A month after the start of deconfinement, the practice of cycling seems to be anchored a little more in the daily life of the French. The Federation of Bicycle Users evokes a “historic” situation.
Attention: flood of bicycles! The Covid-19 seems to have caused an unprecedented craze in France for the Little Queen. Outdoor transport and allowing people to keep their distance, more and more French people are opting for this mode of transport. Although her practice has already been growing steadily in recent years, she has enjoyed historic success from the early days of deconfinement until today. In its 3rd bulletin for measuring the use of bicycles for June 17Vélo & Territoires – a network of local authorities for the development of the bicycle – observes an exponential trend.
Thus the count of bicycle passage everywhere in France in the first half of 2020 is almost as good (-9%) as that of last year. A feat since the year 2019 was historic and the number of bike rides fell sharply by 72% during the two months of confinement. The year 2020 should be an excellent year for cyclists if no new confinement is decreed. The high use of cycle paths at the start of the year, partly caused by the massive public transport strike in December, is reinforced by a remarkable ‘catch-up’ effect since 11 May. The average daily attendance has doubled compared to the same period in 2019. It has gone from 305 bikes/day on average to more than 600 since deconfinement.
Bicycle policy hailed
The bicycle, the big winner of deconfinement? It looks good. These figures do not fall from the sky and are the result of a “historical star alignment“Changes in mentality and pro-cycling public policies according to the Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB). For her, this first month of deconfinement”has won at least 5 years of bicycle policy“.”Contrary to popular belief, the Netherlands only bet on the bicycle following the oil shock of 1973assures Olivier Schneider, president of the FUB. Similarly, Copenhagen only cycled following the economic crisis following the second oil shock, taking note of the fact that its motorway plan was obsolete, and that developing the bicycle was faster and cheaper than public transport.“
France in the lead
To escape the density of public transport which promotes the circulation of the virus, many French people have opted for cycling. Thus between May 11 and June 14, they used 150,000 “repair boost” checks offered by the government. A success which notably prompted the government to triple its bicycle fund at the start of deconfinement. Subsidies for ‘getting back in the saddle’ training, aid for the purchase of an electric bicycle, training for bicycle repairers as well as massive support for local authorities to acquire bicycle infrastructure and cycle paths caught the eye of the European level.
According to the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), France is today the leading European country in the post-Covid development of cycling in Europe. This organization estimates that its budget in favor of the bicycle amounts to more than 320 million euros, an amount similar to that of the United Kingdom and much higher than other countries. However, they assure that the dynamic also comes from the cities and not only from the capital. Thus, the association has ranked 5 cities in France in its top 20 of the most ambitious European cities: Paris, Lyon, Avignon (Vaucluse), Créteil (Val-de-Marne), La Courneuve (Seine-Saint-Denis ).
And in terms of actually implementing an improvement in bicycle circulation (construction of permanent or temporary bicycle paths, reduction in the speed of circulation of cars or closure of certain streets to traffic), half of the ranking is occupied by French cities including Lyon, Paris, Lille (Nord), Montpellier (Hérault), Créteil (Val-de-Marne), Avignon (Vaucluse), Évry-Courcouronnes (Essonne), Arras (Pas-de-Calais), Bordeaux (Gironde), Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine) and La Madeleine (North).
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