Le Figaro Nantes
“If you take my place, take my handicap”
: parking spaces reserved for vehicles for people with reduced mobility (PRM) are now part of the decor of public spaces.
Will bicycle spaces be one day?
This is what Jonathan Charier, a citizen of the Nantes metropolis and whistleblower on the matter, hopes.
The one who travels by tricycle made a rant on social networks in 2023. At the end of June, on the sidelines of a business trip to Paris, he went around in circles to find a location.
In vain: the 700 places in the cyclostation were filled, leading him to park
“wildly”
at the foot of a sign.
Nine months later, it has been granted: a first bicycle support for people with reduced mobility has just been installed in front of Nantes station.
“Apparently, it would be the first in public space in France
,” tells Le
Figaro
the forty-year-old, who has the after-effects of quadriplegia linked to a cycling accident on a bicross field when he was a teenager.
Similar devices have been tested in Dublin or the Netherlands but this remains embryonic in Europe according to its research and that of the mainland.
“What was very appreciable was that directly, the services of Nantes Métropole came as a team to discuss with me during a first meeting
,” continues the forty-year-old who did not expect such an impact after his publication on LinkedIn.
In the past, he had already posted a message on Twitter which did not find any response.
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"A prototype"
“The idea was to create a prototype
,” explains Aurélien Fournier Boulé, municipal and metropolitan councilor of Nantes, delegate for the development of cycling.
Soft mobility remains a major focus of Mayor Johanna Rolland: the commitment has been made to create 7,000 additional spaces for bicycles between 2020 and 2026. Nantes is working on this in particular with the professional reintegration association ATAO.
“We have a purchase order for the supply of standard bicycle supports or racks.
As part of this market, the metropolis came back to us for a suitable model
,” explains Frédéric Papouin, head of the structure development division serving people far from employment.
With his team, they were inspired by the already existing model adapted to cargo bikes, which can transport children or large volumes of business.
And added a blue plaque with a logo with a wheelchair, identified by all.
Does this mean that cyclists will respect it?
“As with PMR places, there will always be a bit of incivility.
There, because Nantes Métropole is a pioneer, no regulations exist
,” notes Jonathan Charier, who has already used the system twice since its implementation on February 14.
If for the moment, no verbalization is planned, he hopes that this
“legal void”
will one day be filled.
And that the ministries of transport and disability will take up the issue.
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Expand the tracks
But for now, the priority is above all to make innovation flourish beyond the station.
“Our political objective is to deploy it in the metropolis
,” confirms elected official Aurélien Boulé Fournier.
A questionnaire will be distributed to associations in the next six months to assess the impact.
The other challenge remains the adaptation of the slopes for people with reduced mobility.
This involves thinking about the emergence of
“cycle paths that will be several meters wide”
and securing the routes.
Jonathan Charier, also a freelance innovation consultant, also defends this concept of inclusive mobility.
“If we want to decarbonize cities in the long term, we must take into account the evolution of the population
,” he explains, citing the
“aging of the population”
and
“the inclusion of different disabilities
. ”
Concrete translation of this development: Nantes is working with a bicycle rental association in the process of adopting a fleet dedicated to these audiences.
And the Naolib bike rental service (formerly Bicloo) has already been offering tricycles, these three-wheeled bicycles, since 2018.
Jonathan Charier, who lives near Orvault, north of Nantes, uses his tricycle for his travel within the ring road.
Jonathan Charier
For the moment, only one support has been installed.
It allows two scooters or tricycles to attach to it.
Jonathan Charier