VIDEO. We rode with a cyclist and a motorist through decontaminated Paris.

The bicycle has proven itself to be the best means of escape from isolation. More environmentally friendly, less noisy, more hygienic… Biklu seems like a miracle solution for the city. But for its growth there was not enough secure infrastructure.

Cities, prefectures and regions have hastily developed temporary routes, also called “coronapistas”, to avoid putting everyone back on public transport while the epidemic is still a concern.

In just a few minutes of the meeting, the cycling associations saw some of the 10-year members’ requests come to fruition as if by magic.

Through this “tactical urban planning,” bicycles and other types of “soft mobility” are making space on the road, often occupying lanes reserved for cars. How is this new cohabitation going?

Cyclist and motorist in one journey

On Tuesday, May 19, Louis Bélanfant, director of the Vélo Ile-de-France collective, and Pierre Chasseret, general manager of 40 million motorists, embarked on the same journey between Courbevoie and the center of Paris.

“We need to get back the space in the car.”

The two men had never met, and without our invitation to report it, they probably never would have thought about it. Current events also made this meeting possible. Indeed, with the end of quarantine, cycling has taken up space on the roads to the detriment of motorized vehicles. Loss of positions on the one hand and a small victory on the other.

For Pierre Chasseret, the problem is the method: “I use a strategy where we twist someone’s arm to tell them, ‘You see, we have created so many restrictions for you that you are forced to do things differently,’ which doesn’t bother me.” makes me happy.” Louis Belenfant responds: “There are not 36,000 solutions for the development of cycling, we cannot punish pedestrians or public transport, we must take away space from the car. »

And this is the option chosen by many municipalities in France, which have adopted temporary measures to encourage the use of bicycles and prevent users from returning to public transport.

Paris has 50 km of temporary bike paths. More than one hundred kilometers of temporary buildings have been erected in the departments of the inner Moscow region. An interactive map for determining routes is offered by the Vélo Ile-de-France team. The initiative is supported by the Metropolitan of Greater Paris.

-Where are the bicycles? »

During the ride, both the bike and car teams stopped to comment on their journey. One of the stops took place on Avenue Grande Armée, near the famous Etoile roundabout, which was impossible to travel on a bicycle before the introduction of quarantine.

The underpass under the Arc de Triomphe, designed for bicycles, can now be used. During this break, Pierre Chasser, noticing the absence of bicycles on the road, opened the fighting with the controversial topic “Where are the bicycles?” “It’s not rush hour,” retorted Louis Belenfant, “and certain temporary measures have just been created, cyclists need to get used to them.”

Bike travel is booming

Rush hour or not, bicycle use has increased in France since May 11th. According to the association Vélo & Territoires, bicycle racks scattered throughout the territory recorded 44% more bicycle passages than before the lockdown.

In Paris, certain totems placed on bike paths record traffic records comparable to those recorded during the transport strike. This is especially true for those located on Rue de Rivoli or Rue Georges-Pompidou.

The temporary bike lanes are clearly not metered. If some motorists hope that they will disappear very quickly, the matter is not yet resolved. Transport Minister Elizabeth Bourne just said during a press conference on May 29 that “the government will support communities to maintain these routes.”