France plans to more than triple the share of cycling in transport with a multi-year plan to build better bike lanes, financial incentives for bicycle commuters and measures against bike theft, the government said.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said in a speech in Nantes, western France, that although France is host to the world-famous Tour de France cycle race, cycling here remains a sport rather than a form of transport.
Philippe said the share of cycling in public transport is just 3 per cent in France, less than half the European average and way below northern Europe, and that his government’s target is to change this.
“We plan to triple the share of cycling to 9 per cent by 2024, when we host the Olympics,” he said in a speech.
The government will launch fund to invest €350 million in cycling infrastructure the next seven years.
He said the state would help local authorities finance new construction to reduce gaps between bike lanes.
“The discontinuity on the bike lane maps creates insecurity and discourages people from cycling,” he said.
Unlike most other French policy issues, bike lane construction is not a national but a local responsibility, with the result that…
