Our visit to Épinal, France
Written by Louise Raclet
Last year, we began working with the Communauté d’Agglomération d’Épinal (CAE), a group of 78 municipalities in the Vosges (France), as part of a Transition Readiness Study. The Transition Readiness Program (TRP) is the Urban Cycling Institute’s (UCI) unique approach to promoting cycling policy transfers across cities worldwide, fostering a global transition to more sustainable mobility habits. It involves two study trips including immersive learning experiences like bike rides, interviews, collaborative workshops, discussions with mobility experts and reflective moments. In April, the UCI welcomed the delegation of fifteen civil servants and specialists from the CAE to the Netherlands, which you can read more about in the blog post: following “Immersive Learning to Create Mental Shift – Urban Cycling Institute.” One month later, in May, came UCI’s turn to visit the French delegates in their hometowns of the Vosges.
What better way to understand a mobility system, both its culture and infrastructure, than by experiencing it firsthand? Our visit to Épinal aimed to reconnect with the delegates and conduct follow-up interviews while immersing ourselves in the local mobility landscape. We approached our journey with one key question: How far has the region progressed in its transition to cycling? Imagining the transition as a sailboat: what anchors hold it back, what destination is it heading towards, what obstacles lie in its path, and what forces propel it forward?
Reminiscing On Dutch Cycling
The Mobility Director and the Mobility Deputy Director of the CAE accompanied us through an intense three days filled with follow-up interviews with mayors, bicycle tours in three different cities, and a final reflection meeting with the entire delegation. This was the first time the delegation had gathered again since their visit to the Netherlands. Hosted by Meredith Glaser and the CAE’s Deputy Director for Mobility, the meeting provided delegates with an opportunity to reflect on their memories and impressions of the Dutch cycling system. Some delegates were able to rehearse their speeches for a presentation at the Council of Mayors of the CAE in late May, aiming to convince their colleagues to join the transition efforts. Some delegates arrived with their speeches ready, eager to share them with the group. They often referred back to the Netherlands and their personal experiences of cycling there, with a touch of emotion:
“Utrecht wakes up, and I open my eyes wide. Here, I grasp the reality of what I previously knew only through the stories of traveling friends or television shows (…) I admit I was initially apprehensive, but on this peculiar machine, I discovered another aspect of cycling.”
One thing was clear: the delegates’ support for cycling had not faded – in fact, it had only grown stronger since their visit to the Netherlands. During the rest of our study trip, we observed a consistent enthusiasm for cycling among mayors, reflective of the lasting impact of their Dutch cycling immersion.
Greasing the wheels of the transition
On each of our visits to mayors, we became aware of the sprouting local initiatives supporting cycling in the region which we view as seeds for a more ambitious transition, to be scaled up across the region. Among these initiatives are social mobilization programs, such as the school in Thaon-les-Vosges, which organized workshops in 2023 to teach children bicycling skills and confidence. Another, is Denoux’s bike bus, launched for the third consecutive year, in collaboration with parent volunteers and the mayor himself. Cycling-related progress also includes infrastructure improvements and temporary street experiments. For instance, on our, Épinal was conducting a pilot experiment at a busy intersection near the Prefecture des Vosges, where traffic lights were switched off to observe changes in traffic flow, just like in Amsterdam. In May 2022, it became the first in the region to impose a city-wide default speed limit of 30 km/h.
The city of Épinal is also developing its public spaces, and recently converted the parking area surrounding the covered market, turning it into a public square to be used on market days, and equipped with picnic tables and benches, and plenty of space for children to play. These successful initiatives clearly indicate that the transition has begun, though not universally supported, and is being driven by a few determined mayors in the region.
Realigning ambitions
Based on our discussions with participant mayors in the first study trip, it seems like the Épinal region is off to a great start. The participants in this Transition Readiness Study (TRS) were not initially opposed to cycling, they started out neutral and became supporters throughout the study visit. However, they remain a minority in the region. Only 10 out of the 78 mayors of the agglomeration attended the study trip and they certainly are the ones that have pushed the most supportive of the transition so far. For the majority of mayors in the CAE, cycling is still not a topic of discussion on the agenda. Differing attitudes toward cycling among regional mayors are exemplified by the uneven and fragmented cycling infrastructure both within and between cities. Financial constraints for infrastructure development were also frequently cited by supportive mayors. The CAE, which offers guidance to cities, does not provide financial resources, leaving it up to the mayors to allocate their own funds. One city might have a comprehensive mobility plan and dedicated bike lanes, while neighboring cities do not. Among the participating mayors in the TRS, efforts ranged from mere curiosity about daily cycling to ambitious city-wide cycling infrastructure development, with Épinal being the pioneering example in that regard.
Where cycling infrastructure was present, the predominant type was bike lanes, indicated through road marking. Occasionally, such as in Épinal city, we observed segregated cycling paths. This sparked discussions regarding the safety implications for cyclists, especially in instances where bike lanes are located alongside roads with 50 km/h speed limits, as prescribed in an ongoing road redevelopment project in one of the region’s cities. To reinforce safety, the cycling network expansion plans could benefit from measures such as systematic speed limits of 30 km/h along cycling lanes. Other potential safety measures discussed include city-wide 30 km/h limits, as is the case in Épinal, the creation of, “school streets”, continuous sidewalks, to further slow traffic.
