“Cars never seem to be the problem”: Cyclists slam Times article blaming Paris cycle lanes for slower bus journeys – but ex-transport officer claims “bikes prioritised over everything”; Chalamet cycles; Montmartre 2025 Tour finale? + more on the live blog

A recent article in the Times – which claimed that the rapid proliferation of cycle lanes in Paris over the past few years has driven locals away from the city’s buses due to congestion and increased journey times – has been criticised by cyclists and road safety campaigners, who argue that the story is further evidence that “cars never seem to be the problem for some people”.

Earlier this week, the Times – the paper that in 2012 launched its award-winning and highly-praised Cities Fit for Cycling Campaign, which called for the introduction of safe cycling infrastructure – reported that “Parisians are abandoning the city’s buses in despair” thanks to the congestion apparently caused by the French capital’s newly introduced cycling infrastructure.

Overseen by pro-cycling mayor Anne Hidalgo, Paris’ cycling revolution of the 2020s has led to the creation of around 100km of bike lanes in the city, while the number of people riding bikes has doubled since the end of the Covid-19 lockdowns.

A 2024 Paris Région Institute study also found that cycling now accounts for 11.2 per cent of all trips in central Paris (compared to just three per cent a decade before), while car usage has fallen to just 4.3 per cent. Walking, meanwhile, still comprises 50 per cent of all trips in the centre of the city, with public transport coming second at 30 per cent.

> Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to massive investment... but Telegraph writer claims city now “hell on earth”

However, according to the Times, things are apparently looking less than rosy for Paris’ bus network.

“Parisians are abandoning the city’s buses in despair, saying the proliferation of cycle lanes has led to traffic congestion that is affecting journey times,” the article, titled ‘Cycle lanes leave Parisian bus passengers in a jam’, began.

“The buses travel at an average speed of 8.85kph during rush hour, compared with 9.54kph in 2022, according to the RATP, the Paris public transport authority.”

The article then cited a study by the National Federation of Transport Users, which found that Parisian buses now have an average speed of 10.6kph throughout the day, compared to 13.3kph two decades ago.

The Times also pointed out that the total number of bus journeys in Paris was 220 million in 2023, down from 354 million in 2008 – over a decade, it must be said, before the city’s cycling revolution really took root.

“Critics say buses have been a collateral victim of the council’s efforts to get people cycling,” the article continued. “More than €150 million has been spent building cycle lanes in the city since 2021. But Le Monde said this had led to more traffic jams.”

The article also quotes, for balance, Paris’ deputy mayor for public space, transport, and mobility, David Belliard, who rejected this criticism while admitting that the “question of the bicycle is reorganising public space and changing everything”, and noting that officials are working to find a “balance” to improve bus journey times.

> “Do you really need a SUV? I carry my son on a bike, we found solutions”: Parisians vote to triple parking fees for SUVs, with charges for “bulky, polluting” cars set to rise to £15 an hour in central Paris

While the need to improve public transport and make it more attractive to car drivers is integral to any climate-focused transport strategy, of course, this week’s 250-word conflation of longer bus journey times, congestion, and cycle lanes in the Times – as well as Le Monde – has attracted a fair bit of criticism online from cyclists and safety campaigners.

“Maybe they’re abandoning buses for bikes, instead, as they’re faster,” suggested JT (who I assume isn’t former Chelsea captain and penalty choker John Terry? But you never know these days).

“Average speed during rush hour has gone down by .6km per hour. WOW! What a disaster!” wrote Andy. “The big increase in the cycle network only started a couple of years ago, what caused the decline in speed between say 2008 and 2020?

“What has happened to car ownership numbers in that time?  I’ll tell you, it increased by 50 per cent between 2005 and 2020, that’s why your delays.”

“Comparing traffic speeds from 20 years ago with the introduction of cycle lanes is disingenuous,” echoed Amos, while Cycling in London noted that the Times article lacked “a whole lot of evidence, but that’s not a surprise”.

“It’s literally ‘someone said’ cycle lanes are the cause,” noted another social media user.

“I can’t remember The Times going on about how general motor traffic impedes bus use,” added Dr Robert Davis, the chair of the Road Danger Reduction Forum.

