Paris:- Friday, 27. September 1996:- Yesterday's Paris' transport strike warning seemed to be no more than that, as the trains and métros I've been riding today seem to be running normally. However, the effect of the warning was apparent - there was much more traffic than usual on the roads.

There is always more traffic on Fridays anyway. I do not know why this is, because I use public transport - figuring that time is valuable and time spent in a stopped car is not. There are plenty of times when it makes sense to use a car - but these times are not the same as when everybody else is using theirs.

So, normally I am unaware of the 'traffic situation.' Before coming to Paris, the local traffic jams were mythical and since being here they have remained that way for me - except for a couple I've been caught in. Trapped in, I should say - you know the métro is running right underneath your feet, but there is no way to get rid of the immobile tincan you are in. You might even be in the jam, because somebody else did abandon their car in the middle of the mess.

I half-hear the road reports in the mornings but since I will not be in the nine kilometre-long 'bouchon' that is trying to go through the needle's eye of the St. Cloud tunnel - I don't pay much attention unless the radio FIP lady starts saying 'Oh-la-la' a lot.

Since the public transport strikes late last year, Le Parisien newspaper has been claiming that traffic is getting worse and yesterday's edition had the front page headline, 'Circulation - This Time, It's Hell.' Here are some other headlines from the four-page report:

'Driving in Paris... What a Nightmare'

'One Hour and a Half to Go 30 Kilometres'

'In a Few Years it will be Worse in the Suburbs'

At the beginning of the decade, if I could hit the autoroute at exactly the right time in the morning - between 10:30 and 11:00 - I could roll right into Montparnasse and park. It took 45 minutes flat door-to-door. Taking public transport took 75 minutes. These days, the rush-hours have stretched so much that there is no 'time-window of opportunity' left and public transport which still takes 75 minutes is a near sure-thing.

Paris' head traffic cop says that traffic has increased around Paris by 30 percent in the last 30 years. Part of this increase is due to 'just-on-time' delivery, which has put a lot of trucks on the road throughout the day, instead of just in the mornings. Another part is attributed to 100,000 jobs moving outside Paris in the last four years, while the workers themselves remain residents.

Paris is in constant re-construction and all the building sites reduce road space, as do the new bicycle lanes - now 50 kilometres' worth. There have also been 104 demonstrations in the streets since the beginning of September. Some of the public's disaffection with urban transport is also cited as cause of increased traffic.

Gone are the grandiose ideas of giant six or eight-lane tunnels criss-crossing deep under Paris. A spokesman for the mayor, Jean Tiberi, says that a project for a tram line is being studied. The mayor's office is not considered to be completely hostile to private cars.

Page 34 of the 15. September issue of 'Paris,' the information magazine of the Ville de Paris, has two articles. One features the new Left Bank bicycle lane from Montparnasse to St. Michel. The other shows a chart of the new underground parking garages to open this year - adding 2,626 slots (plus 80 for tour buses, at Bercy), for a total of 66,500 places. Another 2000 are to be added next year.

To be fair, underground parking removes cars from the surface and permits the creation of bike lanes - but, in general, the population of Paris is going down while it looks like the number of private cars is being encouraged to go up. The anti-pollution crowd are still holding their weekly demos on Sundays, too.

All this has nothing to do with you, unless you intend a visit to Paris. Continental trains run right into the centre of the city. The Roissy and Orly airports are linked to the city by rail. Within Paris, there is the métro. All these are not overly expensive, they are pretty clean and they run pretty much on time.

On a visit, if you have time to kill, you will like the flexibility of taxis - but if not, take 'A' train. I do.