Skip to main content

Bike to be ‘little queen of deconfinement’ in France

The French government has announced a €20 million scheme designed to encourage people to use their bicycles as the country emerges from lockdown.
By Adam Hill May 4, 2020 Read time: 1 min
France hails 'little queen of deconfinement' (© Rosshelen | Dreamstime.com)

People will be eligible to receive €50 which will be put towards bike repairs after strict lockdown measures are relaxed on 11 May.

Environment minister Elisabeth Borne said the government wanted this period to be a step forward in bike culture, with the bicycle becoming “the little queen of deconfinement”.

As well as offering financial incentives to individuals, the €20m will also be used for increasing space on roads for bikes and in cycling training. 

The idea is to give people alternatives to car use and public transport - measures which should ease demand on metros and buses while keeping crowded roads freer of vehicles.

The government wants to increase the public transport offering as much as possible and then “drastically reduce demand during peak hours”, Borne said.

Related Content

  • USDoT embraces Vision Zero
    January 31, 2022
    'We cannot tolerate the continuing crisis of roadway deaths,' says transport sec Pete Buttigieg
  • Traffic to flow freely over world’s widest bridge
    November 13, 2012
    Pete Goldin reports on a new Egis project in Canada, providing open road tolling operations for the widest bridge in the world. A bridge can present a bottleneck in a system of roads or it can support the smooth and unobstructed flow of traffic. Much depends on the bridge design, surrounding infrastructure and tolling system. By adding lanes and deploying open road tolling (ORT), the new Port Mann Bridge located in the metropolitan Vancouver area in British Columbia, will alleviate congestion at one of the
  • What's next for traffic management and data collection?
    January 26, 2012
    As the technologies and stakeholders in traffic management evolve, what can we expect to see happening in the coming years? For many, the conversation of the moment is just how, and how far, the newer technologies and services provided principally by the private sector should be allowed to intrude into the realms of traffic management.
  • Sustainable mobility? Only possible with a multifaceted approach
    May 25, 2023
    ITS European Congress 2023 was scene for 'full and frank exchange of views'