No more crowded metros, no more trains canceled at the last minute, and above all, no more cars. Since last July, Benjamin has chosen to swap his multiple daily connections by car, RER and metro for a single journey, by bicycle, to connect his home in Bezon (Val d’Oise) and his place of work, in the 7th district of Paris. “I have a cycle track from end to end: it takes me as long as a car, and I no longer have to worry about filling up. Right now, that’s clearly one less worry!” , says this father of 43 years, contractual in the administration.
For this Ile-de-France resident, the calculation is quickly made. By parting with his Navigo transport package at 75 euros monthly and eliminating his parking fees at Bezon station, he would save “between 110 and 120 euros per month”. “And that’s not counting the savings on gasoline!”, He says, even ensuring that he has recently expanded the share of his bike trips. “I take it more and more to take my daughter to activities, or do some small shopping in town… It’s beneficial for the environment, for my health, and for my savings”.
With the rise in the price of gasoline, and a fortiori since the start of fuel shortage, many French people, like Benjamin, choose to abandon or limit their daily car journeys. “Before, I only took the bike from time to time. Now it’s all the time: I only use the car in an emergency”, assures Denis, in Hauts-de-Seine. This father of two thus indicates that he earns around 4.50 euros per trip when he does his shopping by bike, and has even found easy solutions for going on weekends without taking his vehicle out of the garage. “Instead of going far, we will pedal in the surrounding forests. We get some fresh air. And it’s not just a question of economy, but also of rarity”, he indicates, witness endless queues in front of Ile-de-France petrol pumps. Every day, the forty-year-old also gets on his bike to get to work in Paris. “I’m not the only one: a Slack group has been created internally to discuss our journeys, our bikes, to exchange accessories or advice… It has become an important social factor”.
“I save 2000 euros per year”
“We have a lot of testimonies in this sense, from neophytes who have recently taken up cycling because they no longer had a choice, or who had been thinking about it for a long time and had the click when the liter of petrol exceeded two euros”, decrypts Olivier Schneider, president of the Federation of bicycle users. “They don’t necessarily go from zero to nothing, because not everyone can afford it. But many are reducing their car journeys to supplement them with round trips by bike,” he says. . In Bonchamp-lès-Laval, about 8 kilometers from Laval (Mayenne), Marie tries to take her bicycle as soon as she can.
“I started six months ago, when the city opened a bike path between my home and my office. I also regularly take my bike to take my children to school or do my shopping… I am in transition, as they say,” says the mother of two. But for the longest journeys, Marie admits that she cannot part with her car. “We are in rural areas, the car is still the majority. But I leave myself until the end of the year to make the bike my priority mode of transport!”. The conversion bonus she could benefit from by scrapping her old car to buy an electrically assisted bike or a cargo bike – in place since July 2021 – could also end up convincing her. “The goal would be to be able to go further by bike. Without arriving in a sweat at the office,” she jokes.
To limit their costs, some go even further. In Paris, Naoufel has chosen to purely and simply resell his thermal scooter, with which he has been making all his trips for four years. “Two years ago, I could fill up for ten euros. Now the price has doubled. If I add insurance and parking, it’s no longer profitable!” -il, while parking for motorized two-wheelers has become chargeable in the capital since September 1st. “It was in danger of becoming an impossible hassle. By agreeing to resume transport, I estimate to save around 100 and 150 euros per month”. Same reasoning for Catherine, who chose not to replace her old car when it broke down a year ago. “By giving it up, I save 2000 euros per year”, assures this forties, while the city of Compiègne, where she lives, rents her a long-term electric bicycle for a flat rate of one euro per day.
“Communities have their role to play,” comments Françoise Rossignol, president of the National Club of Cycling and Walking Cities and Territories, which brings together more than 400 communities across France. “With the climate crisis, the health crisis and now the gasoline crisis, there is an increasingly strong practice of cycling. And with it, a growing demand from residents and elected officials for adequate planning”. In the Urban Community of Arras (CUA), of which she is vice-president in charge of mobility and transport, 84 kilometers of cycle paths are now available to residents, including 10 kilometers created in 2022 alone. secure parking lots for bicycles have recently been installed, as well as dozens of hoops, while 500 electrically assisted bicycles have been put up for long-term rental by the city for residents, for a price “of around 120 euros per year “. “We have to put the means, obviously. We have multiplied by five the budget for cycling infrastructure”, admits Florence Rossignol, who also tries to take into consideration the residents of rural municipalities. “Ultimately, the objective is to connect the 46 rural municipalities of the CUA to the various activity areas and stations by cycle paths. And we are thinking about the same device for bus stops, as demand is strong”, she explains.
Carpool success
Since the beginning of the fuel shortage, the vice-president in charge of mobility has also been closely monitoring the use of the five carpooling areas of the AUC. “They were already in high demand by the inhabitants, but it has doubled since the start of the fuel crisis. We have more and more pressing requests to serve them by public transport or cycle paths”, raises Florence Rossignol. Because for some drivers, the use of carpooling has become necessary in order not to bear the full brunt of the increase in the price of gasoline. “Before, my daily journey cost me 9 euros. Now it’s 15 euros. If I didn’t carpool, I would have to spend around 400 euros a month just on fuel,” says Marthe, who travels 125 kilometers every day. between his workplace in Condé-sur-Vire (Manche) and his home in Caen (Calvados) with his partner, who works in the same company.
“We have recorded business growth of more than 15% per month for a year, with the problems of rising fuel prices and generalized inflation”, confirms to L’Express Olivier Binet, co-founder and CEO of the Karos carpooling platform, on which Marthe is inscribed. Last week, in the midst of a fuel shortage, the application even recorded growth of more than 25%, for home/work journeys of 20 kilometers on average. A trend also observed by the company BlaBlaCar, which indicates for its part that it recorded a 25% increase in carpooling searches last week on its BlaBlaCar Daily application, dedicated to daily journeys, and a 100% increase in registrations for the Ile-de-France region alone . “A million new members have registered on the platform since the price of fuel rose sharply a year ago”, it is specified, while drivers save around “4 euros per trip on BlaBlaCar Daily” according to the ‘company.