The city in the rollerblading age: Evaluation of the use and management of a new non-motorised urban mode of travel in France and abroad
Overview
Background & policy context:
In France, about 5 million people own a pair of rollerblades, in Germany, 10 million. According to a recent survey by the French Ministry of Youth and Sport, an estimated 1.9 million people in France are regular rollerbladers. Clearly, rollerblading is not a passing phenomenon, but as well as a leisure activity, does it now also constitute a new urban mode of transport?
Its development in cities has already brought problems concerning the sharing of road space (roadways and pavements/pedestrianised areas) and co-habitation with other modes (motorised or not). It can already be seen that its categorisation as an intermediate mode between walking and cycling is not a satisfactory definition: this description does not take account of the type of people who rollerblade or their reasons, neither does it take account of the method of travelling or the use of urban space by this mode.
Hence it was decided to firstly provide a precise description of the use of rollerblading as a travel mode in urban areas, including a typology of its users, and evaluate the difficulties which it has brought about. Secondly, based on this information, there is a need to examine what localised policies could be put in place to deal with problems relating to the sharing of urban space, conflicts with other modes and safety, in order to allow this mode to develop in harmony with the city of tomorrow.
The project was financed by MATE (the French Ministry of Land-use Planning and the Environment) and ADEME (the French agency for the environment and energy management) within the PREDIT 2 national land transport research programme.
Objectives:
The six objectives of this study were:
- To identify and describe urban trip behaviour associated with this travel mode;
- To build a typology of rollerblade users, defining their reasons for choosing this mode and their views on other modes;
- To determine the characteristics of areas within the city that are the most promising for the development of rollerblading;
- To measure the difficulties experienced in sharing road space with other modes;
- To describe measures, both legislative and physical improvements, put in place a the local level in order to manage the development of rollerblading; and
- To evaluate the potential of rollerblading as an urban means of transport and its development in tomorrow's city.
Methodology:
The project's data collection involved three stages. The focus was on three French cities (a major city, a medium-sized city and a small city), as well as two international examples where rollerblading is popular, in Switzerland and Germany.
Stage one involved a survey of 120 rollerbladers in the three French cities: Paris (60 interviews), Rennes (30 interviews) and Annecy (30 interviews). The interviews were conducted at several points in the three cities (15 locations in Paris, 5 in Rennes and 6 in Annecy). The surveys included personal information (age, sex, employment, etc), frequency of and reasons for rollerblade use, main other mode used in cities.
Stage two involved the above three French cities and also Lausanne and Berlin. It comprised a series of interviews of responsible persons in local authorities (e.g. city council roads department, city council sport and leisure or youth affairs departments, police, etc). Five interviews were conducted in Paris, three in Rennes and two each in the other cities.
Stage three was a complementary survey among other stakeholders, e.g. rollerblading associations, public transport operators and a sociologist from the architecture department of a university. Six interviews took place in Paris, two in Lausanne and one each in the other cities.
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