Cycling or walking, the strike gave new habits

Audio 02:33

By: Marina Mielczarek

Paris, 22nd on the world cycling scale! Far from the Nordic and Chinese scores, France remains a country under-equipped with cycle paths and even ... with cyclists! In any case, this is what the study by the Deloitte firm shows on the new trends of the moment. But after two months of strike in public transport, the French are likely to make things happen. Buying electric bikes and discovering walking are already part of the new habits.

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It is a technological first in any case during a strike movement.
Because today, almost every inhabitant has his mobile phone, the Kisio company has been able to follow by satellite over Paris, the movements and speeds of city dwellers.

“ Thanks to this process, explains Gregory-Vincent Beaume, one of the project managers, faced with diagrams and curves on his computer, it was possible to distinguish the different flows of people and according to the speed we know s 'they took a bike or the car. You see there on the table we see the calculation for the month of January with 130% of vélibs in full rush hour in the morning in Paris. During the strike, he added, the flow of people in the capital fell by 11%. However, these movements remain significant since there were still 7 million people circulating in the capital. The bike journeys have come back down but the movement continues on the rise, many people have kept this new habit. We work for private clients but also for municipalities to help them take advantage of this instant data to organize their modes of transport according to the new needs of city dwellers. "

Soft mobility, a stake in municipal elections

In Paris, half of the bike rental companies, these self-service municipal bikes in the streets of the capital say they are ready to keep this new mode of transport. This strike will also have benefited cycle sellers. And especially electric bikes. The latest studies are also expecting continuity and not only in France, since it is expected that 200 million copies will be sold worldwide in the next three years.

Whether electric or standard, bikes and scooters have established themselves in major cities. In a month, the French will elect or re-elect their mayors. Elected officials pushed to evoke the development of these new modes of urban transport, lighter and more ecological than the car. Borough mayor in Paris, Pierre Birenbaum campaigns, like his opponents, by encouraging these new light and more ecological mobilities, also called soft mobilities.

" It is indisputable, assures this close to the main mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo . The strike served as an accelerator to understand that many Parisians will ultimately drop the car or even the bus or the metro in favor of the bicycle or the scooter. With Anne [Hidalgo], we have already done a lot. Tracks exist and have already turned the landscape of the capital upside down, but we must add more and go further. On the other hand, that implies a lot more people on these tracks and if we saw an increase in accidents during this strike, we can also say that it is precisely because there have never been so many cycles on these tracks ! But I agree, it must be recognized that there is work in terms of cyclist safety. Many of these new followers are not reasonable, they ride any way, they burn red lights, the scooters do not stop either when it should be. I think we have to reinvent a traffic code in Paris. "

Danes have entire devices reserved for bikes

But in Paris during this strike, even more than the bicycle, even more than the scooter, the townspeople will have used another vehicle, much simpler, much ecological and economical, their feet! This Parisian who has traveled a lot has had enough of hearing about Denmark still quoted as a model with sections of peripherals entirely dedicated to bikes. For him, no transposable model, Copenhagen is not Paris, he knows it particularly after this strike which made him discover that finally by walking from his home to his office, it took only 5 minutes more compared to his journey usual which forced him to change metro.

“ No comparison possible with the larger Danish cities. Paris is a smaller city that is easily done on foot, its streets allow walking. There is no more ecological than walking. If you take the bike, there is manufacturing, transport, materials, add the battery if it is an electric model. "

Restaurant tickets and bicycle tickets

On the model of restaurant tickets, the new French law on transport allows employees to have good bikes today! Between 200 and 400 euros to facilitate the purchase or rental of cycles for journeys from home to work.

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