Politicians and cycling associations are torn between euphoria and satisfaction. The current boom experienced by the little Queen is pushing the government to maintain and increase its aid for bicycles. Short summary of announcements.
It took a crisis for their wildest dream to materialize. This Friday, May 29, Élisabeth Borne, Minister for Ecological Transition, organized a press conference with the actors involved in the latest bicycle plan to take stock after these three weeks of deconfinement. “Unprecedented”, “historic”, “tipping point” the stakeholders no longer know which adjective to use to describe the transformation in progress. “In a few months, we gain several years of cycling policy“, soberly introduces the minister in front of the journalists who made the trip.
The first assessment of the little Queen since May 11? A strong mobilization of local authorities who have created 1,000 km of temporary cycle paths. But it is above all the “repair boost” that attracts attention. According to “the last numbers“, more than 70,000 bicycles have benefited from a €50 state subsidy for repairs or the purchase of parts. A “dazzling success“which does not seem to be drying up since, according to the minister, the”daily rhythm keeps increasing.” A craze that transports Olivier Schneider, president of the French Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB). “This boost made it possible to point out that there are not enough bicycle repairers in Francehe explains. If we want to reach our goal of tripling the number of cyclists, we have to double or triple the number of repairers and until now we were not on the right path.“However, the bicycle plan announced in April provides for the creation of an Academy of bicycle trades which must train 250 repairers this summer and 500 in the coming years.
More help with repairing and buying an e-bike
Faced with these initial results, the government feels itself growing and is launching new measures for citizens. Elisabeth Borne claims to want “enable the repair of 1 million bicycles by the end of the year.“Similarly, the executive wants to “simplify” the purchase of electric bicycles: “the State will double any aid from a community for the purchase of an electrically assisted bicycle up to an additional €200” she adds.
For this, the bicycle fund, created last April, saw its endowment triple and increase from 20 to 60 million €. Another beneficiary of this largesse: local authorities. Pierre Serne, president of the Club of cycling cities and territories, assures that there is a craze for cycling beyond urban centers. To his great surprise, many small and medium-sized towns, without metro or public transport, have asked for their help to set up action plans in favor of cycling. To meet these new expectations, the government has notably planned – in addition to the measures already proposed in the last cycle plan such as the 60% subsidy for temporary parking spaces for bicycles – the launch of a call for projects next month for help the town halls, agglomerations or departments among others, to “transform temporary leads into permanent leads.”
However, the “back in the saddle” program which finances a traffic assistance session in the city and road safety advice and announced in April is not yet effective. The actors promise a launch in the coming days and this device seems to arouse the interest of the public. The government hopes to transform France into “a Cycling Nation” for the economic, ecological and health benefits of this practice on citizens, especially since “60% of trips are less than 5 km“. For this, Elisabeth Borne has announced that she wants to create a national bicycle festival in May 2021. Enough to allow bicycles to trace their route.
Website to benefit from the “repair boost” and find out about the “back in the saddle” offers
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