5 million seniors ride a bike at least once a week

As part of the European Mobility Week, the Forum Vies Mobiles, a think tank specializing in mobility, presents the results of its national survey on current and potential cycling practices among 60-80 year olds, conducted with the BVA institute. Who are these seniors who cycle? Where do they go? Why do they cycle?

Source: Press Release

In France, the population is getting older, and this trend will continue for several decades. INSEE predicts that people over 60 will represent 35% of the French population in 2075, compared to 28% today. This phenomenon represents a dual challenge, health and climate, for our mobility system. Health-wise, because, as the World Health Organization (WHO) regularly reminds us, healthy aging involves regular physical activity. Climate-wise, because it is essential to develop alternatives to cars that are accessible to the entire population to decarbonize mobility. To address this dual challenge, this new study by Forum Vies Mobiles seeks to understand the current and potential cycling practices of French people born between 1943 and 1963, who are now aged between 60 and 80. This is a particular target group as they are the main witnesses and actors of the advent of the car system: there was one car for every 20 inhabitants in 1943, and today there is more than one for every 2 inhabitants.

Key results:

Cycling is more widespread among 60-80 year olds than commonly thought

• Nearly one in three seniors (28%) – almost 5 million people – ride a bike at least once a week.

This generation, which grew up with cars, has not forgotten the pleasure of cycling

• Pleasure, freedom, nature… in the imagination of seniors, cycling is spontaneously associated with very positive notions, whether they are cyclists or not: for nearly 9 out of 10 seniors (88%), this mode of transport is set to develop in the future, and public authorities should invest more to promote its use (88%).

Cycling is not exclusive to urban dwellers; it is practiced as frequently in rural areas as in city centers, but for different reasons

• On average nationwide, 1 in 2 senior cyclists (53%) cycle as much for utilitarian trips as for pleasure (32% for pleasure and sport, 15% purely for utilitarian purposes).
• In rural areas, cycling for pleasure largely dominates: 41% of respondents use cycling only in this way, compared to 9% for purely utilitarian practice.
• In city centers, practices are more diverse: 26% for utilitarian trips only and 21% for pleasure only.
• In the outskirts of cities, an intermediate practice between urban and rural areas is observed: 28% of respondents use cycling only for leisure, while 13% use it only for utilitarian trips.

The turn of sixty marks a change in travel habits that is rather favorable to regular cycling

• At 60, 41% of cyclists increase their cycling practice, while only 28% decrease it, and 30% maintain the same frequency.
• However, almost no one starts cycling after 60 if they weren’t already doing it before.

For senior cyclists and non-cyclists alike, insecurity related to cohabitation with car traffic is the primary perceived obstacle to more intense practice or to starting cycling

• Senior cyclists report feeling safest when they are on a lane separated from car traffic: 80% on average.
• Conversely, they are least likely to feel safe when on a lane with heavy car traffic: 4%.
• Among non-cyclists, lack of safety, particularly the fear of accidents, is the leading deterrent to cycling: 79%.

Levers to enable seniors to cycle more

Sylvie Landriève, director of Forum Vies Mobiles: “Based on the observation that seniors enjoy cycling and that regular physical activity is positive for both the environment and their health, this study provides some avenues to empower seniors to cycle more. First, it involves making cycling safer by taking space from cars and developing dedicated cycling routes; second, ensuring learning for everyone before 60, because after that it’s too late; and finally, better promoting and allowing testing of electric bikes and those adapted to this population, who sometimes have a distorted image of them.”

Study Methodology:

This survey on senior cycling practices was conducted across metropolitan France among 783 French individuals aged between 60 and 80 from November 6 to 21, 2023, via the BVA Xsight online panel. This sample consists of 536 people – representative of the senior population in France – to which we added a sample of 247 senior cyclists to consolidate the results for this particular target group. This quantitative survey is based on a qualitative component conducted by researcher Alexandre Rigal, a doctor in sociology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, through semi-structured interviews organized with 29 individuals aged sixty and over (average: 70 years), including 24 regular cyclists, in the second half of 2022, in the Lyon Metropolis and its surroundings.

The Forum Vies Mobiles, a French think tank specializing in mobility, aims to meet citizen aspirations by moving away from the system of fast and carbon-intensive mobility. Through research, studies, and citizen debates on major mobility issues, it has been exploring an original path for over 10 years to formulate and put forward action proposals, thereby contributing to the ecological and social transition. A non-profit association (loi 1901), supported by SNCF, composed of about ten radically optimistic professionals, its innovative model gives it influence and solid scientific legitimacy in France and internationally. forumviesmobiles.org