the use of the bicycle already winning

It’s a “intimate address” says the website of the Hotel San Régis, in the heart of the very chic Parisian “golden triangle”, close to the Grand Palais, where the room will be rented for a few thousand euros per night during the Olympic Games (JO), from 26 July to August 11. But this five-star 8^e district is also located “in the “red zone”, perimeter prohibited to motorized vehicles. And the Champs-Elysées-Clemenceau metro station will be closed”, underlines its director, Sarah Georges. From May to September, the hotel will lend its fifty employees and its customers four Gitane electric cycles, supplied by the company Tim Mobilité, a company bicycle specialist. A first for this upscale establishment. “For getting around the neighborhood, the bike will be ideal”notes the manager.

This contribution to urban mobility, although modest, illustrates the adaptation of economic actors to Olympic contingencies. The Games “in the city”, in the heart of monumental Paris – Louvre, Eiffel Tower or Stade de France, in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) – will disrupt habits in an unprecedented way. And will encourage the use of bicycles.

For a few weeks, the capital will be transformed. Some of the residents and regular users will have deserted, for the benefit of millions of spectators. Based on the editions of Rio, in 2016, and London, in 2012, the Paris tourist office has established a composite portrait of Olympic tourists: 60% men, aged on average under 40 years old. , with a rather high standard of living and practicing sport regularly. In London in 2012, visitors far preferred dining out, going out or shopping to museums. In Paris, the opening of terraces will be authorized until midnight and each district, except the 7th^e, will have at least one fan zone. In short, there will be noise.

This fits perfectly with the “quarter-hour city” dreamed of by the theorists of urban planning with a human face. However, a celebrating city changes travel habits, as we see every year in Avignon during the theater festival in July, in Lille with the September clearance sale, or in Strasbourg during the Christmas market from the end of november.

“A great party, with lots of bikes everywhere”

In Paris, in the metro, where the wait before boarding a train can be up to twenty minutes, the resilience of passengers will be indexed to the outside temperature. Cars and scooters, which do not total more than 5% of trips in the city, according to a study published on April 4 by the Paris Region Institute, will travel even more difficult than usual. There will therefore remain the bicycle, which already exceeds 11% of journeys within Paris and reaches 10% in the inner suburbs.

“It could be a very nice party, with lots of bikes everywhere”is already enthusiastic about the president of the Paris en saddle association, Anne Monmarché, who plans to attend several events. “Among those holding a ticket [pour une épreuve]there are a third of Ile-de-France residentsadds Louis Belenfant, director of the Ile-de-France Bike Collective (CVIF), which brings together forty-two associations. They know the city, are more lenient with how it works, and have gotten into the habit of cycling from time to time. »

The organizers understood the interest in promoting cycling, an individual, space-saving mode that goes beyond cars, as Joe Dassin already sang. “The only time the Minister of Transport, appointed at the beginning of February, talked about cycling was in relation to the Olympics”, observed Louis Belenfant in mid-April. Without showing the enthusiasm of his predecessors Clément Beaune or Elisabeth Borne for the subject, Patrice Vergriete blurted out, on March 14, on TF1: “Maybe it’s time to get your bike out again. »

The images of thousands of cyclists converging on the Olympic sites will wonderfully illustrate the “Sustainable Games” touted by the bid. And will be emulated. “We could draw inspiration from it for major events, like the Main Square music festival [chaque année, début juillet]by installing short-term rentals and mass parking »observes Françoise Rossignol, vice-president (various left) of the urban community of Arras, responsible for mobility.

While the Covid-19 pandemic led to the creation of “coronapists”, the Paris Games will be based on 415 kilometers of “Olympists”, of which 120 are designed for the occasion, and which will for the most part be permanent. Among the most spoiled departments are Seine-Saint-Denis, but also Paris, where otherwise “it would never have been possible to carry out so many developments in the west of the city, where elected officials are reluctant”, rejoices Jacques Baudrier, communist deputy to the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo (Socialist Party). In Hauts-de-Seine, on the other hand, progress is concentrated “around the Olympic sites, La Défense and Colombes”, observes Louis Belenfant. Users who have long hoped for the security of the D920, a major axis crossing the south of the department, will still have to wait.

Increased self-service offering

The cycling Olympics were not always obvious. In 2021, the organizers were still relying on an objective of “100% public transport”, without imagining that some spectators would go there by bicycle. The Ile-de-France Provélo movement saw this as a challenge. “We benefited from an alignment of the planets”observes Louis Belenfant, citing the commitment of personalities who have understood the cycling potential of the Paris region, “whether it’s Anne Hidalgo, Elisabeth Borne [ancienne première ministre]Michel Cadot [délégué interministériel aux Jeux] or Valérie Pécresse [présidente Les Républicains de la région Ile-de-France] ».

We still had to impose ourselves. The term “Olympist”, used on a WhatsApp loop one day in winter 2022-2023 by Hugo Tanné, Paris referent in the saddle in the 10^e district, raised eyebrows at the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is very attentive to its image. The organizers also did not appreciate a demonstration orchestrated in front of the Stade de France, in May 2022, by Paris en saddle – activists then brandished flags on which the wheels of a bicycle had been replaced by the Olympic rings, to criticize the lack of tracks for the Games. “It was stormy”remembers Anne Monmarché.

Finally, the cycle paths are there. Now, we must guarantee each user a bicycle and, preferably, not a dilapidated bicycle. All available resources have been mobilized. The Vélib’ bike-sharing system has added 3,000 units to its fleet and huge pop-up stations. “Given the annual loss rate, to reach 3,000 bikes, we had to order 10,000”confided, in 2023, Stéphane Volant, president of the operator Smovengo.

The companies Lime, Dott and Tier, which offer their green, red or yellow electric bikes, have obtained the green light from the City of Paris to expand their fleets. And the Véligo service, in the Ile-de-France region, deploys a ” special offer “, 2,000 electric machines to rent for one or two months, instead of the usual six months. Louis Belenfant, however, has one regret: “There is no application common to all operators allowing you to reserve a bike. » On the other hand, the guarded parking near the sites is designed so that everyone can leave their electric battery or helmet there, if necessary.

Infographics The world

Source : City of Paris

But, beyond the enthusiastic pedaling of visitors, will regulars be able to continue to move around Paris? Experience shows that, when a portion of the road is neutralized, motorized traffic moving elsewhere makes bicycle journeys less safe. Member of the board of directors of Paris in the saddle, Marion Soulet remembers this evening in September 2023, at the time of the Rugby World Cup, when Place de la Concorde was closed to cars. 200 meters away, “Place de la Madeleine was drowning in inextricable traffic jams. The waiters were passing traffic amidst honking horns”.

The summer of 2024 is not immune to this type of problem. Site maps Anticipategames.gouv.frdesigned by the State, have two tabs, corresponding respectively to the ” public transport “ and to the ” road “. However, this mode, according to a consultation on April 30, simply indicates the perimeters prohibited to motorized traffic. Cycle paths do not appear there, as if cycling had not yet completely found its place in the imagination of the organizers of the Games.