Through Cédric Nithard
Published on
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Montpellier will welcome at the Corum and the Hôtel de Région, from 1is to July 4, the 21e annual congress from the French Federation of Bicycle Users (FUB). A choice that validates bicycle policy set up by the Montpellier Metropolis and reward the activism of the Velocity association.
The bicycle in the political debate
“Cycling: a new era? “. This is the question that will be asked by the participants of the 21st annual congress of the FUB. After Bordeaux in February 2020, Montpellier will be the national center of more than 450 cycling associations for four days. “It’s a new start and it’s very exciting to be in Montpellier. What Vélocité did from 2019 inspires in France and even beyond our borders. That is to say to energize, to put the bicycle in the political debate. Being in Montpellier is anything but chance. It is really so that the whole of France can feel the changes provided by the work of Vélocité ”, greets Olivier Schneider.
After pushing Philippe Saurel to do his late “vélorution”, Vélocité has indeed succeeded in placing the cycling issue at the heart of Municipalities in Montpellier. The FUB has the same ambition at the national level with the elections.parlons-velo.fr platform set up for regional and departmental elections. As mobility is an area in which these communities are involved, and which can accelerate the place of cycling, Olivier Schneider underlines the importance of these polls all the more.
2024 target
“In Montpellier, we are aware that we are far behind in terms of the place given to cycling in our city and in the inter-municipal sector compared to others” concedes Michaël Delafosse, who cites Paris, Grenoble and Strasbourg as an example before continuing: “But we are also very lucky because we have a civil society, I am thinking of Vélocité and all of its members, which contributes to the public debate around cycling and which must be welcomed”.
Since his election, Michaël Delafosse – with Julie Frêche, delegate for Transport and Active Mobilities at the Metropolis and Manu Reynaud, delegate for the Peaceful and Breathable City – has pursued a policy aimed at reducing the place of the car by attaching major importance to bike. Less heckled than his predecessor by Vélocité and reinforced in this sense by the FUB, Michaël Delafosse is now looking towards 2024 and aims to host the Vélocity world congress in Montpellier.
“Between now and 2024, we will have worked a lot. The transitional tracks will be transformed to make bicycle users safer, ”explains the President of the Metropolis, who also highlights the € 150M of investment devoted to this bicycle policy during the term of office and the development of alternatives to the car such as the tramway with line 5, future high-level bus lines and of course free public transport for the inhabitants of the Metropolis. With a final argument asserted: “Nearly 1 billion euros, an exceptional figure, will be devoted during the mandate to all mobility”.
Assistance of 500 € for the purchase of a VAE until December 31
Michaël Delafosse recalled the amount, € 1,150, of cumulative aid between the Region, the Department and the Metropolis for the purchase of an electrically assisted bicycle. Thus, the aid of 500 € set up by the Metropolis of Montpellier has benefited 8,000 people, half of them in the city center and the other half in the other municipalities of the metropolis. This aid, due to stop on August 31, is extended until December 31. “We have the funds to do it. And the more cyclists there are, the better. We want to support this movement” specifies Michaël Delafosse, who however points to the shortage of bicycles with certain bicycle operators.
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A support program for employers
The 21st FUB congress will be an opportunity to officially launch the label and the Objectif Employeur Pro Vélo program, which benefits from a budget of 40M € to support 4,500 public, private or associative employers in actions in favor of bicycles. .
“It is about being in a positive ecology and not punitive. We are not going to impose things on employers but we are going to support them financially and in terms of engineering “explains Olivier Schneider who continues:” It is a tailor-made program aimed at both large groups and SMEs with a personalized support “.
The Ministry of Ecological Transition having entrusted this file to the FUB, Minister Barbara Pompili could make the trip to Montpellier. Michaël Delafosse announces that the Metropolis and the City will set an example with its 7,000 agents and will be the ambassador on the territory of this program to employers.
Cycling generations
Two other programs will also be presented, including Génération Vélo, with a budget of € 21 million, to “train people to have new generations of bikes every year, ie 850,000 children in France, including 2,300 in Montpellier,” explains Olivier Schneider. In the same vein, the City is already carrying out educational work on cycling and its practice, carried out this year in 34 classes of CM1 and CM2. To continue in this direction, work to secure the path to schools will be carried out throughout the mandate.
To achieve its ambition, the Montpellier Metropolis has enlisted the services of Copenhagenize, a benchmark in terms of bicycle mobility. With Olivier Schneider by his side, Michaël Delafosse also has a partner of choice. “It is for us a chance that the FUB, with its very rich citizen expertise and its knowledge, accompanies us at the same time to act just and to go far and so that this city, which has 360 days of sun per year and a potential extraordinary cycle route, frees itself completely ”does not fail to greet you.
And if reluctance may still exist, as much as the obstacles to be removed, as to the transition to be carried out, the movement is initiated by the community. In a reassuring approach, Olivier Schneider pleads in favor of the little queen: “The future, if we do it well, will be different but better. The bicycle makes it possible to project on the fact that protecting the climate, biodiversity, better managing natural resources, it is not a punishment. The educational virtue of finding hope with the bicycle is very interesting ”. What the 21st FUB Congress will not fail to demonstrate.