First bicycle-hearse in Paris adapts funerals to new city reality

One’s last journey can now have a lessened carbon footprint

A small funeral home in Paris, called “Le Ciel & La Terre” (The Sky and the Earth), will carry out France’s first funerals using a bicycle-hearse called “Corbicyclette”. The aim of this new service is, unsurprisingly, to offer the departed the chance to lessen the environmental impact of their burial processions. It has also been motivated by changes to the regulations in the French capital that aim to push vehicles out of the city centre and create a cycling-friendly landscape.

How it works

The Corbicyclette is a soft mobility option that is quiet and doesn’t emit any noxious fumes and greenhouse gas. In addition, it is ideally suited for the city centre of Paris, which is being reworked to make it more difficult for motorized vehicles and easier for active transportation including cargo bikes.

According to Le Ciel & La Terre, the hearse is anchored to the platform of an electrically assisted steel three-wheeled bicycle, which gives it the power to take on steep slopes. The airtight compartment intended to accommodate the coffin is made of solid, light, natural and environmentally friendly marine plywood.

The Corbicyclette, a name combining the French words for bicycle and hearse, was created by Isabelle Plumereau, the founder of Le Ciel & La Terre funeral directors. It was designed and manufactured by Carapate-Design in Nantes.

"The Corbicyclette is to propose a new ritual for families that I accompany, especially at the cemetery," says Plumereau, as quoted by Euronews, adding it allows for "a slow, silent, quiet procession, to the rhythm of the steps of the people who walk behind and who make the procession."

Although this will be the first such eco-friendly funeral transportation service in France, reportedly this idea had also already been launched in Copenhagen (Denmark).