By Johanna Gewolker
On the 17th and 18th of May 2024, campaigners and trustees of the London Cycling Campaign, along with members of Cyclox (Oxford), and the CEO of Joy Riders, took part in a self-funded cycle study tour exchange in Paris with local cycle campaign group Paris en Selle (Paris in the Saddle). The group cycled around new infrastructure developments and met with the deputy Mayors of the 14th and 20th arrondissements (both from Les Écologistes – the French Green Party). Thanks to the generosity of the members of Paris en Selle, Mieux se Déplacer en Bicyclette (a further regional campaign group), Deputy Mayors Guillaume Durand and Vincent Goulin, we were able to learn how Paris has managed to transform cycling from a minority activity to a mainstream mode of transport in a short period.
Acceleration in cycling mode share
Early in 2024, a survey showed that for the first time, the share of people cycling was higher than those driving within the City of Paris – 11.2% compared to 4.3%, while walking made up 53.5% of trips and public transport 30%. The cycling mode share in the City of Paris is ahead of the percentage of trip stages made by bike in Inner London (8.2%), a geographical area better compared with Paris than Greater London in terms of scale and population density.1
The cycling mode share for trips between Paris and the ‘inner suburbs’ of the Paris region is even higher than within the city at 14% of trips.2 This is likely due to these journeys being longer, meaning higher cycling rates are offset by less walking, while the public transport mode share is much higher.
The City of Paris’ 2021-2026 Plan Vélo (Cycling Plan) committed to the construction of 180km of new segregated cycle tracks and to converting 52km of “Coronapistes” (trial infrastructure introduced during the pandemic) into permanent tracks. Once complete, this will take the total length of segregated infrastructure in the City of Paris alone to 530km.3 The Plan also notes that the demographics of people who cycle are becoming more diverse (although precise statistics are difficult to find).4
A cycle-friendly political and legal environment
The political and legal environment in France are key enablers of the rapid mode shift seen in Paris.
Political Will and Mandate
The Paris Plan for Cycling is set by the central Town Hall, led by Anne Hidalgo. Hidalgo was re-elected for a second term in 2020, based on a campaign to mainstream the “15 Minute Neighbourhood” concept across the City. The re-election followed a radical first term in which Hidalgo converted the banks of the Rive Droite (northbank of the Seine) from a motorway used on average by 2,700 vehicles per hour, into a pedestrian boulevard.5
Both deputy mayors with whom we spoke during the tour noted that Hidalgo’s re-election serves as a strong mandate from the public to implement cycling infrastructure via the central city government and local authorities of the “arrondissements” (city districts). They reported that even if there is some opposition when infrastructure is implemented locally, there is a general public consensus that people voted for this infrastructure in 2020. Local authorities still conduct consultation with the public, especially for larger schemes, to inform the design detail of how infrastructure will be implemented.
Cycle infrastructure by default in the eyes of the law
Several laws in France mandate highways authorities to implement cycle infrastructure. France’s Law on Air and Energy Saving has obliged local authorities to implement cycle infrastructure as part of highways upgrades since 1998, albeit with a weak definition of what this should look like.6 This law was strengthened in 2019 via an update to the Environmental Code, which now also specifies an exhaustive list of infrastructure types, ranging from segregated tracks to shared surface zones, and specifies that contraflow markings must be added on all one-way streets.7 While the implementation of this infrastructure may be “subject to traffic needs and constraints”, it nonetheless sets an expectation that upgrading cycle safety goes hand in hand with standard roadworks by default.8 While some flexibility remains for local authorities to implement infrastructure to suit their specific communities, cycle safety and amenity is built into the system and is incrementally improved over time as roads are upgraded. This contributes to faster network expansion than if relying solely on isolated capital projects.
A further example is that the French Highway Code defines urban roads limited to 30km per hour as two-way by default for cyclists, and other personal powered mobility aids (such as scooters). This was recently updated from 20km per hour zones.9 The Paris Cycling Plan for 2021-2026 pledges the mainstreaming of “contra-flow” infrastructure and signage associated with cycling on one-way streets across the city.10
Creating a safer and more attractive cycling experience
Rapid roll-out of a connected network
Speed and consistent infrastructure coverage has been key in Paris’ rapid mode shift to cycling. Rapid installation, be it painted cycle lanes or fully segregated tracks, and a focus on creating a joined up network across the city have helped build confidence amongst individuals who might be less likely to cycle due to road safety fears, as they are less likely to be left stranded to mix with motor-traffic.
The City’s designers primarily favour bi-directional cycle tracks (two-way tracks that are installed in one block, rather than on either side of the road), which are often installed in place of one lane of motor traffic. This design type is typically chosen due to space constraints.
The City has also prioritised constructing link infrastructure (for the road sections between junctions and traffic lights) and intends to focus on junction improvements later, with current treatments often limited to cycle logos and arrows informing people where to wait when turning. This contrasts with London’s approach, where detailed attention is often given to optimising junction safety as part of cycle corridor schemes, often with complex modelling processes. While the Parisian approach allows for faster progression towards a joined up cycle network, the lack of clearly separated waiting areas and signals at junctions can lead to confusion and is an area where London’s approach likely results in a safer and more legible network where it exists, even if it takes longer to build.
Cyclists exempt from certain red lights
In 2012, France took inspiration from the Netherlands and implemented a trial under which people riding bikes are permitted to skip red lights under certain conditions. The exemptions typically apply to straight ahead and right turn movements (the equivalent of the UK left turn) at traffic lights. The scheme is signalled through a triangular sign with a bicycle in it, as well as guidance arrows instructing cyclists on which direction they may go in. Framed by the red triangle, the signage signals to cyclists that they must still give way to traffic that has a green light and to pedestrians.
