“Dishonest and politically biased”: Bordeaux metropolitan area town halls criticize Vélo-cité barometer

The Vélo-cité association's barometer, which has been assessing the cycling policy of each municipality in the Bordeaux metropolitan area since 2020, has been poor for the worst-rated towns, particularly Eysines and Talence.

T own halls are fighting back. The publication of the Vélo-cité barometer , which provides an interim assessment of the cycling policy of each municipality in the Bordeaux metropolitan area, has irritated more than one elected official, particularly in the cities with the lowest ratings from the association. Emmanuel Sallaberry, mayor of Talence, a municipality that received an E rating (scale from A+ to G), has been virulent against the association for the promotion and defense of cycling, which he considers "politically biased."

"I don't care about the score, that's not the point. But this barometer is inaccurate in its methodology and overlooks improvements," he laments, citing the 22 kilometers of cycle paths built between 2020 and 2027, the travel bonus for municipal employees on bicycles, the Talence-Médoquine multimodal transport hub, and the car-free streets in front of schools.

The same anger was felt in Eysines (rated F), which deplored the fact that Vélo-cité had "not taken into account the developments already carried out before 2020, the specific features of the town with its residential areas, or even the projects currently underway."

"We didn't wait for Vélo-cité to develop cycling. I don't understand how an association can allow itself to rate municipalities based on biased criteria and missing or erroneous data. Especially since Bordeaux Métropole has jurisdiction over the ReVE network, which counts heavily in the barometer. This is a biased analysis and an unacceptable condemnation. Who are they to hand out good and bad points?" rages Serge Tournerie, Eysines city councilor responsible for mobility and roads.

In 2020, the mayor of Eysines, Christine Bost, did not sign the Vélo-cité plea, which served as the basis for the various rating criteria (ReVE network, cycling facilities, intermodality, peaceful city, action for children, etc.), unlike Emmanuel Sallaberry in Talence. "I will no longer work with this association. They must accept that they are an agency of Europe Écologie-Les Verts. It is not up to an association to evaluate public policies, but rather to residents and voters. And if we have to rate them, I will give them a Z for their dishonest and politically biased approach," he said.

In the face of these attacks, Vélo-cité maintains that "these scores reflect the achievements of each mayor's term." "If we didn't take into account developments carried out before 2020, it's because our goal was to take stock of the mandates since the last municipal elections," responds Loïc Gombeaud, a member of Vélo-cité's advocacy committee. "As for projects currently underway or under consideration, they were still taken into account," at a lower coefficient, he continues.

Regarding the ReVE network, he points out that "while it's the Metropolis that's planning, the municipalities are the driving forces behind requests for sections." "Yes, we're playing politics, but we're non-partisan. We're not here to criticize mayors, but to highlight what's been done to promote cycling."