At the Frontiers of Cycling - Eco-Logica

esidential areas with the railwaystationThe gate to the railway station waslocked shut by the privatised railwayoperator, Virgin trains, on securitygrounds after an incident at Glasgowairport raised fears about terrorismattacks. The locked gate has cut-offdirect cycle access to a high quality bikepath designed to give access to therailway station. In spite of 6 months ofeffort to get the gate re-opened and arequest to Sustrans to ask thatorganisation to intervene the gateremains locked shut. This sends apowerful anti-cycling message not only tothe population of Lancaster, but tocyclists arriving in Lancaster by train.The 20mph speed limit proposal wassupported 100% by the CDT steeringCommittee and by Dynamo and by acommittee of councillors known as“Lancashire Locals-Lancaster”. Thedecision on 30 th January 2007 is recordedon:http://www3.lancashire.gov.uk/council/meetings/displayFile.asp?FTYPE=M&FILEID=20207Lancashire County Council (theresponsible transport authority) hasrefused to implement this decision.The contra-flow link across Lancaster citycentre was rejected by the consultantsand by Lancashire County Council. TheCounty council is pursuing other lessdirect and less useful routes.The Lancaster CDT project has had towork within a media supported climate ofanti-cycling rhetoric. A small group oflocal councillors have mounted avigorous campaign against cyclists ridingtheir bikes on pedestrian pavementseven though the frequency of theseincidents is small and nothing is done todeal fairly with system-wide trafficoffences that are far more dangerous:• Red-light running• Vehicles mounting pedestrianpavements and using bus lay-bysto avoid traffic calming• Vehicles parked on pedestrianpavements forcing pedestrians towalk in the road because thepavement is totally blocked• Vehicles using pedestrianisedareas as “rat-runs” and freeparking• Vehicles parking in cycle lanes• Speeding• Vehicle turning right into minorroads across a flow ofpedestrians and not “giving way”There has been a sustained attack in thepress on cycling and on those whosupport higher cycling levels e.g.“Suicide cyclist is back”http://www.thelancasterandmorecambecitizen.co.uk/search/display.var.1534625.0.suicide_cyclist_is_back.phphttp://www.thelancasterandmorecambecitizen.co.uk/search/display.var.1847581.0.an_unbelievable_response.phphttp://www.thelancasterandmorecambecitizen.co.uk/search/display.var.1847577.0.nine_out_of_10_have_no_lights.phpIt is highly likely that efforts toencourage higher levels of cycling havebeen rendered less effective than theymight otherwise have been because thenegative media comment on cycling andcyclist. This is compounded by the lack ofpublic leadership and media support forcycling by senior politicians.The silence on cycling and its manypositive connotations has beenWorld Transport Policy & Practice___________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 20075

compounded by the silence of localbusinesses, the two universities inLancaster, the local hospitals andNational Health Service and the police.All responsible public bodies withoutexception have maintained “radiosilence” and a complete indifference tothe positive roles that key public andcommunity based organisations can havein changing image, perceptions andculture. The only strong message gettingthrough to the citizens of Lancaster isthat cyclists are anti-social and anuisance.clearly the details of what has to be doneto improve cycling and there are noexcuses left in the store cupboard ofexcuses about why cycling “is notworking”. In addition we have theexperience of London where there hasbeen an 80% increase in cycling since2003 and we have the reality of Basel inSwitzerland on which to finish:What next?John Pucher and Ralph Buehler showvery clearly what can be done to increasecycling levels. Whilst we are not in aposition to comment on all CDT projectsin England we can say that in Lancasterwe will not achieve a doubling in cyclinglevels because of the lack of leadershipby key local figures, the lack ofcommitment and vision by the transportauthority and the failure to deliver welldocumented interventions that boostcycling (extra road space, cross-citycentre routes, lower speed limits). All ofthese things have been requested bycyclists but the transport authority(Lancashire County Council) persists inits efforts to maintain the dominance ofmotorised transport and to avoid reengineeringurban to create cycle andpedestrian friendly environments. This isa major lost opportunity and one that willinevitably be used as evidence that evenif you spend £3 million to improve cyclingit does not work.So back to John Pucher and RalphBuehler. In their brilliant exposition ofwhat does work and what works wellthey show that cycling can be celebratedand can succeed. They set out verySource: Sustranshttp://www.sustrans.org.uk/webfiles/Publications/Sustrans_theNetwork_issue06_web.pdf, page 9Basel has 21% of all trips by bicycle andNottingham (UK) 1.6%. At the risk ofpromoting trans-national travel, I wouldinvite anyone to compare the quality andambience of Nottingham with Basel. Whyare key decision makers so blind andunreceptive to the quantifiable benefitsof confident promotion of cycling andwalking as a key driver of town and cityengineering? Lancaster can either go inthe direction of Basel or the direction ofNottingham. Unless mindsets change anddecision-takers wake up, the decision hasWorld Transport Policy & Practice___________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 20076

already been made and we have rejectedthe Basel model. We will all beconsiderably poorer, more vulnerable,unhealthier and more unhappy as aresult.John WhiteleggEditorWorld Transport Policy and PracticeSustrans in July 2007 (the nationalcycling organisation co-ordinatingmonitoring) the following percentageincreases in cycling were recorded:Darlington +56.8%Derby +10.8%Exeter +20.9%Lancaster +2.4%Sustainable Transport Adviser to theLancaster Cycling Demonstration TownProject Steering CommitteeNote 1The UK government has funded anational scheme to increase cyclinglevels. The project is administered byCycling Englandhttp://www.cyclingengland.co.uk/demotowns.phpThe project has provided £17 million toimprove cycling.Lancaster is one of 6 CyclingDemonstration Town projects (CDT) andhas £3 million to spend on cyclinginitiatives over a 3 year time periodhttp://www.cyclingengland.co.uk/dt_lancaster.phphttp://www.cyclingengland.co.uk/documents/lancaster.ppt#263,13,Contact UsNote 2Cycling monitoring is fraught withdifficulties but current monitoring data oncycling in Lancaster and Morecambeshows a disappointingly poorperformance. In a monitoring report fromWorld Transport Policy & Practice___________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 20077

