There was a time when this was unheard of, but today Paris is one of the most cyclist-friendly large urban centers in the world. The infrastructure has changed, but also something more difficult to grasp: the mentality of both the city and the people. Bicycling has become a normal way of getting around for almost everyone. A new study report shows that there is no magic behind this transformation, but cool, consistent policy based on data.
Many cities seem to think that “residents will choose cars anyway for various reasons.” Paris has fit this narrative perfectly for years: it is large, dense, full of cars, with narrow streets that are “impassable”, which can tire even a passenger in a taxi. Meanwhile, the data is clear: between 2018 and 2023, bicycle traffic there increased by 240%. The turning point at this point was… the lockdown period.
In central districts, more than one in ten journeys are now made by bicycle. It would be difficult to find a more clear signal of a change in transport behavior in a city that until recently was the definition of a traffic jam. And importantly: this result is not based on anecdotal evidence, but on systematic measurement. I myself had the impression that what I saw before this period and what I saw later were incomparable.
Paris not only added bicycle paths, but also managed to change mentality. A third, equivalent option has appeared, which in many cases wins in terms of time and convenience. And people – surprisingly often – choose what simply works.
How did researchers capture the Paris boom?
The researchers did not rely on residents’ declarations because survey respondents like to lie. They collected data from 114 permanent bicycle counters located in the city. These are sensors that only count bicycles, so there is no problem of “noise” from scooters, pedestrian traffic and other vehicles.
Traffic in the city can jump due to weather, holidays or strikes, so anomalies were removed from the data and the trend was described with a daily median. Additionally, weather parameters from the Paris meteorological station were added: temperature, precipitation, humidity and wind.
Instead of guessing what worked, a timeline of the city’s actions was built: new bicycle lanes, parking lots, low-emission zones, changes in fuel prices, traffic calming, pedestrian spaces and greenery. Total analyzed 13 political factors in five categories, and methods known from analytics and machine learning were used to untangle the dependencies: StratIMPORT and kernel SHAP. Both tools point to similar conclusions, so it’s hard to say it’s a coincidence.
You won’t like this. Paris declared war on cars and started giving bonuses to bicycles
The study’s most sobering conclusion is that Paris actually made some decisions. On the one hand, it invested in typical bicycle solutions: separated lanes, improved safety and city parking lots for bicycles. On the other hand, he introduced policies that consistently limited the comfort of driving a car. Most often, these were not murderous decisions, but simply silent modifications of the movement style at critical points. Here you are probably already outraged that “they are taking away their freedom.” Let me say perversely: Paris had to do something about it. Apart from the stench in the subway, the sad sight of homeless people wandering around in various places, crime and pickpockets, murderous traffic jams and the infrastructural complexity of Paris were one of the biggest problems.
It all works because it taps into the psychology of everyday transport choices. People will not analyze the city’s decisions like engineers: they will simply ask the simplest questions. If a bicycle becomes an easy, quick means of communication and a car becomes a hassle, the decision makes itself. You can even save money on social campaigns.
Now in Paris it is calmer, quieter and less hectic. Most often, ordinary residents who would not even think about it ride bikes. Parents with children’s cargo bikes, elderly people, people commuting to work in normal clothes. And it’s probably easier to get it in Paris, because even today it’s 11 degrees there. It’s -1 here and there are snowdrifts, snowdrifts everywhere. But if they can afford it there, why not?
City life also matters
The study shows another mechanism that is often overlooked in conversations about transport. Improving the quality of public space had a measurable impact on bicycle traffic. New trees, promenades, squares and traffic calming have a positive impact on the use of bicycles.
If a city is pleasant for everyone, people will be more likely to want to cycle around it. It sounds a bit like Rzeszów, and it is one of the most pleasant cities for cyclists in our country. There is no shortage of really nice, green spaces here: even in the middle of the street noise. But… we’re talking about Paris. Where is Paris and where is Rzeszów?
As more bicycles appear in the area, others begin to treat it as normal. It’s a typical social mechanism: the bicycle acts a bit like a new standard of behavior. When a neighbor drives to work and a parent drives away from school in a cargo car with a child, herd behavior occurs. The city begins to produce its own proof of concept. It’s stronger than anything else.
Political consistency
There was also a clear political decision behind this change. Mayor Anne Hidalgo’s administration focused on bicycles as a mobility reconstruction project, not as an addition for hobbyists. Paris was developing infrastructure on a large scale, eliminating parking spaces (controversial, I will say) and investing in a network of routes that are supposed to act as a system of communicating vessels.
The Vélib’ bike-sharing system also played an important role. The report shows that it has hundreds of thousands of subscribers and generates millions of rides per month. This type of tools are a kind of “entrance to:” for the city: someone who does not have their own bike can try riding without large investments and the resulting risk. Once he feels it makes sense, he goes into it harder.
Read also: When are subsidies for electric bikes available? A promising declaration by the ministry
Paris announces that it wants to be “100% cycleable” by the end of 2026. It’s ambitious, I must say. It seems that a wisely “managed” policy can do more than a mawkish social campaign and murderous regulations (e.g. SCT in Krakow: although Paris also has “its own” ZFE). This is how things are solved in Poland. There are those who say that they taught the French to eat with cutlery, but it turns out that Poles can also learn from the French. For example, making it easier for people to cycle around cities.