“Cars never seem to be the problem for some people – and they pick on cyclists.”

> Former transport officer’s “cherry-picked” claim that cycling in the Netherlands is more dangerous than the UK slammed as “gibberish evidential gymnastics” aimed at those who “still view bikes as toys in a grown-up world of big choo-choo machines”

However, Davis’ argument was countered by retired Hackney councillor Vincent Stops, who asked “where has this guy been?”

Stops, you may remember, was Hackney’s lead member for transport, while working on streets policy for London TravelWatch, the capital’s statutory transport watchdog, for over 20 years.

In a blog post in 2022, he labelled cycling in the capital a “ruthless and well-resourced minority interest” that has “been allowed to ruin London’s bus service” – and in October 2024 claimed that cycling in the Netherlands is more dangerous than the UK.

So it’s no surprise he’s bought into the Times’ argument that cycle lanes are the ruin of buses everywhere.

“Where has this guy been?” Stop said in response to Davis’ tweet. “Tackling private car numbers was the bread and butter of transport policy from 2000. It was the cycle lobby changed that and prioritised cycles over everything.”

Roger agreed: “Then we had an ex-journo as Mayor with an ex-journo as his transport advisor. Result: totally owned by a single-issue minority lobby squandering squillions of public money to pretty much ‘net zero’ impact on overall mode share. And casualties? And bus stop accessibility? Oh dear.”

That’s right – blame it all on the cycle lanes. And the journalists, of course.

This year’s National Pothole Day fittingly marks the end of a long, bumpy, poorly-maintained era, as Mark Morrell – better known to the masses as the hi vis-wearing Mr Pothole – announced this morning that he is stepping away from his 12-year campaign to fix Britain’s battered roads.

> National Pothole Day: An interview with Mr Pothole

Since adopting the Mr Pothole moniker back in 2013, Morrell has reported thousands of road defects, formed his own pressure group, become a TV regular, and even partnered with Pot Noodle, as part of his battle to get councils and the government to act on what he dubbed in 2023 the UK’s “dangerous pothole menace”.

However, this morning – on National Pothole Day no less – after 12 years of campaigning, and with his wife’s health deteriorating at home, Morrell announced on Good Morning Britain that he’s hanging up the hi-vis for good – but not without aiming a parting shot at governmental inaction first.

'I've lost faith in any government or political party wanting to do something.'

On National Pothole Day, Mr Pothole aka Mark Morrell, has announced that he is quitting his campaign after more than a decade. He talks to @susannareid100 and @edballs about his reasons for doing so. pic.twitter.com/uKmFIsE3NM

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) January 15, 2025

“I’ve lost faith completely in any government or political party really wanting to do something,” the campaigner told Susanna Reid and Ed Balls.

“They talk £1.6bn being an awful lot of money, but the size of the backlog in the UK is not only £16.3bn in carriageway works in England and Wales, there’s a £6bn backlog in bridge maintenance. Then you’ve got footpaths, which I estimate to be around £30bn.

“If the government had come out and said they were going to put an extra £3bn a year to resurface our roads, I could see there being some change. But unfortunately, that’s not going to happen.”

Enjoy your retirement, Mr Pothole, and thanks for your service!

Speaking of Paris…

Racing-wise, the 2024 Tour de France’s Nice finale – the only time in the grand tour’s 121-year history that it didn’t finish in Paris, a necessity of last summer’s Olympic Games in the French capital – may have ended up a bit of a damp squib, Tadej Pogačar’s grip on the yellow jersey unbreakable by the time we reached the Côte d'Azur.

But that tradition-busting move – along with the enthralling racing witnessed on Paris’ streets at the Olympics – appears to have ignited a spark of inspiration among the Tour’s organising team.

Because, according to Le Parisien, the Tour’s organisers are currently exploring ways to incorporate the Butte Montmartre – the cobbled, picturesque, spectator-packed climb to the Sacré-Cœur which acted as the focal point of Remco Evenepoel and Kristen Faulkner’s gold medal-winning rides – during the final stage of this year’s Tour.

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

The newspaper reports that the Tour is hoping to include three ascents of the Montmartre before plunging back down for the traditional laps-based finish on the Champs-Élysées, and has already filed a request with the Paris Police.

