducted to work with other types of services. For
instance, they tried to set a partnership with Autolib’ in order for RATP nightworkers living in
the suburbs to use Autolib’ for free and bring back the cars - always lacking in suburban stations.
Still, there was a 90% chance that the workers find a car at the nearest station, so the plan failed
(int. RATP). These two examples suggest a wish to provide more flexibility in public transports.
Moreover, ICT help improve mobility services. For instance, applications gather data from
different companies and provide information about the quicker trip, including intermodality137
.
The city of Paris supports these solutions through the programme called “Paris&Co”, incubating
start-ups for “connected mobility”. In order for authorities to adapt to innovation, Parisian
135
http://www.paris.fr/pratique/applis-taxis-parisiens/appli-taxis-parisiens-client/presentation-de-paris-
taxis/rub_10563_stand_148712_port_27022
136 https://www.ratpdev.com/sites/default/files/newsletter/newsletter_ndeg7_-_septembre_2013.pdf
137 http://incubateurs.parisandco.com/cinq-premi%C3%A8res-start-ups-inaugurent-l%E2%80%99incubateur-
%C2%AB%C2%A0mobilit%C3%A9-connect%C3%A9e%C2%A0%C2%BB-en-partenariat-avec-renault
72
representatives at the STIF board expressed a wish to open STIF data in 2015, “considering that
mobility in Ile-de-France is not limited to public transport but relates to complementary modes
of mobility”. Today, Vélib’ and Autolib’ data are available and treatable on the Paris Open Data
website. A report was handed over to the government in March 2015 in order to build a national
strategy for opening data138
. The STIF, SNCF, RATP but also taxis are aware that there is a need
to dig real time and on-demand mobility offers. Also, according to an RATP manager, “SNCF is
trying a lot of things for door-to-door businesses and sometimes it fails. At the RATP we try less,
we take time to choose”. In 2013, the city of Paris organized with the region, the RATP, SNCF,
Vélib’ and JC Decaux a great challenge for start-ups to build a project for mobility, to
“Moovinthecity”139
. These projects deeply influence the transport user’s experience. Recently, an
application called “Metronap” was launched in New York. It wakes up users when they arrive at
their subway station140
. Still, nighttime suffers from a great lack of data. Indeed, most public
reports or annual balances do not exploit nighttime data. For instance, data are published from 5
a.m. to midnight in the STIF or DVD annual reports. Unfortunately, until now, “transport
policies have considered space much more than time” (J-P Bailly, 2001). So eventhough political
will takex shape, it seems like public transport institutions are trapped in technical and financial
constraints. Therefore, strong partnerships between authorities organizing transports and
mobility shall lead to intermodal strategies that would answer to the specificities of nighttime
territories: scattered, with longer distances and punctual needs.
Convergence between all actors, including the users, shall lead to integrated policies. The
question remains: “should the conception of a nighttime network be differenciated from that of a
daytime network?” (Tillous, 2004) Nighttime mobility is considered in its differences from
daytime mobility (Bailly, 2001, p.62)? It appears that mobility is included in a global discussion
about the night, but shouldn’t it be included in the regular governance of mobility? Indeed, the
different steps of agenda setting and policy implementation suggest that the night was, as such, a
motive for further provision of services. From the beginning, the night was a matter of interest.
Transport came afterwards. As recent businesses show, the night is the reason to be of some
138
http://www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/pdf/vf_rapport_jutand.pdf
139 http://www.moovinthecity.com
140 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0TWCKN7O44
73
mobility services. Thus, various concepts shall be handled again in order to better put in
perspective governance challenges. First, there is a shift “from the value of transit to the value of
connectivity “(la “reliance”; Amar, 2010, p.39). This French word “reliance” reveals that
connecting people became a crucial aspect of innovation. Some actors, as we observed (chapter
IV.i), even go beyond and think in terms of communities. Open data policies are a first step to
allow considering nighttime as an integrated element to mobility and to other urban matters such
as employment and education schedules, public facilities and cultural activities, for instance.
