Make cycling accessible to everyone, from an early age and throughout life!
Velo & Marche Plan 2023 - 2027: 1st Interministerial Committee
May 2026
Achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 means continuing and stepping up the reduction of greenhouse gases throughout the country. While we are on the right track, this objective requires additional efforts every day, and requires us to transform the way we live, consume and produce. It also means revolutionising the transport sector and decarbonising our mobility. To give every French person access to clean mobility, Elisabeth Borne’s government wants to make cycling accessible to everyone, from an early age and throughout their lives!
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Cycling from an early age
Through the 2023-2027 Cycling and Walking Plan, the government is reaffirming its commitment to extending the « Learn to ride a bike » scheme, so that every child between the ages of 6 and 11 learns to ride a bike safely, responsibly and responsibly. It also aims to instil a « cycling culture » in children, to promote a mode of transport that is good for their health and the environment.
Since 2019, 200,000 children have been trained in the « Learn to ride a bike » scheme. In 2023 alone, a further 200,000 children will benefit from the programme. Gradually, 850,000 children will be trained each year, i.e. the entire age group, before they start secondary school in 2027. The Ministry of Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Education, and with the Savoir rouler à vélo partners, are committed to and will carry out, with the Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur region as a pilot area, an experiment to massively roll out the Savoir rouler à vélo programme.
The Génération vélo programme, financed to the tune of €21 million by the energy savings certificate programme, aims to train more than 6,000 instructors and to provide support for activities in children’s facilities, in partnership with local authorities. The current scheme will also be supplemented by effective information and awareness-raising for children, in primary and secondary schools alike, on how to drive safely.
In addition, the module for raising young people’s awareness of the risks they take on the road as part of the universal national service will be strengthened. A specific section will make young people aware of the risks they should avoid as cyclists, but also of the risks they can cause cyclists to take as drivers of other vehicles. The aim is to encourage better sharing of the road and greater respect for all road users.
« Giving children the ability to move around actively and sustainably is essential at a time when a sedentary lifestyle is leading to major health risks. After 4 years of action with the partners in this programme, a great deal of progress has been made and more than 200,000 children have already been trained. We are fully committed to achieving our ambitious target of training 850,000 children every year from 2027, as announced by the Prime Minister ».
Amélie Oudéa Castéra Minister for Sport and the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Cycling throughout life
Beyond the environmental benefits, active mobility is a daily public health issue. It is a preventive means of maintaining good health every day and combating sedentary lifestyles.
Working hand in hand with health professionals, local authorities and employers, the government wants to develop active mobility as a genuine tool for prevention and health promotion.
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By including cycling and walking in prevention programmes at key ages.
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By developing a teaching aid on active mobility for health professionals.
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Adding a section on cycling and walking to the National Nutrition and Health Programme charters.
Located throughout the country, the role of the Maisons sport-santé is to welcome, inform and support all those who need advice and assistance to resume or start physical activity, paying particular attention to people who are isolated, suffering from illnesses or who are far removed from physical activity. The « Maisons sport-santé » will be mobilised to offer activities linked to walking and cycling in order to diversify their range of services and support a greater number of users towards active mobility.
Cycling to work
Two measures have been introduced as part of the government’s energy efficiency plan.
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The sustainable mobility package for the civil service has been increased from €200 to €300. The 100-day limit has also been relaxed, and it is now possible to combine it with other transport passes. The sustainable mobility package (FMD) is a financial support scheme for private-sector employees and public-sector employees who commute to work by bicycle, carpool or personal transport vehicle. Set up at the initiative of the employer, it provides employees who choose one of these methods with a flat-rate, tax-free allowance of up to €800 per year. Of the private employers who have deployed the FMD, 96% have opened up this package to cycling and 56% to car-pooling.
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Secure bicycle parking spaces in public service buildings and the development of cargo bicycles in public procurement, as set out in a circular dated 10 November 2022.
As part of the Eco-responsible Public Service approach and the Sobriety Plan, the State aims to have 100% of its sites equipped with secure bicycle parking facilities by 2027, i.e. more than 60,000 sites in total. Under a provision of the General Tax Code, companies can claim a reduction in corporation tax when they provide their employees with a fleet of company bicycles for commuting to and from work. This measure is helping to increase the use of bicycles to get to work, and is seeing significant growth: 100 companies adopted it in 2017, rising to 700 by 2021, for an estimated 4,000 company bicycles. The scheme, which was due to end in 2024, will be extended until 2027. The « Objectif employeurs pro vélo » programme, with a budget of €40 million (energy savings certificate), supports public and private employers in their efforts to encourage their employees to use bicycles (parking facilities, bicycle solutions and services) and helps them to obtain the « Employeur pro-vélo » label. Created in 2021 on the initiative of FUB and Ade- me, this label rewards committed employers: more than 40 sites have already been awarded the label.
Cycling accessible to all
Subsidies for the purchase of bicycles (bonus vélo and prime à la conversion vélo) were increased in August 2022. In addition to legal entities, 50% of French households on the lowest incomes will benefit from this aid, which will be increased for the 20% of households on very low incomes. Over the period 2017-2022, €67 million in aid for the purchase of a bicycle was paid to more than 300,000 French people.
The Government is today announcing that this aid will be extended until the end of the cycling and walking plan in 2027, and that it will be extended to second-hand bikes sold by professionals in the next Finance Act. In addition, the Mon vélo de A à Z programme will soon come into effect. It will promote cycling among 15,000 people in precarious situations. Supported by FUB, this programme is financed by €20 million in energy saving certificates.