Abstracts & KeywordsAt the Frontiers of Cycling: Policy Innovations in the Netherlands, Denmark, andGermanyJohn Pucher and Ralph BuehlerThis article presents six detailed case studies of cycling in the Netherlands (Amsterdamand Groningen), Denmark (Copenhagen and Odense), and Germany (Berlin andMuenster). Except for Berlin, they represent the very best in coordinated policies andprograms to make cycling safe, convenient, and attractive. Not only are cycling levelsextraordinarily high in these cities, but virtually everyone cycles: women as well as men,the old and the young, the rich and the poor. Moreover, they cycle for a wide range ofdaily, practical trips purposes and not mainly for recreation. Berlin is a special case. It doesnot even approach the five other cities in their cycling orientation. Nevertheless, its recentmeasures to encourage cycling have achieved an impressive bike share of trips for such alarge city, higher than any other European city of that size. Thus, all six of the bicyclingcase study cities examined in this article truly are at the frontiers of cycling. They havemany lessons to offer other cities in the Western World about the best ways to encouragemore cycling.Keywords: Bicycle, Bike city, Transportation Policy, SubsidiarityWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________ 8Volume 13. Number 3. December 2007

At the Frontiers of Cycling:Policy Innovations in the Netherlands, Denmark, andGermanyJohn Pucher and Ralph BuehlerRutgers UniversityEmail: pucher@rci.rutgers.edu, ralph.buehler@gmail.comhttp://www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher.htmlIntroductionCities in the Netherlands, Denmark, andGermany have cycling levels that are amongthe highest in the world. Over the past threedecades, they have succeeded in raising thetotal number of bike trips while decreasingthe number of cyclist fatalities and injuries.The cycling successes of these cities mayprovide valuable lessons for cities in othercountries of Europe, North America, andAustralia precisely because they are similarin so many other ways. They are alldemocratic, capitalist, affluent societies withnearly universal car ownership. Theexperiences of the Netherlands, Denmark,and Germany show that cycling can thriveeven when people have the freedom to maketheir own travel choices and can easily affordmotorized transport. The success of cyclingdoes not depend on poverty, dictatorialregimes, or the lack of transport options toforce people onto bikes. It does, however,depend crucially on a wide range ofsupportive government policies to makecycling convenient and safe.This article provides detailed case studies ofcycling in six cities: two in the Netherlands(Amsterdam and Groningen), two inDenmark (Copenhagen and Odense), andtwo in Germany (Berlin and Muenster). Thelargest city in each country is also thecapital. The smaller city is of intermediatesize, but in every case, it is the mostbicycling oriented city in the country, withthe highest bike share of trips. By examiningcycling in cities of different sizes, we showthat cycling can be a practical, safe, andconvenient way to get around cities ofvirtually any size.The focus in each case study is on the widerange of integrated, mutually supportingpolicies and programs that are used topromote cycling. To some extent, the cyclingsuccesses of the six cities rely on more andbetter implementation of the same sorts oftraditional policies that many other Europeancities use. In addition, however, the casestudy cities examined here have beenparticularly innovative, introducing newapproaches to encouraging cycling andmaking it safer.In most countries throughout the world,cycling policies and programs are consideredprimarily, if not exclusively, a localGovernment Issue, with only limited stateand central government involvement. That iscertainly true in Denmark. In the Netherlandsand Germany, state and central governmentsprovide financial support for cycling facilitiesand assist with planning and researchactivities. In every country, however, theultimate success or failure of cycling restswith local governments. They are responsiblefor implementing the key transport and landuse policies that establish the necessarysupportive environment for cycling to thrive.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________ 9Volume 13. Number 3. December 2007

For example, city and county governments inthe Netherlands, Germany, and Denmarkhave been planning, constructing, andfunding bicycling facilities for many decades,at least since the 1970s, but much earlier insome cities. Municipalities make the specificplans that reflect the particular conditionsand needs of the local context. Cyclingtraining, safety, and promotional programsare usually carried out at the local level aswell, even if they are mandated and fundedby higher levels. Thus, this article focuseson the local government policies andprograms that are so crucial to the success ofcycling.Before presenting the six case studies, weprovide a brief overview of cycling in theNetherlands, Denmark, and Germany. Thesuccess of cycling in the six case study citiesis exceptional from an internationalperspective but not so unusual in their owncountries.National Overviews of CyclingAs shown in Figure 1, there are enormousdifferences in levels of cycling among thecountries of Western Europe, North America,and Australia. Netherlands tops them all with27% of all trips by bike. Denmark comes insecond with a bike share of 18%. Germany isroughly tied with Finland and Sweden at10%. Our three case study countries are farahead of most other European countries andmuch farther ahead of the USA and Australia,where cycling accounts for about one percentof trips.30%27%25%Percent of trips by bicycle20%15%10%8%10% 10%11%18%5%1% 1% 1%2% 2%3% 3%4%5%6%0%Figure 1: Bicycle share of trips in Europe, North America (Percent of total trips by bicycle)Source: European Conference of the Ministers of Transport (2004); European Union (2003); U.S.Department of Transportation (2003); Netherlands Ministry of Transport (2006), German FederalMinistry of Transport (2003); Department of Transport (2005)World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200710

Most cycling in the Netherlands, Denmark,and Germany is for practical, utilitarianpurposes. Travel to work or school accountsfor 32% of bike trips in the Netherlands,35% in Denmark, and 25% in Germany.Shopping trips account for 22% of bike tripsin the Netherlands, 25% in Denmark, and20% in Germany (German Federal Ministry ofTransport, 2003; Danish Ministry ofTransport, 2007; Dutch Ministry of Transport,2006). Only about a fourth of bike trips inthese three countries are for purelyrecreational purposes, compared to threethree-fourths of bike trips in the USA (U.S.Department of Transportation, 2003).Dutch, Danish, and German cyclists comprisevirtually all segments of society. Forexample, women are just about as likely tocycle as men. Women make 45% of all biketrips in Denmark, 49% in Germany, and 55%in the Netherlands (German Federal Ministryof Transport, 2003; Danish Ministry ofTransport, 2007; Statistics Netherlands,2005). Another dimension of cycling’suniversality in the Netherlands, Denmark,and Germany is the representation of all agegroups. Children and adolescents have thehighest rates of cycling in almost everycountry. As shown in Figure 2, however,cycling levels in the Netherlands, Denmark,and Germany remain high even among theelderly. Finally, rates of cycling are similaramong different income classes in thesethree countries, with the number of bike tripsper day falling only slightly with increasingincome (German Federal Ministry ofTransport, 2003; Statistics Netherlands,2005; Dutch Bicycling Council, 2006). Inshort, cycling in the Netherlands, Denmark,and Germany is for women as well as men,all age groups, all income classes, and all trippurposes.35% 36% 22%35.0%30.0%Percent of trips by bike25.0%20.0%15.0%10.0%18%7% 8% 8% 10%12%20%17%13% 13% 12%10%12%23%24%5.0%0.0%14-1818-2526-4546-6060-6565 +16-1920-2930-3940-4950-5960-6970-740-1516-2526-4546-6465 +Germany Denmark NetherlandsFigure 2: Bicycling share of trips by age groups in the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany (2000– 2002)Source: German Federal Ministry of Transport (2003); Danish Ministry of Transport (2007);Statistics Netherlands (2005)World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________ 11Volume 13. Number 3. December 2007

