The site visit in Lyon started on the evening of 4th May whereby participants in the UTB project were able to meet up with consultants involved in the European BYPAD cycling benchmarking initiative. The two groups had a chance to find out about the progress made so far in each initiative with a mind to developing a relationship of mutual benefit in the future.

The following day saw the UTB Cycling working group meet at the urban administration of Grand (Greater) Lyon. The host, Florence Larcher (Project Manager for cycling promotion/initiatives in Lyon), welcomed the group and provided the appropriate facilities for undertaking the technical meeting of the site visit. The technical meeting involved discussion of:

• The data collection process so far (both common and thematic indicators)
• The research questions requiring refinement
• The data analysis process (only minor involvement was possible by the group due to a tight time-scale, but comments were requested for after the site visit and after the data collection had been completed)
• Various other issues such as: submission of ELTIS case studies; identification of a possible speaker from one of the cities to present good practice at the final conference; and thoughts on how the group would develop within the aspirations suggested by the EC for future benchmarking.

The technical meeting ended with a talk given by Tim Asperges (co-ordinator of BYPAD) outlining the structure and progress made by BYPAD, its period of duration, and how BYPAD and UTB could possibly continue working together in the future.

After the meeting, participants took part in a cycle tour organised as part of the ECOMM (Mobility Management) conference which Lyon happened to be hosting at the time. The cycle tour and related information is described in more detail below.

Taking the electric bus

The group took an electric bus (powered by overhead cables) to the town hall where the cycle tour was due to commence. The bus proved popular amongst local inhabitants and provided a quick link for the group.

 

The cycle tour

As part of ECOMM, the administration allowed the group to take part in a cycle tour aimed at presenting the cycling environment in Lyon, and visiting an exhibition which displayed a major project for improving the mobility and land-use along the River Rhone (see later section). Participants were encouraged to use fluorescent leg/arm bands and fluorescent jackets to promote their visibility on the tour.

 

Cycle measures on the road

As part of the tour, the group were able to see the efforts made by the city to allow space for cycling, e.g. on-street or on-pavement measures (see below).

 

Other cycle users

Examples of other cycle use in the city were apparent, including the provision of bicycles for police. The picture below displays one of the policemen that escorted the cycle tour with respective livery exhibited on the bicycle frame. The availability of electric bicycle taxi services was also prominent on stretches of the cobbled retail areas within the city.

 

The exhibition

En route, the group stopped at an exhibition located on a barge moored on the side of the River Rhone. The exhibition showcased a major project being led by the administration to transform an extensive part of the riverbank, from what was mostly a car parking area (see background of picture below), to a space which is landscaped and developed with pedestrians, cyclists and other leisure activities in mind.

 

A display board (shown below) gave a hint to the passer-by of how the area is intended to be transformed, but the exhibition on the barge went into greater detail about how the plans would be implemented.

 

Inside the barge, multiple display boards depicting the proposed design elements of the scheme were on show. These were computer generated to give the viewer some idea of the finished product (see below).

 

A talk given by the host Florence Larcher enabled the audience to learn of how the administration had devised the plans for the waterside development and the political risk involved in doing so. Models of various sections of the development were housed in glass cabinets in order to give the viewer a better perspective of layout and proportion of features (see below).

 

Future measures

Also tabled at the exhibition were depictions of future measures hoped to be implemented in the city. The first (below left) shows highly visible designated space for cycling, while the second (below right) shows the potential for mixing cycling with bus lanes, again segregating space for the cyclist.