The exemptions legalise movements that people cycling often make anyway in order to get ahead of motor-traffic (often because this feels safer), or because there are no pedestrians or vehicles using the space. By legitimising the movements and adding further directional guidance, this scheme formalises and makes these movements safer, while also creating a more fluid journey travel experience for people riding bikes.
As part of the scheme, France introduced a national monitoring body, to track its impacts. Several other countries, such as Belgium and Germany have also introduced trials in recent years. If such a scheme were to be introduced in the UK, it would need to be in the form of a trial led by the Department for Transport.
Traffic lights
Unlike in the UK, there are typically no separate traffic lights for people on bikes in Paris. This is to some extent compensated for by the red light exemption scheme, which in some ways functions similarly to early release green signals and cycle stages seen in the UK. Overall, cycle movements are therefore fluid and less formalised, which may increase safety and amenity for people cycling. However, it may also have downsides for those with additional accessibility needs using the street. Further measures to improve the cycling experience in Paris include shifting advanced stop line areas further back from traffic lights and installing traffic lights lower so that they are easier to see from the saddle.
Cycling as part of an ambitious liveable urbanism programme
In addition to cycle infrastructure, Paris, like many other cities, is rolling out a range of schemes that also give space back for greenery and for people to walk, play, meet people and simply enjoy the city. On the tour, it was Paris’ approach to school streets and roundabouts that stood out.
High Ambition School Streets
Paris has implemented a series of school streets, which unlike in the UK, which stop motor-vehicles from passing through during pick up and drop off time only, completely pedestrianise street segments and improve the public realm outside school entrances (with exceptions for emergency access). Over 200 such school streets have been introduced in Paris, with the majority coming forward in the eastern arrondissements.11 Beyond creating a safe environment at school arrival and home time, the Parisian school streets are contributing significantly to creating sociable spaces where children linger and play. Even during our site visit on a Saturday afternoon, there were numerous children playing out, including independently without adult supervision (known to have critical benefits for young people’s development).
Roundabouts transformed into U-Shaped public spaces
The ubiquity of roundabouts, often with up to as many as 6-8 feeder roads in major cities, is commonly thought of as a quirk of French city and transport planning. Several Parisian roundabouts, such as Place de la Bastille, Place de la Catalogne and Trocadéro, have historically been dominated by cars and took a long time to navigate as a pedestrian (creating severance), while also posing particular danger to cyclists. Parisian authorities have given increased priority to people walking and cycling by closing one side of these roundabouts and transforming them into U-shaped gyratories. The closed sections have become public spaces with planting and seating, or, in the case of Trocadéro temporary sites for the 2024 Olympic Games. These areas have now become social magnets as meeting points, public events venues and spaces for urban arts, such as skateboarding. In the case of Place de la Catalogne, the authorities have even created an urban forest (which can be difficult to achieve in many places due to a high density of utilities under the tarmac). These measures improve the experience of the city, sense of place and even biodiversity and climate resilience when planted, while also reducing dangers from road safety by allocating more space to cyclists and pedestrians and reducing the complexity of these locations.
The impact
By rapidly creating a well-connected cycle network, the city has helped a much bigger and more diverse group of people to consider cycling as a legitimate and enjoyable option for getting around, even if the journey towards this has its complexities.
The sudden increase in cycle traffic volumes has also led to increased safety fears amongst some pedestrians, in part due to the short time in which people have had to adapt to the new street environment, although the overall number of collisions involving pedestrians decreased between 2019 and 2022.12 Some intersections remain complicated for cyclists and pedestrians, although this will likely improve soon as the city moves on to delivering junction upgrades.
Emergency services are also reported to have seen positive impacts from the changes. While pedestrianisation, cycle and motor-traffic reduction schemes are sometimes perceived to impact emergency services negatively, records from Paris show that in 2021 response times fell below an average of 7 minutes for the first time since the 1980s.13 Emergency vehicles can use certain cycle lanes and providers have reported benefiting from reduced traffic in the city centre, allowing them to progress faster.
The growth in cycling and wide-ranging greening and public space transformation projects are likely to have many long-term benefits for Parisians (both in and out of the saddle). These will arise from improved air quality, road safety and increased physical and mental health.
Key findings from the tour were recently presented at the Active Travel Café, a recording of the session can be found here.
- Transport for London, 2023. Travel in London 2023 ↩︎
- L’institut Paris Région, 2024. Enquête régionale sur la mobilité des Franciliens. ↩︎
- Ville de Paris, 2024. Un nouveau plan vélo pour une ville 100% cyclable ↩︎
- Ville de Paris, 2021. Plan Vélo 2021-2026 ↩︎
- Le Parisien, 2015 ↩︎
- Fédération Francaise des Usagers de la Bicyclette, 2022. Aménager l’espace public pour les cyclistes : la loi le rend obligatoire ↩︎
- Article L228-2 – Code de l’environnement ↩︎
- Loi n° 96-1236 du 30 décembre 1996 sur l’air et l’utilisation rationnelle de l’énergie, 2006 ↩︎
- Code de la Route, 2022. Article R110-2 ↩︎
- Mairie de Paris, 2024. Un nouveau plan vélo pour une ville 100 % cyclable ↩︎
- Mairie de Paris, 2024. Plus de 200 « rues aux écoles » dans Paris ↩︎
- TF1, 2023. Près de 1500 blessés à Paris : vélos, trottinettes… les accidents en forte hausse en 2022. ↩︎
- Le Parisien, 2023. À Paris, le délai d’intervention des pompiers a raccourci : « Sur une urgence, une minute ça joue » ↩︎