Skip to main content

Paris launches ambitious new cycling plan

Paris has launched its 2015-2020 cycling strategy, which aims to double the length of the city's cycle network and triple the number of Parisians cycling every day. The strategy was developed with the input of almost 7,000 stakeholders in a consultation period from December 2014 to January 2015 aims to help deal with Paris's high air pollution and concentration of particulates, which caused heavy smog earlier this year and in spring 2015. A total of US$166 million has been allocated to realise the str
May 5, 2015 Read time: 2 mins
Paris has launched its 2015-2020 cycling strategy, which aims to double the length of the city's cycle network and triple the number of Parisians cycling every day.

The strategy was developed with the input of almost 7,000 stakeholders in a consultation period from December 2014 to January 2015 aims to help deal with Paris's high air pollution and concentration of particulates, which caused heavy smog earlier this year and in spring 2015.

A total of US$166 million has been allocated to realise the strategy's aims. More than a third, US$69 million, will be spent on improving and extending the cycle network, effectively doubling it from its current length of 700 kilometres to 1,400 kilometres by 2020.

The city is dedicating US$33 million to making Paris's streets safer, by transforming secondary roads into 30km/h zones and implementing two-way cycle lanes so that cyclists can navigate the city more easily, while US$44 million has been set aside to better integrate cycling with public transport as well as with the city's public squares and major roads.

By 2020, Paris intends that15 per cent of journeys should be completed by bicycle, up from five per cent today. To accomplish this, US$7.7 million will be spent on creating a further 10,000 bicycle parking places and a subsidy scheme worth US$11 million will help residents with specific cycling needs to buy cargo and electric bicycles.

Related Content

  • Phoenix rises to the Smart City challenge
    December 10, 2015
    Andrew Bardin Williams looks at the City of Phoenix where voters backed a $30bn plan to revamp its transportation network to cultivate a more connected community. According to a Land Use Institute study, half of all Americans and even more millennials (63%) would like to live in a place where they do not need to use a car very often. The City of Phoenix is putting in place plans to revamp its urban development and transportation policies to meet these changing quality of life perceptions.
  • Positive incentives an alternative to road user charging?
    February 1, 2012
    The Netherlands has been looking at incentivising rush-hour avoidance. The intention is to better understand road users' motivations and find alternatives to congestion charging. Something significant needs to happen if we are to adequately address the traffic congestion and other issues caused by the ever-rising numbers of vehicles on our roads. Congestion or distance-based charging is seen as one way of managing demand and raising revenue for improvements to transport infrastructure. However, charging is
  • Siemens delivers pedestrian countdown at traffic signals
    November 30, 2015
    First shown at Traffex 2015 in April, production of Siemens’ new Pedestrian Countdown at Traffic Signals (PCaTS) is now fully under way. PCaTS informs pedestrians how long they have to cross the road after the far-side green man signal has gone out. By providing a visible countdown of the time remaining before the appearance of the red man, PCaTS is intended to give pedestrians a better understanding of the time available to complete crossing, reducing anxiety once the green man is no longer displayed. B
  • A new era for England’s major roads
    March 26, 2015
    Highways England, the government-owned company which will deliver the largest investment in England’s major roads in a generation, officially launches next week. The company, which replaces the Highways Agency from 1 April, will invest US$16 billion in delivering a raft of improvements on England’s motorways and major A roads making roads even safer, improving traffic flow and reducing congestion. The improvements over the first five years of operation include: 112 major improvements, including 15 sma