In most contemporary cities, solo car trips remain the dominant form of urban travel. More than ever before, cities are pressured to transition to more sustainable transport systems, favoring public transit and softer modes like cycling and walking. The same cannot be said for cycling in rural areas, where a deeply ingrained car culture and logistical complexities persist. However, cycling also has potential in the context of rural mobility transitions. The UCI worked with civil servants from the rural region of the Vosges to support the territory’s transition to cycling, utilizing our unique transition readiness study approach. Central to our research was the following question: What capacities and strategies can the CAE develop to mobilize its member municipalities to collectively accelerate the mobility transition, with a particular focus on cycling?
First, in April 2024, we welcomed a delegation of fifteen city staff and mayors to Utrecht for an immersive two-day trip. Second, in May 2024, we conducted a strategic study visit to Épinal to reconvene the group, trace observable impacts from the previous visit, and conduct follow-up interviews with local elected officials. Based on this and additional desk research, we issued a final report in July 2024 with policy recommendations and next steps to accelerate the sustainable mobility transition in the Épinal region.
Key findings from Épinal suggest several challenges for cycling transitions in rural areas, including complex governance arrangements, fragmented and decentralized decision-making, a lack of technical and political capacity, the spatially scattered nature of rural settlements, and gaps in public transport provision.
“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.”