One important reason for the universality ofcycling in these three countries is the relativesafety of cycling compared to othercountries. As shown in Figure 3, theNetherlands has the lowest cyclist fatalityrate. Averaged over the years 2002 to 2005,the number of bicyclist fatalities per 100million km cycled was 1.1 in the Netherlands,1.5 in Denmark and 1.7 in Germany,compared to 3.6 in the UK and 5.8 in theUSA. Thus, cycling is over three times assafe in the Netherlands as in the UK andmore than five times as safe as in the USA.That might explain why the Dutch do notperceive cycling as a dangerous way to getaround. Cycling in Germany and Denmark isnot quite as safe as in the Netherlands, butstill 3-4 times safer than in the USA andtwice as safe as in the UK. The relative safetyof cycling in the Netherlands, Denmark, andGermany helps explain the higher levels ofcycling there, especially among women,children, and the elderly. Those groups areprobably the most vulnerable and the mostsensitive to traffic dangers (Garrard et al,2007).While safety surely encourages cycling, thereis strong evidence that more cyclingfacilitates safer cycling. The phenomenon of‘safety in numbers’ has been consistentlyfound to hold over time and across cities andcountries. Fatality rates per trip and per kmare much lower for countries and cities withhigh bicycling shares of total travel, andfatality rates fall for any given country or cityas cycling levels rise (Jacobsen, 2003).7.06.05.85.04.03.53.03.02.42.01.5 1.51.72.01.01.10.0Netherlands Denmark Sweden Germany France Canada UK Italy USFigure 3: Bicycling fatality rate in European countries, Canada and the US (2002)Source: Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (2005); European Union (2003)and U.S. Department of Transportation (2003 and 2007)World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________ 12Volume 13. Number 3. December 2007

The much safer cycling in the Netherlands,Denmark, and Germany is definitely not dueto widespread use of safety helmets. On thecontrary, in the Netherlands, with the safestcycling of any country, less than one percentof adult cyclists wear helmets, and evenamong children, only 3-5% wear helmets(Dutch Bicycling Council, 2006; NetherlandsMinistry of Transport, 2006). The Dutchcycling experts and planners interviewed forthis paper adamantly oppose laws to requirethe use of helmets, claiming that helmetsdiscourage cycling by making it lessconvenient, less comfortable, and lessfashionable. They also mention the possibilitythat helmets make cycling more dangerousby giving cyclists a false sense of safety andthus encouraging riskier riding behaviour. Atthe same time, helmets might reduce theconsideration motorists give cyclists, sincethey might seem less vulnerable if wearinghelmets (Walker, 2007).German and Danish cycling planners seemfar more supportive of increased helmet use,especially among children. There have beenextensive promotional campaigns in thesetwo countries to encourage more helmet use,but there are no laws requiring helmet use,not even for young children. In 2002, 33% ofGerman children aged 6-10 years worehelmets while cycling, compared to only 9%of adolescents aged 11-16, and only 2% ofGermans aged 17 or older. In 2006, 66% ofDanish school children aged 6-10 worehelmets, compared to 12% among schoolchildren 11 years or older, and less than 5%among adults (Andersen, 2005; Boehme,2005; City of Muenster, 2004; DanishMinistry of Transport, 2000; German FederalMinistry of Transport, 2002).We now turn to the six detailed city casestudies of cycling, grouped by country: firstthe Netherlands, then Denmark, and finallyGermany.Case Studies of Cycling in theNetherlandsMore than any other country in the WesternWorld, the Netherlands is famous for its highlevels of cycling. Almost every Dutch city isserved by extensive cycling facilities, and thewidespread presence of cyclists is an integralpart of the urban landscape, central to thevery image of Dutch cities. We have chosentwo cities to examine in detail: Amsterdamand Groningen. Amsterdam is the largestDutch city and is famous throughout theworld for its bike-oriented culture.Groningen, in the far north of theNetherlands, is far less well known, but it hasthe highest bike share of travel of any Dutchcity.Amsterdam(Information on cycling in Amsterdam wascollected directly from Dutch transportplanners and cycling experts. The mainbicycling planner for Amsterdam, RiaHilshorst, provided extensive information,corrections, and valuable feedback on thiscase study of cycling in Amsterdam.Information was also collected from thefollowing published sources: City ofAmsterdam (2003a; 2003b; 2007); DutchBicycling Council (2006); Osberg et al.(1998); and Langenberg (2000).Bikes have shaped the image of Amsterdamto such an extent that, for many peoplethroughout the world, Amsterdam is almostsynonymous with cycling. In 2005, cyclingaccounted for 37% of all vehicle trips - a bikemode share unheard of in other Europeancities of comparable size (City of Amsterdam,2007).World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________ 13Volume 13. Number 3. December 2007

Typical cycling scene in central Amsterdam:Note that women predominate and that noone is wearing a helmetSource: John PucherThis bike path in Amsterdamswerves to the right several metersto increase cyclist safety whencrossing the intersection. Theincreased distance between themain road and the bike pathcrossing gives motorists andcyclists more time to see eachother and thus avoid collisions.Moreover, the traffic island withthe two bollards forces a sharpturning radius, requiring cars toslow down.Source: Lewis DijkstraWith a population of 743,000, Amsterdam isthe largest city in the Netherlands. Thegreater Amsterdam region has 1.5 millioninhabitants and is situated at the northernend of the Randstad, the Netherlands’ largesturban agglomeration.Amsterdam’s city administration estimatesthat there were 600,000 bikes in Amsterdamin 2006, about 0.75 bikes per inhabitant(City of Amsterdam, 2007).Amsterdam’s topography andspatial development patternsare ideal for cycling. The cityis mostly flat and Odenselybuilt-up. Mixed useneighbourhoods keep tripdistances relatively short.Furthermore, many smallbike bridges and bike shortcuts make it easy to navigatethe city centre by bike. Bycomparison, car use isdifficult in the central city.There are few car parkingspaces, and many cul-desacsand one way streets hinder car travel.Given high bike ownership levels, restrictivepolicies on car use, compact and mixed-usedevelopment patterns, it is no wonder that in2003 fifty percent of Amsterdam’sinhabitants made daily use of their bikes(City of Amsterdam, 2003a). Over 85% ofAmsterdam’s residents rode their bike atleast once a week in 2003. Bicycling isalmost universal in Amsterdam. The rich andthe poor, men and women, children and theelderly, all use the bicycle for a minimum of20% of their trips (City of Amsterdam,2003b). Two noteworthy variations in bikeusage exist, however. First, the affluentcycle more than the poor in Amsterdam.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200714