Mobility services have the potential to be integrated in other dimensions. Yet, the potential for
integration is not synonymous to an advocacy for a 24-hours metropolis. It rather corresponds to
an idea of maintaining continuity (Gwiazdzinski, 2006. p.10) of services, information and public
services at night. It can also lead to geographical and political continuity so that projects can be
implemented at the right scale. Opening the boarders of institutions to innovative projects, the
boarders of infrastructures to software and the boarders of the city to all are common challenges
for governing nighttime and mobility at nighttime. For instance, the metropolitan construction
has already begun through nightlife and transports, it could continue with public actors and firms
involving in a dialogue to build responsive systems and a metropolitan Time Office could be
organized (Argmengaud, 2010, p. 347). Still the STIF deplores: “Paris Métropole, départements
and municipalities don’t have a common vision, and governance is fragmented” (int.). Moreover,
urban planning is crucial. In fact, cities are first and foremost public spaces141
. For instance,
through design and urban lights142
, opening public gardens renovating hubs like Les Halles or
train stations as “double-faced places” (Gwiazdzinski, 2003, p.130). Also, the future opening of
the rightside of the Seine’s banks might lead to the appropriation of new territories for nighttime
activities. Therefore, the success of night transport systems could lie in its integration in a global
urban development policy for nightlife, where night transport is interdependent of night services
and planning. Hence, in the long run, the challenge for decision-makers is to de-sectorize the
night as a policy. Furthermore, experimentation should allow more flexibility. For instance,
testing lines, networks or technologies before deciding to implement them help better grasp the
challenges of nighttime users, as Grande Nuit or Nuit Blanche illustrate. Indeed, decisions to
141
http://www.newcitiesfoundation.org/the-nocturnal-city/
142 La lumière urbaine – éclairer les espaces publics, R Narboni, Le Moniteur, coll. Techniques de conception,
1995 ; EDF, the French electricity company was partner of the Exhibition Paris la Nuit at the Pavillon de l’Arsenal
74
build infrastructures are risky and involve political courage (Gwiazdzinski, 2006. p.12). So,
testing services would allow understanding what “desirable futures”. When Uber declares,
“there is no need for a respite. If people want to move, at whatever hour, they should be able to”
(int. Uber), a certain vision of society is underlying. This vision is not dominant, and there shall
be political responses to the 24-hours city “tendency”. So the next challenge for the Parisian
board of the night is to enlarge the scope of actors invited to the debates. Heetch and Padam were
eventually invited to the workshop after some participants sounded the alarm. Therefore,
dialogue and circulation of ideas begins. In the end, priorities will emerge, economic and
political interests will be expressed and time shall progressively incorporate other related
policies: rhythms, rush hours, and school schedules. This does not mean that all will be de-
synchronized or de-materialized in a 24-hours city that would go round in circles, but that the
night will be less of a boarder to the city. Eventually, citizens and users can be great sources to
animate and define needs for public transports at night. Contrary to what interlocutors of this
research answered, there is no “policy of the offer” as long as we can consult citizens on their
needs and try to adapt to it. So both quantitative and qualitative surveys could be conducted as a
continuation to this research. It would allow understanding how users prioritize their needs and
expectations. This might not result in a demand related to mass transit solutions as expected, but
it would be a way of reconnecting citizens to the city at night regardless of their habits and their
address. It is a collective strategy. So local governments and technical institutions cannot decide
alone whether the night stops or ends, but shall define together “until where… not to” (Edith
Heurgon, 2004.), and then integrate the night in global mobility or urban policies.
Overall, new models answer to priorities that the public service would not consider or could not
respond to. So they create opportunities for the nighttime city and even become actors of the
Parisian nightlife. Yet, their technological solutions create disruptions in the market and generate
conflicts. Progressively, convergence between these actors and decision-makers are drawn. They
let predict that a new deal for governance could emerge, with coordinated, concerted and
integrated policies finding a place. This window is now the new spectrum of all actors.
75
Conclusion
The night has long been considered as a space-time of its own rules in cities. Both because of its
opposition to the frenzy daytime city and its low level of activities, the nighttime city was
occulted, feared or fantasied. Sociological evolutions have led to new lifestyles, rhythms and
schedules, and the night became more and more peopled by workers, idles, tourists, passengers,
sleepers or partygoers and other nightowls. These users of the night experience different stages
throughout the night. The evening has become the place for parties, cultural events, but also late
work. When the underground stop, the city closes its doors and activities become less frequent.
