Skip to main content

France: bicycle usage up in Ile-de-France in past 10 years

The number of bicycle trips in Ile-de-France, Paris, doubled to 650,000 trips between 2004 and 2014, according to the IAU, a local urbanisation think tank and policy adviser. Bicycles are used mainly for commuting to work and the average trip is 2km. In Paris, where bicycles were almost non-existent 15 years ago, they now make up 3% of trips in the city and 8% of work-home trips. But half of trips of less than 2km are still made in cars, the IAU noted. Despite an increase in bicycle usage, the number of
December 15, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
The number of bicycle trips in Ile-de-France, Paris, doubled to 650,000 trips between 2004 and 2014, according to the IAU, a local urbanisation think tank and policy adviser.

Bicycles are used mainly for commuting to work and the average trip is 2km. In Paris, where bicycles were almost non-existent 15 years ago, they now make up 3% of trips in the city and 8% of work-home trips.

But half of trips of less than 2km are still made in cars, the IAU noted.

Despite an increase in bicycle usage, the number of accidents is stable, suggesting that it is safer to ride a bicycle now than a decade ago. The statistic also coincides with a police crackdown on drinking and driving.

The increase in bicycle usage also has come during the Velib bicycle rental scheme, launched in 2007. Velib – from velo for bicycle and  lib from liberty – has a fleet of 20,000 bikes and 1,800 rental stations around the city. Cyclists can pick up a bike from one of the stations and drop it back at any station they choose.

Related Content

  • Road safety gains were not as marked in 2011 as in 2010 according to the new IRTAD report
    May 2, 2012
    The International Transport Forum has released its IRTAD Road Safety Annual Report 2011, which reveals road safety improvements were not as marked in 2011 as 2010.
  • DUI driver concern for Europe
    July 28, 2023
    DUI drivers are a concern for Europe.
  • Working towards safer India mobility...
    July 18, 2012
    Sibylle Rupprecht, IRF-GPC Director General, looks towards sound mobility management at the 3rd Regional Conference of the International Road Federation 3rd-4th October 2008 in New Delhi, India More than 1.2 million deaths and 23 million injuries are caused by road accidents worldwide every year. Of these, India accounts for 10% of fatal accidents. These alarming figures were disclosed by the speakers at the 3rd Regional IRF Conference on 'Mobility and Safety in Road Transport' to some 250 engineers and exp
  • UK achieves road safety success
    December 10, 2015
    The UK has the second safest road network in the world, beaten only by Sweden according to the latest traffic data analysis from the Department for Transport (DfT). Fatalities from road crashes account for 28.3 deaths/million of population in the UK, compared with 28 fatalities/million of population in Sweden according to the DfT data. It should be noted too that the UK has a larger population and a far higher population density, as well as 35.6 million registered vehicles (an increase of 41% since 1994) an