The French took their bikes as many times in 2024 as in 2023. This is revealed by the figures published last Friday by the Vélo & Marche network. A slowdown which is confirmed, after an explosion in the practice during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This trend is not new. While, from 2020 to 2022, Cycling, recorded using counters positioned on cycle paths, increased by more than 10% from one year to the next, in 2023 the increase was “only” by 5% and it has even almost stagnated in 2024 (+1%).
In urban areas, the practice increased by 1%, a slight change compared to 2023 which recorded an increase of 6%. Attendance increases on weekends (+ 3%) but stagnates during the week.
A disparity in living environments
In peri-urban areas, attendance decreased slightly by 3%, although it was stable in 2023. This decline is more pronounced on weekends (-5%) than during the week (-2%). Same observation in rural areas where the number of recorded bicycle crossings is particularly decreasing on weekends (- 6%).
According to Vélo & Marche, “the rainy weather in 2024 did not help, but the loss of dynamism is obvious and makes the objective of 12% bicycle modal share in 2030 less and less realistic. » “The freezing of funding adds difficulty and jeopardizes the implementation of community cycling policies,” regrets the network, which brings together communities committed to active mobility.
Grenoble residents, cycling champions
In our departments, the use of bicycles in town is not the same everywhere.
It is in Grenoble that it increased more. In 2024, the 23 counters installed in the capital of the Alps will each record, on average, 1,571 bicycle crossings per day. A notable increase of 3% between 2023 and 2024.
In Greater Annecy (Haute-Savoie), things are also pedaling (+ 3%). Each of the 16 counters of the Venice of the Alps recorded 1,161 passages per day on average. She is not the only one to get into the saddle more vigorously. With an increase equal to the two previous territories, Grand Chambéry saw 935 bicycles pass per day, on average, in front of each of its 12 counters.
In Lyon, the progression is weaker (+2%) but remains noteworthy. Of the 59 counters that the City of Lights has, each counted 1,223 bicycle crossings per day.
An upward trend which is reversing in the Valence Romans Agglo agglomeration (Drôme). With Montpellier and Orléans, it recorded a drop of 3%, the largest recorded by Vélo & Marche. In total, 191 bicycle crossings were recorded by each of the city's 14 counters.
The Cycling & Walking network
Since the end of the first confinement in spring 2020, the cycling and walking network has offered, throughout the year, monitoring of the evolution of cycling. This tool, developed in partnership with Eco-Compteur, makes it possible to aggregate data from more than 1,700 meters shared by nearly 175 communities.
This analysis is based on a national sample of 315 meters representative of all the meters shared with the National Attendance Platform (PNF).
The report on the 2024 figures was produced with the financial support of Ademe and the Ministry of Transport and is based on a representative sample of 315 meters throughout the territory.
This assessment is provisional and must be refined in spring 2025 with the integration of all the counters shared with the National Attendance Platform.
Source: Cycling & Walking
France
Cycling
