[OldRidgeback]

So it should come as no surprise in the home of the TDF that the French are setting out an incentive package to encourage people to switch from car use to bicycles. The French Ministry of Transport is trialling the scheme with 19 companies, which sees each person receiving a 0.25 Euro allowance/km travelled by bicycle. It is a six month trial and is limited to just 100 people or so, with the French Ministry of Transport then publishing a report and being able to tweak the scheme as necessary, before rolling it out later on a wider basis. There’s an article in Le Figaro about it.

This is a carrot rather than a stick approach and surely a lot more sensible than some of the crackpot suggestions I’ve seen posted on this site to restrict car use.

Topic

[OldRidgeback]

bigshape wrote:Gizmo_

bigshape wrote:

Gizmo_ wrote:

How are they proving how many times you’ve commuted? Asking everyone to submit GPS traces sounds like a bit too much admin even for the French (note: I used to work in France and love their hilarious bureaucracy).

maybe they provide everyone with a free garmin as well?

Yep, I wondered about that. It’s possible there’s an app you can stick on your smartphone for it.

[bigshape]

Gizmo_ wrote:How are they

Gizmo_ wrote:

How are they proving how many times you’ve commuted? Asking everyone to submit GPS traces sounds like a bit too much admin even for the French (note: I used to work in France and love their hilarious bureaucracy).

maybe they provide everyone with a free garmin as well?

[Anonymous]

How are they proving how many
How are they proving how many times you’ve commuted? Asking everyone to submit GPS traces sounds like a bit too much admin even for the French (note: I used to work in France and love their hilarious bureaucracy).

[userfriendly]

Who are you calling a
🙁 Who are you calling a crackpot? :))

That’s brilliant, though – would be a £400/month carrot for me. Yes please!

[andyp]

hmm. Train fare £900 per
hmm. Train fare £900 per year. Commuting ‘pay’ nearly 4,000E per year. decisions, decisions 😉

…and then I woke up.

[Leviathan]

So as well as paying no Road
So as well as paying no Road Tax, I can cycle away my Income tax? That will really please Mr Mondeo and Ms #Bloodycyclists.

[OldRidgeback]

That’s what I thought
That’s what I thought bigshape – let’s see if the French can make it work. If it does then the DfT could do well to take note. It’d help cut urban congestion and pollution, not to mention help the NHS trim its budget to boot.

[bigshape]

it would be nice to ‘earn’ an
it would be nice to ‘earn’ an extra 2k a year just for commuting! :))
think i’d be taking the long route home a lot more!

[Author]

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