Lyon in the top 10 major cycling cities in France: what you need to know
Through Theo Zuili
Published on
The barometer of cycling cities 2021, drawn up by the French Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB), was unveiled this Thursday, February 10, 2022. In Lyon (Rhône), while cycling is one of the priorities of the EELV executive and Mayor Grégory Doucet, all is not rosy for cyclists.
What is the barometer of cycling cities?
The barometer questions local citizens, cyclists or not, on a scale of 6 points of satisfaction, on the feeling of safety, the comfort of travel, the cycling infrastructure, the parking facilities, the use of bicycles in public transport. and public policies promoting cycling. The questionnaire included about thirty questions from these five categories.
All this while allowing everyone to place a total of six points on an interactive map: optionally three red points and three green points. Isolated red dots can signal any sort of anecdotal problem, so the best indicator to rely on is dot density.
A summary of these ratings was produced to determine the “cycling climate” of each city, presenting the average feeling of cyclists in the municipality as well as on each of the aspects of the cycle system explored.
The city of Lyon more cycling in 2021 than in 2019
The barometer ranks the city of Lyon in sixth place in the ranking of major French cities, with an overall score of 3.51 out of 5 in 2021.
An increase, therefore, compared to that of 2019 estimated at 3.19. This reflected a feeling of improvement among the people of Lyon who noted a 44% increase in cycling comfort in the city this year.
The city of Lyon thus displays the score of “C” on a scale ranging from “A+” to “G” and ranks behind Grenoble (4.21), Strasbourg (4.18), Rennes (3.74), Annecy (3.69) and Nantes (3.64), but ahead of Tours (3.46), Le Havre (3.45), Angers (3.44) and Bordeaux (3.40).
The capital of the Gauls is, according to this barometer, the French metropolis which is the most welcoming for bicycle users. France’s third largest city, it ranks ahead of Paris (3.33) and Marseille (2.01) which are not in the top 10.
Figurine The Rhone is pale
More than 35,000 people participated, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, in rating their cities for this 2021 edition.
The regional top 3 is won by Grenoble, 1st “big city” in France, followed by Bourget-du-Lac (Savoie), 6th in the “suburban towns” category and Meylan (Isère), 7th in this same category.
Savoie and the metropolis of Grenoble, in Isère, therefore steal the podium from the Rhône. Because in this department, only Lyon is rated above 3.49/5.
Cyclists still dissatisfied
If trips (or passages?) by bicycle in the metropolis of Lyon have increased from 30 million in 2020 to 38 million in 2021 with 9,124,238 Vélo’v locations, and despite an improvement in cycling conditions last year, there there are still black spots.
Black dots detailed on the map by the FUB, on January 12th.
In Lyon, users criticize in particular the surroundings of Place Gabriel-Péri, with its seven-lane intersection, Avenue Berthelot, the main artery without a cycle lane, the north of Quai Perrache with the passage of the M7, the quays on the right bank of the Rhône which is the subject of a redevelopment project, the Part-Dieu district, rue Marietton in the 9th arrondissement, as well as the Croix-Rousse district.
There is therefore still work to be done to overtake Grenoble, Strasbourg or Rennes, even if the most mentioned cycle path is in Lyon.
Perhaps in 2026, hope Bruno Bernard, president of the Metropolis, who had unveiled the project of “Lyonnaises Ways”, nourishing the ambition to triple the number of bicycle trips by this deadline.
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