The CAE, a proponent of cycling
Beyond individual mayors’ ambitions lie that of the CAE. The CAE has been active in promoting daily cycling in the region by implementing ambitious policies, as reflected in their recent Mobility Plan, which advocates for an improved and more peaceful living environment, and a reimagined public space. One major initiative is the CAE’s bike-sharing scheme Vilvolt, introduced in 2021, an entirely electric fleet. The uptake of Vilvolt bikes has surged, especially among the youth. As explained by the Director of Mobility, with 20,000 users already registered on the Vilvolt app, there is clear evidence of growing interest in cycling. The creation of Vilvolt stations follows a strategy of progressive deployment, meaning the network still has some gaps. However, it has seen significant expansion, starting with the five most urban municipalities and now extending to 21 municipalities, including more rural areas. The plan is to continue extending the system gradually, both to manage the additional workload internally at the CAE and because bike-sharing in rural areas is still relatively new in France, requiring time for observation and analysis between expansions.
Another initiative of the CAE is their tactical bike network, a temporary bike network where municipal rural roads are converted to cycling lanes. Only vehicles with specific authorization, such as tractors accessing fields, are allowed to use these roads. Marketed as a project to support daily cycling between towns, the initiative faced considerable resistance from a few skeptics. Among users, the issue lies in the lack of continuity in the network , which comprises many gaps. Users may cycle back and forth along certain segments rather than completing a full loop. Based on these observations, the Mobility Director of the CAE argued that it is more suited for leisure cycling than for practical travel between locations, which was the initial ambition. The discontinuity of the network was again caused by the voluntary nature of participation in the project, the municipal road being managed by the mayors and not the CAE. Reclaiming roads poses problems, particularly with farmers.
Rather than using it to go to places, users tend to cycle back and forth along some segments of the tactical cycling network. With these observations, the mobility director of the CAE called into question the way the network is marketed, claiming that it serves more a leisure cycling than a practical network to travel between places. Instead, the project could have been promoted as an opportunity for outdoor “family time” rather than for cycling per se, explained the Mobility Director, adding – “we would’ve probably faced less resistance.”
A lack of awareness of pioneering innovation across the CAE
While some mayors proudly shared their cycling initiatives, others revealed that they had little awareness of the pioneering projects happening in neighboring cities. Despite being known at a city level, these projects are not centrally compiled by the agglomeration, nor are they promoted or discussed among member cities. However, the UCI sees these success stories as valuable toolkits that should be collected into a repertoire, which could be distributed to member cities for inspiration. Keeping track of local cycling-related projects would help the CAE monitor the region’s progress toward its vision for mobility and foster a healthy competitive mindset among cities. By highlighting and sharing these successful initiatives, we can create a network of knowledge and inspiration, encouraging more cities to implement similar innovative cycling projects and scale up transition efforts across the territory.
From replication to adaptation
While comparing cities within the same region seems inevitable, conversations with local elected officials also sparked direct comparisons with the Dutch model. Participants referred to “an ideal Dutch mobility example”, reminiscing on their experiences from their first study trip. This tendency to compare the two case studies (Utrecht and Épinal) is certainly an inevitable, if not desirable component of transition readiness study. This is especially true for Oosterbeek, a small rural Dutch town that the delegation visited, and the city of Épinal. Oosterbeek was deliberately chosen for its similarities to Épinal in terms of demographics, topography, and natural environment. But country to country comparisons must be handled cautiously.
Some mayors expressed admiration, some a sense of distance, feeling that their city’s situation was far from the Dutch example, viewed as utopian and irreplicable in their home context. This the transition readiness studies are about: inspiring, comparing, adapting. One solution in one urban context may not be directly replicated in another context. Factors such as cultural setting, political ambition, topography, governance, and financial components significantly influence what is or isn’t possible in a particular setting. There is no single way to approach the transition. These study trips are like oil in the wheels, providing the necessary energy for the transition to kick off or accelerate. The Dutch example from the first trip can best serve as inspiration for change, an advanced cycling context, already far in its transition, but which remains in constant evolution. One should think about deconstructing the Dutch transition to cycling into the many smaller steps that allowed for this societal change. Only these smaller individual steps can help inspire regions like Épinal, while needing to be adapted to local resources, needs, and aspirations.
What transition means in the Netherlands is different from what it will mean in Épinal. This is evident as the Dutch transition was bottom-up, sparked by social unrest. In Épinal, cycling infrastructure developments are sometimes perceived as too abrupt, and the prevailing gap between the local politicians’ drive to implement mobility best practices road users mentality, aspirations was made evident during our visit. The Director of Mobility noted the “considerable resistance from a few skeptics,” highlighting politicized rather than rational motives behind critiques and reminding us of the highly political nature of urban planning.
With successful cycling-oriented projects emerging across the region, a few dedicated mayors eager to share their stories, and increased citizen involvement in ongoing and future redevelopment projects, the CAE will carve its own path toward a sustainable mobility future, inspired by but not bound to the Dutch example.