in 1985, 41% in 2005) (Dutch BicyclingCouncil, 2006; City of Amsterdam, 2007).This indicates that increased levels of cyclingwere most likely in expense of lower levels oftransit use and walking. Bicycling inAmsterdam is used for all trip purposes: for34% of work trips, 33% of shopping tripsand 27% of leisure trips in 2003.In 2000, over half (55%) of all vehicle tripsin the historic city centre were by bike.Cordon counts at important intersections inthe city centre support this number. Theyalso reveal an increase of up to 20% in thenumber of bike trips from 1986 to 2000 (Cityof Amsterdam, 2003b).As in most other cities, bicycling levelsdecline with distance to the city centre. In2000, 40% of trips were made by bike ininner ring city districts; and 21% of all tripswere by bike in more suburban districts builtafter World War II. From 1986 to 2000bicycling levels decreased by around 10% inthese outlying areas.Overall policy goalsNon-motorized modes of transport are at thecentre of Amsterdam’s transport policy.Even though the city’s main transport policygoal is to increase accessibility by all modes,concerns about quality of life and airpollution give the bicycle a special role intransportation planning. In 2006, the mainarea of concern for cyclists were bicycletheft, shortage of safe bike parking facilities,traffic safety, and relatively long waitingtimes at signalized intersections.Following its bicycle policy plan “Choosing forCyclist: 2007-2010”, the city has started totry to address these problems by increasingbike parking facilities, combating bicycletheft, improving and promoting trafficsafety, completing and improving the bikenetwork and getting young people to bikemore (City of Amsterdam, 2007). From 2007to 2010, about €40 million of city funds willbe spent on bicycling projects, not includingadditional measures to increase traffic safety.Together with matching funds from otherlevels of government the total amount offunding for bicycling will increase to €70million over 4 years. This comes to about€13 per inhabitant per year, which iscomparable with other Dutch cycling cities.About €12 million are set aside to improvebike parking facilities and guarded bicyclegarages. Furthermore, traffic calmed areas(with a speed limit of 30km/h) are to beexpanded. Amsterdam will invest €500,000for bike education, public relationscampaigns and other activities designed toincrease bicycling among young people andother groups of society that tend to cycle lessoften (City of Amsterdam, 2007). The cityalso wants to replace on-road bike lanes withseparate bike paths.The city is making efforts to integrate bikeand transport planning across all city districtsand across many departments of the cityadministration. For example, efforts arebeing made to integrate transport and spatialdevelopment plans. The main responsibilityfor carrying out bicycle projects lies with thecity districts. This results in slight differencesin implementation of bike projects and bikeinfrastructure among the different areas ofthe city. The traffic and transportinfrastructure department (DIVV) tries tocoordinate and harmonize all bicycling effortscity wide.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200716

engraved bikes are registered with thepolice. Based on this unique registrationcode, stolen bikes can be returned to theirowner and police can detect stolen bikesduring bike checks. The city even has aspecial webpage especially for this programand other bike theft issues(http://www.fietsendiefstal.nl/english/index.html).Amsterdam’s bicycle stores have adopted anew policy, not to repair, buy or resell anybike that could potentially be stolen.Additionally, Amsterdam police are steppingup checks of bikes on the road. In 2006, over70,000 cyclists were checked for ownershipstatus and potential bike theft.Bike traffic signal in Amsterdam that showscyclists the number of seconds till they get agreen lightSource: Peter BerkeleyAmsterdam recently launched acomprehensive program to combat biketheft. In 2006, about 50,000 bikes werestolen in Amsterdam (almost 10% of allbikes!). That might seem like a lot, but it isin fact a 37.5% decrease compared to 2001and can be considered a first success incombating bike theft. Amsterdam’s bikepolicy postulates the goal to further reducebike theft to 6% of all bikes by 2010 (City ofAmsterdam, 2007).To help to achieve this goal, the city has acomprehensive approach consisting of officialbike registration, collaboration with bikestores, and strict police checks for bikeownership will. Amsterdam has invested €5million since 2002 and plans to invest €4million over the next 4 years into bikeregistration and police checks (City ofAmsterdam, 2007). For example, the cityactively promotes engraving unique codesinto the bike frame. Engraving is free andSafetyAs in most of our case study cities trafficsafety increased for cyclists over the last fewdecades. In 2005, there were 40% fewersevere cyclist injuries and deaths from trafficaccidents than during the mid 1980s. Eventhough progress has been made, between 6and 7 cyclists are still killed in trafficaccidents in Amsterdam every year. Asalready described in the case study aboutGroningen, bicycle safety is important in theNetherlands. It does not revolve aroundbicycle helmets, however. In theNetherlands, bicycle helmets are seen asunattractive and therefore potentiallydiscouraging cycling. Additionally, bikeplanners argue that bike helmets might leadcyclists to behave more dangerously, as theyfeel less vulnerable. Finally, bike plannerspoint out that car drivers use less care wheninteracting with cyclists wearing helmets.Dutch traffic laws protect young cyclists andput the responsibility for an accident on thecar driver. The only exception is whencyclists deliberately and flagrantly disobeytraffic laws. Similar to Germany, Dutch trafficlaws postulate that car drivers have to takeWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200717