In the early morning, users ending their nights or beginning their days meet in the streets, and the
backstage of the city wakes up. Since the end of the 2000’s, authorities at all levels of
governments analysed these rhythms, and new public transports developed like Noctilien, the
extension of the Métro and the bus system schedules at night. Also, new types of flexible modes
of mobility functioning 24-hours appeared. They were either supported by local governments,
like Vélib’, or created by private entrepreneurs reinventing mobility through technological tools.
Policy brokers, citizens and night owls who organized to advocate for the night and claim for
public interest first brought these evolutions. Along with them, the government, municipalities,
and the region to some extent, organized their discourses and the policy arena in order to provide
solutions and adapt to a changing society, a nighttime economy and specific needs of night owls.
After a while, these public actors shifted from the emergency to adapt to the night to the
opportunity to promote the city by organizing events, marketing the night and valorizing the city.
However, questions of adaptation, public peace and access to the night remained unsolved and
are today at the heart of dialogues at the Parisian board of the night. In the meantime, decision-
makers and public transport authorities let the question of the night “to politicians”, as they do
not consider investing this space-time because of financial, technical and social constraints.
Consequently, political constraints intervene in the process as elections, territorial preferences
and commitments lead to different temporalities and priorities between actors. This complex
governance implies that decisions do not stem from political will or, for instance, expectations of
economic impacts as in London, for instance. Paris looks at London with curious eyes and Boris
Johnson’s announcement did not leave Parisian authorities stolid and the study ordered by the
STIF to assess nighttime public transports will include a specific benchmark. Moreover, since
76
the age of industry to the age of leisure and dematerialized productions and transactions, the way
people move in cities has changed. Mobility at night has been a field for innovation and tests.
This opportunity led to two important features. The first is the adaptation to nighttime through
more flexible modes in order to cover more territories; this evolution also led to a changes in
paradigm from the infrastructure to mobility, from mass transit systems to tailored mobility
devices such as Vélib’ or ride sharing systems. Hence, following Dominique Boullier’s idea of
fewer infrastructures, the night provides an illustration of other systems able to connect and
move people. The second opportunity is that of the night itself, of its representation, its image
and the fantasy it brings to cities, their attractiveness and the dynamism of nightlife. Mobility
services specific to the night have been used as ways to participate to nightlife and to the
nighttime economy, through reinventing the way of transporting people and of being transported.
So analyzing convergences and divergences of discourses between actors revealed priorities and
major perspectives for a governance of nighttime mobility. Some goals are tackled through
institutional mechanisms, such as security, safety or the quality of service. Some others were
discarded and led to nighttime mobility becoming the butter of technology innovations: nightlife,
flexibility, and visilibility. Consequently, disruptions created tensions and dialogue is still weak.
Some actors think in terms of infrastructure or legal aspects when others provide flexibile and
unregulated services. Various opportunities of collaboration or dialogue, however, exist such as
through open data or intermodality. Still, knowing if nighttime mobility comes from an
expressed demand from the users is knotty. Some signals reveal that citizens are in favor of an
increased mobility offer at night, but no consultation is considered and it could actually be the
continuation of this paper.
One thing comes clear: the night is no longer a space-time in opposition to the day. Cities are
embracing nighttime challenges, including through urban planning and the governance of
mobility. No mention of a round-a-clock town appears as long as nighttime policies are
considered as opportunities to rethink urban systems and spaces in accordance with rhythms and
needs. This is a matter of “urban time ecology” (Gwiazdzinski, 2006, p.15): not timesaving
policies, but life quality measures. These policies could imagine a notion of right to the city at
night – or freedom of movement - as grounds for discussions and, therefore, continue the logic of
citizenship through concertation. The night takes a shape that Luc Gwiazdzinski expected: a
“continuous time oasis” (2006, p. 16) rather than a trend to “diurnalize” the night. Thinking it in
77
terms of software rather than hardware without compromising public services is a major
opportunity to tailor the nighttime city. So policies shall involve principles of hospitality,
information, accessibility, sensibility and innovation. Rather than trivializing or homogenizing
means, new ways of moving at night are being invented and the challenge is to reinforce or
create tools for integrated and concerted urban policies. No rigid method can cope with the
nighttime city and deal with its movements. Overall, nighttime mobility shall incorporate other
policies in order to let no night owl isolated. In Paris, the night is still a boarder to the city.
Nighttime mobility is only one step towards lowering barriers.
78
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