|
The summer success of the Velib programme in Paris – a bicycle rental
scheme – has highlighted cycling facilities across France.
As of 1996
French law states that local city authorities must create cycle routes
when renovating or creating new roads. Local newspapers have been
judging cycling facilities in the cities of the Languedoc. Montpellier
comes out on top (as you would expect for the regional capital) with
over 73 km of cycle routes in the city, however only 2% of journeys in
the city are by bicycle. According to Michel Julier of Velocite, a
lobby group for bicycle riders, this is in part due to the fact that
many routes are not not always user-friendly, often made with car-users
in mind rather than the other way round. Montpellier city officials are
committed to work with Velocite to improve routes , with a further 100
routes planned for the future, and their own bicycle rental scheme
Velomagg which rented out 15,400 bicycles this summer. Other cities in
the Languedoc are not quite up to speed: Nimes and Perpignan both
receive criticism for their non-bicycle friendly city planning, with
only 10% of Nimes cyclists saying that they are satisfied with
facilities there. Both cities are promising to make improvements...
|
