A Promising Future for Cycling: Let's Hit the Trails!

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By Célia Foulon – Consultant

On November 19, 2019, the Mobility Planning Act was passed by Parliament. This law applies to virtually all modes of transportation and promises, among other things, a major step forward for cycling.

First, the Active mobility is now recognized as a right of the French people. This means that, legally speaking, we have the right to request alternatives to cars: pedestrian zones and bike lanes, for example.

Second: other, more concrete measures were also adopted, allowing for the rollout of a promising bike-sharing system. Examples of measures include: teaching children how to ride a bike in elementary school; requiring train stations to provide secure bike parking starting in 2024; improved bike transport on trains and buses, and a requirement that car advertisements include a message encouraging active transportation. A cycling plan for which France plans to invest 350 million euros over the next 7 years. Even though the budget is still smaller than that of the Netherlands or New York, we welcome this valuable investment. These 350 million euros could be used, for example, to fund cycling infrastructure in the priority areas identified by the FUB ^[1] based on a survey of cyclists that is available here. In fact, it’s worth noting that the organization Paris en Selle recently published a guide on making cities more bike-friendly ^[2], which we highly recommend. In any case, the recent cycling infrastructure developments in Paris prove that building bike lanes is the way to attract cyclists: a 54% increase in the number of cyclists was recorded on recent Parisian tracks between 2018 and 2019 ^[3]. With the current public transit strikes, that number will likely rise even further. So to all of you who started biking last week—perhaps out of necessity, or even reluctantly— I hope you enjoyed the experience, that you felt a sense of triumph as you passed the long lines of stopped cars, that you felt invigorated by the exercise, and that maybe you’ll want to keep biking even after the strike is over. In any case, You're welcome on the slopes, because the more cyclists there are, the more fun we have (and, most importantly, the more visible we are to other road users and therefore the safer we are).

Sources: ^[1]Map of the FUB's Priority Areas^[2]Paris by Bike^[3]ParisJob