The new governmental transport plan aims at promoting cycle. Photo credit: flickr philippe leroyer

On Wednesday, March 5, 2014 the French Transport Minister Frédéric Cuvillier has made an especially positive announcement concerning cycling, through the PAMA (Plan d’Actions pour les Mobilités Actives or Action Plan for Active Mobility). Among the 25 proposals were encouraging businesses to provide financial incentives for commuting by bike and governmental support to Velo-city 2015 in Nantes organized by ECF.

As ECF previously announced, the French government has officially proposed on the March 5, 2014 a new Mobility Plan dedicated to ‘active mobility’: cycling and walking. The announcement of the French Transport Minister is based on the work of a steering committee which included the three French ECF members (DRC, AF3V and FUB), as well as other associations and public authorities. Six main topics were selected: development of multimodal structures, safety, economy, urbanism, tourism and education. Overall, the aim is to promote cycling (and walking) as more environmental-friendly, healthier and cheaper ways of transport.

A bicycle kilometric allowance

PAMA flagship project aims to create incentives for cycling to work. In order to encourage commuting by bike, volunteer companies will reimburse 25 cents per kilometer to employees who come to the office by bike. In return these companies will benefit from more efficient and less stressed employees. After a test period, the Agency for environment and energy management (ADEME) will assess the impact of the allowance. Good results could lead to new concrete measures. To make cycling to work more motivating, intermodal solutions will be implemented as well: more trains will accept bicycles and bigger bike parking spaces will be created next to railway stations. Additionally, new bicycle parking facilities will open next to business buildings and some residential areas.

Safer cities for cyclists

Some proposals will have an impact on road-sharing. For instance, cyclists will be able to continue pedaling through an intersection at a red traffic light if the place has been adapted for such bicycle use. Concerning car drivers, they will now be allowed to cross white lines to overtake cyclists. Furthermore, cars will now have to pay 135€ (instead of 35€) if they park on cycle paths. The French Minister of Transport, Frédéric Cuvillier also wants to expand the geographical scope where the speed limit is below 50km/h. Cyclists will be allowed to ride in both directions on the streets where these lower speed limits occur. Ceri Woolsgrove, road safety Officer at ECF, says that“reducing speed of motorized vehicles is one of the major ways of lowering cycling casualties as well as making the roads seem safer which in turn increases cycling numbers. Allowing contraflow cycling is another excellent proposal to give advantages to cycling over other modes. These and the other proposals could make a difference to both bike promotion and bike safety.”  When it comes to cycling education, PAMA proposes the development of current bike-to-school programs in combination with the creation of Vélo-Ecoles in large cities. These associative Vélo-Ecoles are aimed at a large audience, including children as well as adults. The goal of these ‘bike-schools’ is to make people more confident and feel safer when they ride their bicycles on roads.

Development of bike-tourism

Tourism by bike has been acknowledged as one of the growing tourism trends. The development of this type of tourism could have, according to Mr. Cuvillier, a positive impact on the most popular tourist country in the world. The bike tourism-related economy is already estimated to equal €2 billion and employs more than 16,000 people. 12 000 km of cycle paths will soon be built to double these figures. The ECF EuroVelo network contributes to the success of French bike-toursim since seven routes are crossing the country (EuroVelo 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8 and 15).

Governmental support for 2015 Nantes Velo-city

The French government has also announced their support for Velo-city 2015 Nantes, the world’s biggest cycling conference organized annually by ECF. In this context, the government wants to boost the media coverage of the event in order to showcase the bike and the French bicycle economy.

We welcome the progress included in the PAMA and share our French members’ interest (AF3V, DRC and FUB) in furthering the first 25 proposals. So, we look forward the regulatory and legislative work and the actual applications of those positive proposals that will make France an even more cyclist-friendly country!

About the author

Thomas Mourey is a EuroVelo assistant at the European Cyclists’ Federation.