special care when encountering children andthe elderly.bicycle paths to connect the bike network willcost an additional € 18 million. Funding forbike infrastructure comes from district, cityand regional budgets (City ofAmsterdam, 2007).Police officer in Amsterdam ticking a cyclistfor disobeying traffic regulationsSource: Peter BerkeleyProvision of cycling facilitiesIn 2007, the city of Amsterdam had a total of450km of bike paths and lanes. In contrastto cities like Copenhagen, where bike pathsand lanes have a long history, most pathsand lanes in Amsterdam have been builtsince the early 1980s. In 2007, the city’sbike infrastructure was made up of 200km ofseparate bike paths throughout the city and200km of bike lanes along 30 km/h trafficcalmed neighbourhood streets. There were50km of bike paths along roads with speedlimits of 50 km/h. In addition, Amsterdamhad about 775 km of traffic calmed streets in2000. Over the coming years, the city plansto expand the main bicycle network by about40 – 50 km of paths and lanes and to addanother 175 km of traffic calmed streets.Most of the proposed investments forbicycling discussed above will go towardscycling infrastructure. The majority of funds(€24 million) will be used for three crucialbridges and tunnels connecting the main bikenetwork (‘Hoofdnet Fiets’). Building separateRestrictions on carsThe city of Amsterdam has greatlyrestricted car access to the citycentre. Many streets are one wayfor cars, and others are solelyreserved for pedestrians andcyclists, and are completely offlimitsfor automobiles. Since the1970s the city has reduced theamount of car parking in the citycentre. Additionally, fees for theremaining car parking spaces weresubstantially increased since the 1970s(Langenberg, 2000; Dutch Bicycling Council,2006). In 1992, citizens voted to continue todecrease car parking in the city centre. Thishas proven to be an effective transportationdemand management tool. When parking issparse and costly, it discourages car trips tothe city. Furthermore, as in most Dutchcities, many residential areas are trafficcalmed at a low speed for cars (30 km/hareas).Bike Parking and Coordination withpublic transportAmsterdam has large bike parking facilitiesat its train stations. During peak hours onworkdays, up to 10,000 bikes were parked atAmsterdam Central Station in 2006.Unfortunately, the number of unguarded bikeparking facilities has declined sharply inrecent years due to massive reconstructionaround the Central Station. Thereconstruction is proposed to last until 2012.The city is trying to accommodate bikeparking needs with a temporary three storybike parking garage. Demand for parkingoutnumbers the available 2,500 parkingspots, however. City planners estimate thatWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200718

about 4,000 bikes are parked in this parkinggarage. This is accomplished by doubleparking bikes in parking spots originallydesigned for single bikes. Even though thisparking garage is overcrowded, it is still notenough to accommodate all bicycles.As a result bikes are parked all around thetrain station. The City of Amsterdam installedan additional 1,000 bicycle racks around thestation and provided another 1,500 bikeparking places on an old ferry -anchored onan adjacent river- until construction of thetrain station is completed. Afterreconstruction is complete in 2012, there willbe 10,000 bike parking spaces in shelteredfacilities at the train station.Amsterdam has pioneered an innovativeintegration of automobile and bike use. Thisprogram is called “Park and Bike” and allowsmotorists to park their cars at the fringe ofthe city and to complete their trip to the citycentre on bike (Dutch Bicycling Council,2006). The main reason for implementingthis program was the lack of car parking inthe downtown area and a shortage of transitaccess to all parts of the city. The bikerental fee is included in the price of the carparking ticket. In 2006, Amsterdam had 80of these rental bikes at two locations(Olympic Stadium and Sloterdijk station).During summers the city reports that 60% ofall rental bikes are in use every day. Theprogram is not working at a profit, thusmunicipal governments in the region coverexcess costs not met by parking fees.Bicycling promotionSimilar to Germany, Dutch school children gothrough bicycle training in school. Thisfurther familiarizes children with bicyclingand teaches necessary traffic rules andbehaviour. Bicycles are made available toschools by the city government for free sothat children who do not own a bicycle canlearn at school how to cycle safely inAmsterdam. In the Netherlands manychildren experience bicycling early in life;they learn to cycle when they are 3-4 yearsold. Many infants make their first bike ride onthe backseat or in special bike trailers withtheir parents. Children of immigrants oftendo not have these early experiences ofbicycling, as cycling is not part of the cultureof their country of origin. Indeed, the cityreports that children of recent immigrantcycle less than the average child inAmsterdam. Therefore, the city plans tomake special efforts to target children ofrecent immigrants through bicyclingpromotion and to make bicycling asappealing and as irresistible as possible tothem.Groningen(Information on cycling in Groningen wascollected directly from Dutch transportplanners and cycling experts. The mainbicycling planner for Groningen, Cor van derKlaauw provided extensive information aswell as corrections and improvements to thiscase study of Groningen. Information wasalso collected from the following publishedsources: City of Groningen (2007); DutchBicycling Council (2006); and van der Klaauw(2006))As the most bicycling oriented city inEurope’s most bicycling oriented country,Groningen is very special indeed. Similar toMuenster and Odense, the bicycling policies,programs, and facilities in Groningen havebecome a model for other cities to follow.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200719

Typical scene inGroningen, with theentire family cyclingtogether, and withouthelmets, not even for theyoung child.Source: Peter BerkeleyGroningen has 181,000inhabitants, includingabout 46,000 universitystudents (City ofGroningen, 2007). It isthe seventh largest cityin the Netherlands,located in the far northof the country. As inother Dutch cities, its flat terrain facilitatescycling. Over many decades Groningen hasconsistently implemented sustainable landuse and transport policies. Together with theprovision of extensive cycling infrastructure,the city’s compact land use and carrestrictivemeasures have encouraged thecontinued growth of cycling as a means ofdaily travel.Groningen has remained quite compact inspite of its gradually increasing population.In 2005, 78% of its residents and 90% of itsjobs were located within a 3-km radius of thecity centre (Dutch Bicycling Council, 2006).That compactness generates trips are shortenough to be made by bike, and that isperhaps the most important factor inexplaining the extraordinarily high bike shareof travel.The compactness of Groningen is not anaccident but resulted from strict land useplans that limited the type of sprawled, lowdensitydevelopment that would have greatlyincreased trip distances and required morecar use. In fact, there was considerableplanned decentralization in the 1970s toaccommodate increase population andcommercial development. Since 1980,however, there has been very little additionalexpansion, and the focus over the past 25years has been on maintaining Groningen’scompact, bike-friendly spatial pattern (DutchBicycling Council, 2006; van der Klaauw2006).Travel trendsGroningen has the highest bike share of localtrips of any large Dutch city, remainingsteady at slightly less than 40% for the pasttwo decades. For local trips withinGroningen, the bike share of trips is 59%,also the highest in the Netherlands. In 2002,the Dutch Cyclists Union designatedGroningen as “Cycling City of the Year.”Thus, Groningen is comparable to Odense,Denmark and Muenster, Germany. Each cityhas its country’s highest bike shares oftravel, and each city has been awarded thedesignation of best cycling city. Although thebike share of trips in Groningen hasremained steady since 1980, the totalnumber of bike trips has increased along withpopulation and overall travel demand.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200720

