CASE. In Sète, the need to simplify daily journeys and those of commuters

Ce Sétois utilise un vélo location longue durée de l’Agglo. Midi Libre – Kelman Marti

the essential Across the Thau basin, Sète agglopôle has set itself the objective of having around 6% of daily journeys by bicycle. To achieve this, Sète, given its number of inhabitants, must set an example.

"Every day, I take my cargo bike to deliver my bread in Sète. On my saddle, I estimate that I have a one chance in a hundred of not returning home", uncompromisingly delivers Florent Viguié, this delivery baker who admits "not feeling comfortable on the road". Some major roads scare him. He thinks, for example, of the boulevards of Verdun and Camille Blanc.

"In Sète, the potential number of everyday cyclists is significant", according to the Roue libre de Thau

So, "I arrange to go through safer places and where there are cycle paths", indicates the craftsman. It doesn't bother him. It is no slower than a car and can go everywhere: "With the traffic in Sète, I am faster on a bike and I can get there park directly next to the stores that I deliver to. It’s convenient."

"The potential number of everyday cyclists is significant"

The fact that people from Sète are afraid to cycle is not surprising for Daniel Rigaud, a member of the Roue Libre de Thau. His association “is often confronted with feedback from the field in this sense”. “Many people would like to cycle but say that cars drive too fast, that the roads are too narrow… In my opinion, if there were more comfort and safety, these people would cycle. In Sète, the potential number of everyday cyclists is significant! "

Solutions to convince the shy

To encourage residents to go to work by bike or even to go shopping, there seems to be no secret. For Vincent Sabatier, it's simple "you have to make arrangements to separate the bike from traffic with cars. This way, people feel safe and will start cycling."

On the other hand, Sète can count on two aid from the Agglo. "We offer nearly 200 yellow electrically assisted bicycles for rental for three, six or twelve months, non-renewable. They are almost all rented year-round, with a distribution logic based on the number of inhabitants in the municipalities. The objective is to encourage citizens to test them, then to convince them to buy one so that they continue to travel by bike, explain to Agglo Norbert Chaplin, vice-president in charge of mobility, and Éric Vandeputte, transport director. Then, we have aid of up to 200 € for the purchase of an VAE."

Cycle parking to be developed

Other less expensive solutions, more easily achievable, could also be used more widely. "Commuters want the quickest, most direct route to work. Install more bicycle locks and right turns (give way to cyclists, Editor's note) at red lights, add two-way cycle paths on one-way streets and reducing the speed of cars are good ideas", Daniel Rigaud list.

Finally, to hope to have more Sétois cycling, the City intends to develop its parking offer. "The idea is to develop it since the population demands it. But for that, you have to buy premises, fit them out, secure them, make subscriptions… and there are few free spaces, especially in the center. People will only invest in a bike if they are sure to find it the next day."

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