The Federation of Bicycle Users unveiled its 2021 winners on Thursday evening.
The city of Saint-Aubin de Médoc, on the borders of the Bordeaux metropolis, takes first place in the suburban towns category.
Proof for its mayor that peri-urban cities, often presented as all-cars, can also take up cycling.
The 2021 Cycling Cities Barometer, unveiled Thursday evening by the FUB (Federation of Bicycle Users), revealed the municipality of Saint-Aubin de Médoc.
Located on the edge of the Bordeaux metropolis, the city has indeed made a sensational entry into first place in the national ranking of suburban towns (municipalities of more than 3,500 inhabitants located in a large urban center).
Carried out at the end of 2021, the survey of the Barometer of cycling cities collected 277,384 contributions.
An overall score was calculated for each city based on the average of the five themes (general feeling, safety, comfort, efforts of the municipality, parking and bicycle services).
Then the towns were categorized on a scale ranging from A+ (“excellent cycling climate”) to G (“very unfavorable cycling climate”). With a score of 4.89, Saint-Aubin gets an A+.
"Cycling municipality that lacks cyclists"
Composed of suburban areas distributed around a town center with a few shops, this peri-urban town remains essentially devoted to cars.
And if the amenities are there, they often seem hopelessly empty...
“This is the paradox of this city, analyzes Benoit Gilliot, coordinator of the Bordeaux association Vélo-Cité.
It is a cycling town that lacks cyclists, because it is too easy to do by car.
But this first place in the ranking is not undeserved, far from it: there has been a long-standing desire on the part of the town hall to systematically make cycling arrangements, and the city is now very well equipped in this area.
It is also one of the rare municipalities which has created a "bicycle", for sixteen years, with municipal agents who supervise children on bicycles.
But the modal share of cycling remains very low, around 4%.
People should be encouraged to cycle more, because these reflexes need to be changed.
»
“A lot of cyclists at the weekend”
“I have been putting 70% of the road envelope on the bike for twelve years, explains the mayor of Saint-Aubin, Christophe Duprat (LR).
This represents more than 3 million euros, not one municipality has done this.
Two years ago [during the last barometer of the FUB] we went under the radar because our plan of cycle paths was not completed.
Now, we have 21 km of cycle paths on 60 km of urban roads which cross the municipality from east to west and from north to south without interruption.
»
For the elected official, the 4% modal share of cycling in his municipality “is to be taken with a grain of salt.
» « We are a peri-urban municipality, it is sure that it is not on Thursday in the middle of the morning that you will find many cyclists, in a city where 40% of the inhabitants work in the aeronautical industries around.
But 67% of college students take the bike.
And on weekends we have a lot of cyclists.
We have installed a counter on the footbridge which joins the colleges and high schools, which indicates 750 bicycles per day on weekdays, and even 450 on Saturdays, people borrowing it to go to the market in Saint-Médard-en-Jalles.
»
The elected official recognizes, however, that it is now necessary to convince more inhabitants to switch to cycling.
“With our facilities, and with this price too, we will be able to find users.
»
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Mobility
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Aquitaine
Bordeaux
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