France offers citizens EUR 4,000 grants to switch from cars to bikes

France is offering incentives of up to EUR 4,000 to people who want to switch their cars for bicycles or e-bikes. The country aims to boost the numbers of its citizens using bicycles to get to work and move around to 9% by 2024.

To reduce pollution and CO2 emissions, France is offering subsidies of up to EUR 4,000 to citizens to start using electric bicycles instead of cars. The subsidies also apply to classic two-wheeled bikes.

However, not everyone is equally entitled to the maximum amount of incentives. The French government gives priority to low-income citizens living in urban areas. Citizens with higher incomes will receive a reduced incentive, in proportion to their earnings.

Lower-income citizens living in urban areas have priority

The program also envisages incentives for citizens who are unwilling to give up their cars altogether, but intend to use e-bikes for daily commuting. In such cases, the French government is offering a subsidy of up to EUR 400.

The authorities intend to make transport more efficient and sustainable. France aims to have 9% of its citizens using bicycle transport by 2025.

Aside from polluting, cars also cause traffic jams in cities in France. The fact is that a good part of vehicles are not filled to capacity with passengers, but are driven by one person.

Paris plans to be fully covered by bike lanes by 2026

People in France are demanding more affordable urban mobility and less congestion. Paris has recently introduced a set of new rules and regulations that restrict access to cars in the city center. Paris plans to be fully covered by bike lanes by 2026.

More environmentally responsible mobility

France is not alone in pursuing sustainable transport policies. Many European cities are planning urban mobility systems where cars will not be the main means of transportation.

Such announcements also come from Zagreb, which intends to expand the network of its bike lanes. The Croatian capital plans to increase the share of cycling traffic to 8% by 2025.

Rome, London, Frankfurt, and Oslo are imposing restrictions on diesel cars in the metropolitan area, or special taxes to discourage driving in the busiest urban environments. In the center of Madrid, as well as in Milan, cars built before the year 2000 are banned.

European metropolises are developing cycling infrastructure, expanding sidewalks, and converting car lanes and parking lanes into public transportation lanes or bike lanes.

Some countries have started offering tax breaks, thus paying citizens in the rustle to ride their bikes to work instead of using a car. Belgium and the Netherlands provide incentives for citizens to cycle to work at around EUR 0.25 per kilometer.

In Belgrade, the US-based micro-mobility company Helbiz has announced it will install and operate a public electric bicycle system in the Serbian capital.

The modern concept of urban transportation planning seeks to adapt to more environmentally responsible forms of mobility. Subsidies certainly provide an additional motive for citizens.