Get on your bike to pedal from Cergy to the center of Paris using a single cycle path… By 2030, this should be possible thanks to the RER V, V for Cycling.
Nine cycle routes of 680 kilometers were designed by the Vélo Île-de-France collective in 2019. Like a metro map, the colored cycle paths aim to be intuitive and easy to locate and follow for cyclists.
The nine routes of the RER V. Credit: Île-de-France region
The region foresees that the five priority axes, colored, will be ready from 2025 and the other part by 2030. For Vincent Degove, associative coordinator of the RER V and member of Paris en Selle, “
the first phase could be ready. in 2024 and all for 2027-2028.
We must set ourselves the ambition to go quickly to make this happen.
The objective is that for the Olympic Games of 2024, half is already achieved
”.
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Since early 2020, the project has come a long way. The Île-de-France region has taken up the subject. It released an envelope of 300 million euros to support the communities which are themselves in charge of their municipal and departmental roads. Regional aid usually amounts to 50% of the financing of the project, the rest must be financed by the community concerned. For the regional bicycle express network (RER V), the aid provided by the region goes up to 60% to encourage communities to invest. “
It is a strong political act. We are setting up this funding to encourage communities to carry out the work,
”explains Grégoire de Lasteyrie, in charge of new mobility at the regional council.
For the development of these nine cycle paths, the collective has counted on a total budget of 500 million euros.
“
It barely represents 2% of the Grand Paris Express budget
,” emphasizes Louis Belenfant, coordinator of the Collectif Vélo Île-de-France.
A necessary political will
But another non-financial cost comes into play, that of political will.
Bicycle paths are often built in place of roads or parking spaces.
A difficult situation for motorists to accept.
The coronavirus crisis has led to renewed interest in cycling with the establishment in Paris of "
coronapistes
», Cycling facilities created to relieve congestion on public transport and thus promote respect for safety distances. Carried out in haste, these cycle paths have aroused much criticism. In particular, the ugliness of the capital with the installation of yellow studs or concrete blocks to delimit them but also sometimes difficult to understand signage. Anne Hidalgo, mayor (PS) of Paris, has nevertheless chosen to perpetuate them beyond the health crisis.
These infrastructures have met with some success with cyclists.
According to the association of communities Cycling and Territories, the number of passages recorded on cycle paths even climbed by 67% in Paris between the release of the first confinement and the end of August compared to the corresponding period of 2019. “
Les communities are more convinced than before.
They realized that in the long term, there will be an increasing demand for cycling facilities
”, claims Vincent Degove, member of Paris en Selle.
Nearly 6,000 kilometers of cycling facilities
Today, the bicycle represents only 3% of the daily trips of Ile-de-France residents.
“
There is a lot of room for improvement to offer cycling as an alternative to public transport and cars.
We want to send a strong signal to Ile-
de-France residents, ”said Grégoire de Lasteyrie, from the regional council.
The objective of the RER V is precisely to increase this use.
“
The only way to develop the use of cycling in Île-de-France is to resolve the problem of the discontinuity of cycle routes so that cyclists feel safe throughout their journey,
” explains Vincent Degove.
Cycling facilities already exist in Île-de-France, but in a discontinuous manner.
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At the start of 2019, 5,835 kilometers of cycling facilities were identified.
"
It is the notion of network and continuity of the tracks that will push the Ile-de-France residents to use their bikes,
" emphasizes Louis Belenfant.
An opinion shared by cyclists in Ile-de-France.
“
There are only sections of cycle paths.
When I'm on the wheel, I don't feel safe,
”says William, who uses his bike daily from Courbevoie to central Paris to get to work.
Specifications for this vast network of cycle paths and facilities were validated at the end of March by associations and local communities. The objective is a homogenization of cycle routes even if they are managed and financed by different communities. They must have the same visual identity. "
To receive funding from the region, the communities will have to present a cycle development project that respects the recommendations of these specifications
", describes Louis Belenfant. The cyclist should follow the cycle path as easily as when following signs in the metro.
Several tracks should be validated by the summer so that some work can begin at the end of 2021.
"We are working so that from 2022, there are already secure routes in place",
claims Vincent Degove, associative coordinator of the RER V.
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The timetable is ambitious because the project risks falling a little behind with the regional and departmental elections which will take place in June.
Valérie Pécresse, current president of Île-de-France and candidate for the next elections, has made this project an integral part of her program.
Regarding the other candidates for the presidency of the Region, the Vélo Île-de-France collective is confident.
“
We asked all the candidates to commit to building the RER V. They understood that it was a necessary project for the region.
To renounce it would be a real step backwards,
”explains Louis Belenfant of the Collectif Vélo Île-de-France.
The coronavirus pandemic, however, caused delays on many projects such as the work of the Grand Paris Express.
A new roadmap must be unveiled by the summer.
To see if it will not be the same for the RER V ...