As for the Netherlands as a whole, there isno significant difference between men andwomen in their levels of cycling. Indeed,national statistics show that women makemore bike trips than men. The highest ratesof cycling are among the age groups 12-19and then again among those over 45. Thereis a fall in cycling levels among those 20-45years old, possibly because they are in themiddle of their careers and rushed for time(Dutch Bicycling Council, 2006).Overall policy goalsThe main goal of transport policy inGroningen is the preservation of cycling as afeasible, safe, and convenient means of localtravel, thus providing a sustainablealternative to the private car. To achievethat goal, the city has consistently pursuedself-reinforcing policies of compact land use,car-restrictive measures, and high-qualitycycling infrastructure.SafetyThere has been substantial improvement incycling safety in Groningen over the past tenyears, with the number of bicyclist injuriesfalling from 202 in 1997 to 101 in 2005, thushalving total cyclist injuries, although thetotal number of bike trips has surelyincreased (van der Klaauw, 2006).Almost no one in Groningen wears a safetyhelmet when cycling - neither adults norchildren. Moreover, there is no publicprogram to encourage cyclists to wearhelmets. There is a widespread belief in theNetherlands that wearing a helmet is neithernecessary nor appropriate. Both at thenational and local levels, Dutch cyclingplanners have opposed efforts to encouragelet alone require helmet use. They assertthat helmets discourage cycling by making itless convenient and less comfortable.Whatever safety benefits helmets mightoffer, they are far offset by the reducedcycling they would cause. One bike plannersuggested that helmets might make cyclistsseem less vulnerable in the eyes ofmotorists, who might then drive with lesscare and consideration toward cyclists.Cyclists themselves might also cycle moredangerously and take more risks if they arewearing a helmet.Groningen’s strategy for improving cyclingsafety relies mainly on the provision ofextensive bike lanes and bike paths, prioritytraffic signals for cyclists, traffic calming ofresidential neighbourhoods, and sharprestrictions on car traffic in the city centre. Inthis respect, Groningen has undertaken thesame measures as Muenster and Odense.There is also a concerted program inGroningen to reduce bike theft, which hasbeen a major problem. Groningen’s firstguarded bike parking facility was opened in1982. Thanks to its success, the number ofsuch guarded bike parking facilities increasedto 20 by 1995 and to 30 by 2006. Guardedbike parking facilities for the general publiccharge a daily fee of €0.90 or an annualsubscription fee of €25 for regular users. Inaddition, there were 15 schools in Groningenin 2006 with guarded bike parking for a feeof €22.50 per year. The parking fees chargedfor guarded bike parking fully cover the costsof hiring the necessary staff for surveillance(Dutch Bicycling Council, 2006; van derKlaauw, 2006).Provision of cycling facilitiesPerhaps the most impressive aspect ofGroningen’s cycling policy is the vastexpansion of cycling facilities. The city hasmore than doubled the extent of its separatebike lanes and paths since 1980, reaching220 km in 2006. Clearly, that has greatlyfacilitated cycling, making it safer as well asmore convenient. By 2006, all outlyingresidential areas had been connected withWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200721

separate cycling facilities leading directly tothe city centre. To enhance its cyclingnetwork, Groningen has constructed manyspecial infrastructure facilities such as cyclistbridges and underpasses to further separatecyclist traffic flows from motor vehicles.residential areas and work, shopping, andthe university in the centre.The City of Groningen invested €23 million incycling facilities between 1989 and 2000 andanother € 9.5 million between 2000 and2006, or a total of almost €33 million in thepast 17 years. For the years 2006 to 2010, itis projected that at least €11 million will bespent expanding and improving cyclingfacilities in Groningen. That would be a totalof €44 million over 21 years or about €2million per year (Dutch Bicycling Council; vander Klaauw, 2006).Just as in Muenster, Groningen has installedmany short cuts for cyclists to increase thedirectness of bike trips, cut trip distances,and thus increase the overall speed andconvenience of bike travel compared to cartravel. At the same time, the city introducedmany artificial dead ends, traffic-calmedareas, and car-free zones that make cartravel more circuitous, less convenient, andmore time consuming that bike travel.Intersection treatments and trafficpriority for cyclistsAt some key intersections, Groningen hasintroduced four-way green traffic lights forcyclists, permitting faster and safer crossingof the intersections for cyclists, especiallywhen making left turns. Generally, the cityhas tried to remove traffic lights to avoidinterruptions in bike trips at intersections.For example, bicycling routes have beenplanned so that it is now possible to cyclefrom several outlying residential areasdirectly to the city centre without having tostop at even one traffic signal, greatlyspeeding up bike travel between outlyingTraffic signal enabling four-way all-greencrossing for cyclists in Groningen, avoidingall possible conflicts with turning carsSource: Peter BerkeleyThere are separate traffic signals for cyclists,and cyclists usually get advance green lights.At especially busy intersections, cyclists gettwo green light phases during each cycle ofthe traffic signal. Cyclists are also allowed tomake right turns at intersections when thetraffic signal is red, while car drivers cannot.At many intersections, cyclists proceed to thefront of the intersection and wait in an areaahead of all the cars, which must stop furtherbehind at another stop line. Cyclists also getan advance green light, which speeds themthrough the intersection and provides greatervisibility and safety. In addition, cyclists arepermitted to make right or left turns at manyintersections where they are - prohibited forcars. That gives cyclists greater flexibility inthe routing of their travel.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200722

Cyclists and pedestrians have absolutepriority in the city centre - in the use ofpublic spaces and roadways, direction androutes of travel, and traffic signals. On manyone-way streets cyclists are permitted totravel in both directions, while motorists canonly drive in one direction.Restrictions on carsMuch of Groningen’s city centre is off limitsto cars. It is not possible for cars to passthrough the city centre from one end to theother. That forces such traffic to takecircumferential routes and mitigates theproblems of congestion, noise, air pollution,and traffic danger in the city centre. Throughmotor vehicle traffic is diverted to ring roadsoutside the city centre (Dutch BicyclingCouncil, 2006; van der Klaauw, 2006).Just as in Muenster, almost all residentialneighbourhoods in Groningen are trafficcalmed so that speed limits are reduced to30km/hr or less. In addition, there are manywoonerfs (home zones) with speeds limitedto 7km per hour and cars forced to shareroads with pedestrians, cyclists, and playingchildren.The reduction of car parking spaces withinthe city centre has also discouraged car usethere. New car parks have been built nearthe edge of the city centre, with motoristsencouraged to park their cars there and thento walk, bike, or take a bus to the centre.Motorists are directed either to the nearestcar park just outside the centre or to moreoutlying car parks that permit free parking ofcars and provide direct bus service via theCityBus shuttles between the park and ridelots and the city centre.Coordination with public transportThe main form of multi-modal coordination isthe provision of very extensive bike parkingat train stations and some key bus stops.Virtually all bus and train services convergeradially on the city centre, either at the maintrain station or the main city square (GroteMarkt). As noted in the next section, there isextensive bike parking of various sorts atthose locations.Suburban rail services permit bikes on theirtrains, and both the Amsterdam andRotterdam metros permit bikes on board thetrains. There are no bike racks on buses, butsome of the longer-distance regional busespermit bikes to be taken on-board on certainoff-peak days, such as the weekends andholidays. By comparison, none of the regularcity buses permit bikes on board and they donot have bike racks.Bike ParkingThere are 36 bike parking facilities in thecentre of Groningen, including 7 which areguarded to prevent bike theft. At the centraltrain station, there are three different bikeparking facilities: a guarded parking facilitywith 1,700 bike parking places, anunguarded parking lot with space for 4,150bikes, and a bicycle parking deck with 900bike parking spaces. Groningen’s mostinnovative parking policy is the provision ofextensive guarded parking to reduce biketheft, as discussed earlier (Dutch BicyclingCouncil, 2006; van der Klaauw, 2006).World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200723

