does France have the means to match its ambitions?

Will lovers of the Grande Boucle get into the saddle on a daily basis? While the Tour de France starts on Saturday July 1, cycling is still very much associated with leisure in the collective imagination. It represented only 3% of trips in 2019, according to government figures. However, the little queen has many advantages over the car, at a time of the fight against global warming.

It is no coincidence that the subject is displayed as one of the priorities of the government, which has presented an ambitious cycling plan May 5. The goal : develop “a cycling culture in all its aspects”according to the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu (PDF document). This action plan, the second in the history of the country, plans to invest the record sum of 2 billion euros over the next four years, and aims in particular to accelerate the development of cycle paths throughout the territory.

A way for the executive to boost a dynamic already initiated. In 2022, cycling increased by 8% compared to 2021 and by 31% compared to 2019, according to a bulletin of attendance (PDF document) of the Vélos & Territoires association, which brings together communities committed to cycling, published in January. The push, made possible in part thanks to the deployment of cycling infrastructure during the Covid-19 pandemic, has however remained largely confined to large cities. “We see that the climate for cyclists is still bad in many places, which explains why people don’t get started”, underlines Thibault Quéré, advocacy officer at the Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB). The barometer of cycling cities, published by the 2022 association and relating to the year 2021, points the finger at France’s lag behind its European neighbors.

Get everyone on a bike, including in the countryside

Will the new bike plan be able to give a big pedal stroke? The associations welcome the commitment of several ministers as well as the State subsidies allocated to local authorities thanks to multi-year calls for projects via the program Avelo 2. But the sums involved are far from sufficient: “It is estimated that France will spend 19 euros, at all levels, per year and per inhabitant for cycling. To have a correct catch-up policy, it would be necessary to spend at least 30 euros per year and inhabitant”weighs Camille Thomé, president of Vélo & Territoires.“Even if all this is not enough and there are still a lot of things to do, we must not sulk our pleasure”tempers with franceinfo Marie Huyghe, mobility consultant.

Because beyond the financial question, that of the good distribution of facilities is crucial to get all the French up in the saddle, including those who do not live in town. According to INSEE, nearly 33% of French people live in rural areas, and that 86% of home-to-work trips are made there by car. Longer distances than in the city, absence of tracks, dangerous roads… cycling still faces many obstacles, in the countryside and in peri-urban areas. And then, “we must not forget the strong attachment to individual modes of transport in rural areas, which are perceived as vectors of freedom”emphasizes Thibault Quéré.

There is still a long way to go to convince local elected officials and residents of the benefits of cycling. To change minds, Thibault Quéré stresses the importance “that groups of residents and user associations organize themselves to put pressure on decision-makers and carry out returns to communitiesa recipe “who has already proven themselves in town”. Targeting elected officials is also a good idea, underlines the president of Vélo & Territoires:

“You have to use the strategy of ‘trying it is adopting it’. You just have to take elected officials to territories that have put in place the infrastructures for them to be convinced.”

Camille Thomé, director of Vélo & Territoires

at franceinfo

But even convinced, elected officials sometimes come up against the territorial mille-feuille which greatly complicates the implementation of cycling projects. How to build a coherent network when some roads are managed by municipalities, other intermunicipalities and departments? “The implementation of master plans by the departments is essential”, answers Camille Thomé. Some departmental elected officials are also showing voluntarism on the subject.

Ille-et-Vilaine has thus decided to invest 215 million euros over seven years for its bicycle plan, reports West France. “In particular, we want to develop structuring axes, secure connections for bicycles between cities”, details with franceinfo Schirel Lemonne, departmental councilor of Ille-et-Vilaine delegated to the bicycle plan. Once the framework is set, to the intermunicipalities “to then come and cling to these axes to develop their own cycle networks”adds the chosen one.

The electric revolution that erases distances

This is precisely the work undertaken by the community of municipalities of Erdre & Gesvres, which brings together 17 municipalities of Loire-Atlantique, an avant-garde department in terms of cycling. “We adopted a bike plan to 9 million euros in 2021, with the ambition of reducing the share of the car in travel, while half of the workers work in Nantes”, explains Sylvain Lefeuvre, vice-president of the intercommunality in charge of mobility. The elected officials have thus decided to set up secure links between the towns of the municipalities, “especially by reserving small municipal roads for bicycles”. “We also encourage our municipalities to have ambitious policies in their towns”completes the chosen one.

In addition to infrastructure, the territory also invests “on the incentive aspect”targeting in particular “college students” and installing “secure bike boxes”. What to convince the refractory? “Thanks to the revolution of electric bicycles, which erase the relief, we cannot say that the distances are too great when we have to travel 4 km to reach another town”emphasizes Sylvain Lefeuvre.

An observation shared by Florian Maitre, vice-president in charge of mobility for the Grand Lac urban community, near Chambéry (Savoie): “the electric bike is well suited to our semi-rural and semi-urban territory, with gradients”. The agglomeration adopted a master plan a year ago, the objective of which “is to reach 230 km of fully secure tracks and greenways within 10 to 15 years, compared to 89 km today”, specifies the elected official. Florian Maitre does not note “reluctance” on its territory, emphasizing the importance “not to bet only on the bicycle, but also to promote public transport”.

The importance of training elected officials and professionals

The quality of the infrastructure built is one of the keys to the success of a cycle network. Properly separate bicycles from cars, do not make any discontinuity… the good recipes are known, but not always implemented by the localities. In order to avoid unprotected cycle lanes on the sidewalks or along the national road, “It is necessary to train elected officials, who sometimes have a great lack of competence on these issues”, emphasizes Marie Huyghe. Local authorities also risk facing a shortage of experts as bicycle plans are put in place. “We will have to find money to hire cycle mission leaders. We also have to train and find people who have good technical skills, because designing and building a track is not something you can tame”details Camille Thomé.

On this issue, increasing the skills of the departmental agents in charge of roads is crucial. “We had to explain to our colleagues that their skills were transferable to cycling projects, it’s a change of mentality”says Schirel Lemonne. The services and elected officials can rely on the recommendations of the associations, as well as on the work carried out by the Center for studies and expertise on risks, the environment, mobility and planning (Cerema) which published a guide for “make your road cycle-friendly”.

The services and elected officials will have to learn to experiment, because we do not build in the same way in the countryside as in the city. The solution will not always be “the creation of a secure two-way track”, notes Sylvain Lefeuvre. Reconversion of an old train line, greenway, road closed to cars or track on the side… the solutions are not lacking.

France will not become the Netherlands right away

Cycling will only be able to develop throughout the territory if efforts are continuous. “We saw it with the government’s first bicycle plan: some territories launched their own bicycle plans and no longer had a budget after three years, the projects fell apart”, emphasizes Marie Huyghe. More prosaically, Florian Maitre recalls “that there is a big effort to be made on the question of the maintenance of tracks and greenways, otherwise they will deteriorate”.

Above all, the associations are calling on the State to change its way of thinking about land use planning. “There is a schizophrenia in government policy, which wants to develop cycling, but also invests in new road projects that promote urban sprawl”, emphasizes Thibault Quéré. France is therefore not in danger of becoming the Netherlands anytime soon., European reference in the field, “even if you still have to remember that they have 40 years of pro-cycling policy behind them”laughs Camille Thomé. “We could imagine seeing communities that act as mini-Holland on the territory”, hopes Thibault Quéré. Model territories that could then inspire others.