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Heatwave: cycling hits new attendance records in Paris

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The Editor

© Jagoda Bartus / Le Bonbon

In recent years, anyone walking, riding a horse, or cruising on a motorcycle through the capital has noticed it: bicycles have become a common sight everywhere. And it seems that the heatwaves of the past few months have further boosted the popularity of this mode of transportation.

Since May, the country has been experiencing successive heatwaves, and the capital hasn't escaped it either. There have been episodes of intense heat that are pushing Parisians to avoid overheated public transport. While metros and buses (where temperatures have sometimes reached over 50°C) are coming out as the losers in this story, with a drop in ridership of up to 15 to 30% respectively, the operators of self-service bikes have seen their number of users s soar.


The Remedy for All Ills

If you're a regular reader, you probably know this already, we at Bonbon love bikes — and just to clarify, we’re talking about bicycles, not those awful things called fatbikes. And in recent weeks, many have joined in &.to our cause, seeing it as the perfect way to get around while the whole of France was melting away in the heatwave. So much so that some companies recorded real attendance records.

So, the loan of 20,000 self-service bikes offered by Lime, Dott, and Voi has smashed records on several occasions, especially in May during the Champions League final and again in June for the Music Festival, two events that took place during heatwaves. At Dott, July 2026 already shows an increase of over 30% compared to last year. Among the millions of new users who signed up on the platform since the beginning of summer, 60% have already opted for subscriptions.


Winners and Losers

Another big beneficiary of these heatwaves are the taxi systems.VTC services have also seen their ridership increase, especially during peak hours, providing relief for those enduring daily commutes that have become unbearable on the metro. This information is confirmed by the G7 company to Parisien, as well as by the Bolt platform, which has experienced a 46% increase in rides during the last heatwave.

The only big loser in this situation, aside from the RATP which must urgently tackle this air conditioning issue, is Vélib. Indeed, while the heat has boosted bike usage, it hasn't stopped the platform from continuing to decline. There has been a sharp drop in ridership and subscriptions ever since the announcement of the end of the two daily free rides on electric bikes (e-bikes), which is also justified by poor quality and consistency of service.