New bike parking facility directly next to the main train station in Groningen, with this major bikepath leading right through it.Source: Peter Berkeleyclimate. But it also benefits from a wideBicycling promotionrange of transport and land use policies thatThere are no special programs in Groningen have increasingly supported cycling andto promote cycling, in sharp contrast toMuenster and especially Odenese, with itsrestricted car use over the past few decades.We first examine Copenhagen, the capitalincredible range of cycling promotion and largest city of Denmark. Somewhatcampaigns. Cycling is so common and similar to Amsterdam, cycling has become anatural in the Netherlands - especially in key aspect of Copenhagen’s imageGroningen, with the highest rate of cycling ofany Dutch city - that there does not seem tobe a need to implement special promotionalthroughout the world. And that enables it tobenefit from a considerable amount of cyclingtourism on top of all the other benefits ofprograms. Nevertheless, there are some cycling. The second Danish case study ismovements in this direction, partly to Odense, which is hardly known outside ofcounter the increasing problem of obesity Europe. It has an even higher bike of tripsamong the Dutch. The main way that than Copenhagen and has been designatedGroningen promotes cycling is not through the official National Bicycling City ofany special marketing gimmicks but ratherby providing superb cycling facilities andDenmark. Odense has truly been at theforefront of cycling policies and programs,restrictions on car travel.having implemented perhaps the mostinnovative pro-bike measures of any city inCase Studies of Cycling in Denmarkthe world.In the Western World, Denmark is secondonly to the Netherlands in its overall levels of Copenhagencycling. Somewhat similar to the Information on cycling in Copenhagen wasNetherlands, cycling in Denmark benefits collected directly from Danish transportationfrom a mostly flat topography and moderate planners and cycling experts. The mainWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________ 24Volume 13. Number 3. December 2007

icycling planner for Copenhagen, NielsJensen, provided extensive information,corrections, and improvements to this casestudy of cycling in Copenhagen. Informationwas also collected from the followingpublished sources: Cervero (2001); City ofCopenhagen (2002; 2004; 2006; 2007a;2007b); Fonden Bycycklen (2007); andDutch Bicycling Council (2006).With about half a million inhabitants in thecity and 1.7 million inhabitants in itsmetropolitan area, Copenhagen is Denmark’slargest city as well as its capital (City ofCopenhagen, 2007a). Of Europe’s majorcities, only Amsterdam is more bicyclingoriented than Copenhagen. With its longhistory of cycling and high share of trips bybike, the city actively markets itself as the“city of cyclists.” Since spring 2007, the cityhas set itself the goal to become “the bestcity in the world for cycling” (City ofCopenhagen, 2007b).Children ride up front on this bike inCopenhagen, a design that was developed inDenmark and is called the ‘Christiania” bike.Source: Peter BerkeleyBrightly colored blue bike lane crossings atintersection in Copenhagen to highlightpresence of cyclists to motoristsSource: Peter BerkeleyThe extensive bicycling network and thecentral role of cycling facilities in all trafficplanning highlight the importance of bicyclingin the city’s transport policies. Indeed, a thirdof Copenhagen’s road transport budget isearmarked for cycling facilities andprograms.Land use and development policies have alsofacilitated cycling. As noted by Cervero(2001), Copenhagen’s suburban expansionhas been concentrated along radial traincorridors that focus on the city centre. Therelatively high residential densities andmixed land uses ensure a high percentage oftrips that are short enough to cover by bike.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200725

In contrast to most other case study cities,there are no bicycle streets in Copenhagen,and traffic calming is not very extensive.Currently, some residential areas have30km/h speed limits and a very limitednumber of streets have car speed limits of15km/h. However, the city has plans toreduce the general speed limit for cars from50km/h to 40km/h in large parts of the city.Travel trendsCycling has almost continuously increased inand around Copenhagen in recent decades.Cordon counts indicate that the number ofbike trips grew by about 70% from 1970 to2006, with especially rapid growth in theareas beyond the city centre. A 2005 travelsurvey found that 20% of all trips inCopenhagen were by bike. An even higher36% of work trips were by bike (City ofCopenhagen, 2006).trips to 50% by 2012 (for jobs located withinthe city), and to reduce the number of cyclistinjuries by 50%. Moreover, the city has aspecific goal of raising the percentage ofcyclists who feel safe from the current 57%to 80%. The Policy Plan also sets the goals ofincreasing cycling speeds by improving thecycle pathway system and by giving cyclistsmore priority at intersections. As of spring2007, the city plans to double funding forbicycling (City of Copenhagen, 2007b).SafetyAlthough cycling levels in Copenhagen arehigh, they would be much higher if safetyCycling rates are high for all groups: menand women, all age groups, all professions,and all income levels. Similar to Amsterdam,cycling is viewed as a perfectly normal wayto get around the city, and cyclists are apermanent part of the scene on virtuallyevery street. Interestingly, bike use in recentyears has risen most among older agegroups. For example, the percentage ofCopenhagen residents over age 40 who cycleregularly increased from 25% in 1998 to38% in 2005 (City of Copenhagen, 2006).Entire family cycling together on this bikepath in Copenhagen. Note that the child iswearing a helmet but not the parents.Source: Peter BerkeleyOverall policy goalsThe goals of its cycling policy were firstclearly stated in Copenhagen’s 2002-2012Cycling Policy Plan and then slightly revisedin 2007 (City of Copenhagen, 2007b). Thecity aims to increase the bike share of workwere improved - as well as the perceivedsafety of cycling. Indeed, a recent surveyrevealed that the majority of those who donot cycle feel that cycling is unsafe. Evenamong regular cyclists, only 53% feel safe,according to the 2006 Bicycle Account survey(City of Copenhagen, 2006). That is in spiteWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200726