Could the fast men – who struggle through the long climbs and sapping heat of the Tour all in the hope of contesting the unofficial sprinters’ world championships on the Champs – be set for their second annual disappointment, or at the very least be forced to haul themselves over three last steep hills on the last day? Seems a bit cruel, if I’m honest.

The move also represents a U-turn from technical director Thierry Gouvenou’s previous stance on incorporating Montmartre into the Tour, pointing out last year that “it worked for the Olympics, but it wouldn’t be acceptable during the Tour”.

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

“The Tour de France peloton is twice as big as it was at the Olympics, so we’d have to find much bigger streets than those used at the weekend,” Gouvenou said.

“In Montmartre, they went through some very narrow streets, and in some places, when they would have needed to provide mechanical service to riders in the pack, they’d barely could have opened the car door.”

(Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

And while Gouvenou, Christian Prudhomme, and the rest appeared to have warmed to the idea over the winter, Le Parisien nevertheless noted that the novel concept could still be scuppered, with the local authorities apparently concerned about the extra police presence and traffic restrictions required for any modified Tour finale.

But if the Tour organisers do get their wish, the 2025 finish on the Champs-Élysées – the 50th anniversary of the race’s first appearance on the world’s most famous boulevard – could be a very special one indeed.

Finally, the Bob Dylan/cycling crossover I’ve been waiting for my whole life…

As Jeremy Vine put it on Twitter, despite what the naysayers on social media and in certain parts of the national press might think, “we’re breaking through”.

Yes, the times really are a-changin’. Because last night, Timothée Chalamet – the acting star of the moment (get with the programme, old timers!) – decided to show up in proper style to the UK premiere of his highly-anticipated Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown: by riding a Lime bike.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Palace Cinemas (@palacecinemas)

The 29-year-old – fully kitted out as ’64-era funky shirt with blazer Bob (see, I could get a job writing for the Mail’s fashion pages) – casually made his way across London to the red carpet at BFI Southbank on one of the green electric hire bikes, along with his entourage.

Chalamet then parked the bike smack bang in the middle of the red carpet – I can just see the headlines now – before remembering to end his ride on his phone. Good lad.

“If Timmy says Lime bikes are in, Lime bikes are in,” Palace Cinemas wrote in response to the actor’s commute.

Timothée Chalamet riding a bike on his way to 'A Complete Unknown' premiere in London!

🎥 giulliang | Instagram Stories pic.twitter.com/hZhakBocfd

— Timothée Chalamet Updates (@timotheeupdates) January 14, 2025

His latest role as Bob Dylan – charting the Bard’s Greenwich Village days and his ultimate estrangement from the folk scene, culminating in him ‘going electric’ at Newport in 1965 (a pivotal moment which may or may not be conflated in the film with the infamous ‘Judas’ gig in Manchester the following year) – appears to have ignited an interest in ‘60s music and culture among Gen Z.

So, surely it stands to reason that Timmy-loving teenagers will all be hopping on Lime bikes this weekend?

Anyway, in homage to A Complete Unknown’s active travel-friendly premiere, I decided to shoehorn a few references to Lime bikes into some Dylan deep cuts. Who says we only cater for a nice audience?

First up, Like a Rolling E-bike: ‘Once upon a time you rode a Lime, threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn’t you?’

Timothée Chalamet arriving to ‘A Complete Unknown’ event on bicycle. pic.twitter.com/jaXD6baoa5

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) January 14, 2025

And another classic, from his era-defining album, CS1 Revisited: ‘I ride a Lime bike baby, can't buy a thrill, I’ve been up all night, leaning on the windowsill. But as I ride to the top of the hill, if I don’t make it, I know my battery will.’

And this comeback late-‘80s masterpiece: ‘I can follow the path, I can read the signs, stay right with it, when the road unwinds… on most of the Limes.’

Right, it’s your turn now – get your best Bob Dylan Lime bike lyrics in the comments.

Oh, I’ve got one more – ‘Johnny’s in the basement mixing up the medicine, the Lime bikes are on the pavement’… Oh wait, maybe leave that one.

In any case, at 30kg we know Lime’s e-bikes won’t be blowin’ in the wind anytime soon. I’ll get my Freewheelin’ James Dean coat…