Paris' Moving Walkway Project in the 1920s

Vehicular traffic and road congestion have been an issue ever since the first cars were mass produced. In Paris, the problem grew so unbearable in the 1920s that they launched a competition wherein people submitted proposals to ease congestion.

With the help of the father of the Paris metro system, Fulgence Bienvenüe, the Office des inventions was tasked with examining the projects.

Of the 38 proposals from engineers, 25 were eliminated outright and 13 were examined. The expert report by Mr. Ott, the head engineer of the Paris metro's technical service, left just two projects on the list.

These projects involved moving walkways with two systems. Two prototypes were built and tested at the Office nationale de recherche scientifique et industrielle et des inventions at Meudon.

The first system, called "arbres cannelés" (ribbed shafts), used "parallel bands at graded speeds," similar to the platforms that operated at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago (1892) and the Exposition Universelle in Paris (1900).

The second was a system using "belts" and "single direction of traffic": it operated in stations and was equipped with special devices for loading and unloading passengers. It was equipped with a starter and a decelerator for transitioning by stages up to the speed of 15 km/h.

(Image credit: Fonds historique/CNRS Phototheque)