Being now the largest of its kind globally, the Parlons-Vélo barometer is a participatory tool aiming to assess how local cycling policy is perceived. Thanks to a huge number of responses, the 2019 edition provides precise and detailed data on 768 cities, including numerous small cities and towns. 40% of the answers indicated that cycling conditions improved these last two years but not even 6% of the replies got an above-average score. The 2019 barometer also highlights a significant gap between larger and smaller cities. Among the answers attesting of an improvement, only 27% are coming from cities with under 20,000 Inhabitants, against 56 % from cities above 200,000 inhabitants.  

For the very first time, the barometer addressed the challenges cyclists encounter on a daily basis. The unique mapping function shows cyclists the three most dangerous places for cycling in their city. Black spots and priority routes are ranked in first positions. They represent clear issues and a simple request to bring to the municipal election candidates.

The publication of the Parlons Vélo 2019 cycling barometer couldn’t come at a better time. The upcoming March 2020 municipal elections in France provides a good opportunity to put pressure on candidates. The competition in Paris has already featured more substantive cycling-friendly policy proposals than in previous election cycles, with the incumbent mayor Anne Hidalgo (Parti socialiste), who would see the capital become “100 percent cyclable” by 2024 by adapting every single street in the city to better suit bicycle traffic.   

In Bordeaux, candidates have come up with different cycling-friendly proposals that range from a proposed budget injection of 20 million euro for cycling infrastructure (from Nicolas Florian, Les Républicains) to a fivefold budget increase (approximately 350 million euro over the next six years) to develop separate, secure and continuous cycle paths (from Pierre Hurmic, EELV). To note, Bordeaux currently ranks fifth in cyclability according to the 2019 Parlons Vélo cycling barometer, dropping from third place in 2017.  

FUB calls for an integration of cycling policies in the entire country and encourages everybody to use the barometer’s results to feed the public debate. The “municipal 2020 cycling campaign” available here (FR) provides an efficient tool approach all candidates to collaboratively develop 1001 local cycling plans.