When the temporary lasts, it sometimes enters the norm. This may be the case for cycle paths that have come out of the ground in recent weeks to support deconfinement.
First of all because these tracks, responding to an emergency situation, are based on projects worked for years by communities and associations. In February, the Île-de-France region had thus chosen to finance 300 million euros for the creation of a bicycle RER, a network of cycle paths running through the region, or 60% of the cost. The health crisis in a way allowed the project to be carried out more quickly than expected. If the facilities are not final, the presence of cycle paths on the chosen axes may well be.
Christophe Najdovski, Assistant to Transport at the Paris City Hall, believes that these tracks allow testing solutions, even if it means reviewing the copy in the event of an error. “We will be able to see where the experience works, explains the elected official. These tracks are transient. The term can be interpreted in both directions. If that doesn't work, we can go back. But if it works, why deprive yourself of it? In this case, it is likely that a certain number of these improvements will be made permanent. ”
Disaffection with public transport
But keeping track is not just a political issue. It must also respond to the disaffection of public transport, which suffers from a bad reputation in times of epidemic. The behavior of Ile-de-France residents in their ways of moving could well be modified in the long term.
"Transport, overloaded before the crisis, is facing a loss of confidence," explains Pierre Garzon, vice-president of the Val-de-Marne departmental council, in charge of transport. After the attack on the RER St-Michel, it took years for transport use to return to its previous level. With the Covid-19, we will try to avoid being crowded, probably for the long term. However, when a situation persists over time, other habits are established. Everyday life changes in depth. As a result, a number of cycle facilities, which were already planned before the crisis, will undoubtedly not be undone, but reorganized in order to last. ”