of impressive improvements in actual cyclingsafety. From 1995 to 2006, the number ofcyclist fatalities and serious injuries fell by60%, although the total number ofkilometres cycled rose by 44% over thesame period (City of Copenhagen, 2006).In the past, Copenhagen’s main approach toincreasing safety was the extension andimprovement of the system of bikewaysalong roads and in parks. Although thoseefforts continue, the city’s focus now is onimproving safety at intersections, since thatis where most serious crashes occur.Increasingly, the city is installing advancestop lines for cyclists, priority traffic signals,and bright blue marking of bike lanescrossing roads.Similar to Dutch cities, cyclists inCopenhagen rarely wear helmets. In sharpcontrast to Odense, there does not appear tobe any public campaign to promote helmetuse. As in the Netherlands, bike planners inCopenhagen reject laws requiring helmet usesince they would probably discourage cyclingby making it less convenient and lessfashionable.Provision of cycling facilitiesEven as far back as 1934, Copenhagen had130 km of bike paths, but they have beenextended considerably since then (DutchBicycling Council, 2006). In 2004, there were345 km of separate bike paths and 14 km ofbike lanes, with plans to invest €16 million tobuild an additional 50 km of bike paths by2015 (City of Copenhagen, 2004 and 2007b).In addition, the city has begun constructionof a series of 21 new bike routes—designatedas green bicycle routes. They will have atotal length of over 110 km and cost €70million. By routing them through parks, alongwaterfronts, and in other green spaces, theplanners are minimising roadway crossings,thus maximizing safety, comfort, and speed(City of Copenhagen, 2007b).Copenhagen bike planners have a strongpreference for separate paths over on-streetlanes on major roads. Although some bikelanes are being built, they are viewed ascheap, temporary measures - less safe thanseparate paths. Most lanes will eventually bereplaced by fully separated paths. Generally,bike paths in the city are on both sides of thestreet, situated between the roadway and thesidewalk. The bike path is separated frommotor vehicles by a curb and elevated by 7-12 cm above the level of the street. Mostbike paths are 2.2 meters wide, but onespecially busy commuter routes, they arewidened to 3 meters. At intersections andother road crossings, bike paths turn intobike lanes and are often painted a bright,highly visible blue to alert motorists to thepresence of cyclists crossing the road.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200727

Green wave for cyclists on this major streetin Copenhagen, synchronized at 20km/hr.Note the specially protected path, with a curbseparating the path from the lanes for motorvehicles.Source: Niels Jensen, City of CopenhagenWhile the bicycling facilities in Copenhagenare extensive, about a fifth of current cyclistsreport in the bi-annual survey that they aredissatisfied with them overall (City ofCopenhagen, 2004 and 2006). Over half ofcurrent cyclists complain about poormaintenance. As in many cities, motorvehicles sometimes stop or park illegally oncycle tracks, endangering cyclists andslowing them down. Another problem is thecongestion of several key bike paths duringrush hours, with over 2,300 cyclists per hour.Congestion is limited to only 3 to 4km of thebike networks, but bike planners and cyclistsstill consider it a problem.In response to these problems, the city isplanning to expand the network of bikepaths, widen paths to 3 meters on the mostcongested routes, ticket motor vehiclesobstructing paths, and improve maintenance.Furthermore, similar to Odense, the citysynchronizes its traffic lights on certain roadsto give cyclist consecutive green lights (a socalledgreen wave). First results show thatthis measure speeds up bike trips by anaverage of 10%. Overall, Copenhagenplanners report considerable progress withthese recently implemented measures.Intersection treatments and trafficpriority for cyclistsAs already noted, the transport planners inCopenhagen are now making intersectionimprovements the main focus of their effortsto make cycling faster, more convenient, andsafer. Many key intersections already provideadvance stop lines, traffic signal priority, andspecial blue lane markings for cyclists. In theWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200728

coming years, the city plans to redesignmore intersections in this way to be morebicycling friendly.Coordination with public transportAlthough city planners recognize theimportance of integrating cycling with publictransport, 42% of Copenhagen’s cyclistsrated the situation in 2006 as unsatisfactory(City of Copenhagen, 2006). Consequently,improvements in bike and ride facilities are amajor goal of city cycling policies.Bikes are now allowed on all suburban trainsas well as the metro. All suburban trains andmost regional trains have specialcompartments for bike parking. Bike parkingaround train stations, however, is not nearlysufficient to meet demands. Many of theexisting facilities are crowded, outdated,inconvenient, unguarded, and primitive incomparison to the state-of-the-art facilities inMuenster and Groningen. Likewise,Amsterdam has vastly superior bike parkingfacilities at its rail stations. Fortunately, thecity plans to improve bike parking at trainstations in the coming years, but it has along way to go.Copenhagen could learn a lot from Odense,which has been pioneering a range ofadvances in bike parking, both overall andespecially at train stations.Bicycling promotionThere are two innovative policies thatCopenhagen has implemented to promotecycling: the free bike rental program and theannual survey of bicyclists. The City Bikesprogram places over 2,000 free city bikes atover 110 locations in the city centre (FondenBycycklen, 2007). Only a small deposit isrequired to retrieve the bike from its parkinglocation, and it can be left any many differentlocations, depending on the route taken. TheCity Bikes programme certainly is a goodidea in principle, making bikes easilyavailable on short-term basis. Unfortunately,the programme has been hampered by theinevitable problems of vandalism and theft,as well as insufficient maintenance of thebikes. Technological improvements to theCity Bikes in 1996 mitigated these problemssomewhat, but one often finds abandoned,broken, vandalized City Bikes throughout thecity. Overall, however, the City Bike programappears to be a success.Bike parkingSimilar to the unsatisfactory state of bikepublictransport coordination, bike parking ingeneral is both insufficient and of poorquality in Copenhagen (City of Copenhagen,2006). In the city’s bi-annual survey,cyclists regularly rate the lack of good bikeparking as the worst aspect of cyclingconditions (rating only 3 on a scale of 1 to10).The total number of bike parking places isover 20,000, but that is not nearly sufficient.Thus, the city’s goal is to vastly improve boththe quantity and quality of bike parkingfacilities in the coming years. Over 400 newbike parking places were built for the citycentre from 2000 to 2002.Another innovative program in Copenhagenis the Bicycle Account, a bi-annual survey ofcyclists (City of Copenhagen, 2004 and2006). Every two years cyclists themselvesevaluate the actual performance of thebicycling system in the city, and providesuggestions for its improvement. They areasked, for example, about their degree ofsatisfaction with the extent and width of bikepaths, road and path maintenance, bikeparking, coordination with public transport,and safety. Because it is a bi-annual survey,it permits cycling planners to track progressover time.In addition to monitoring cyclist satisfactionwith the current system, the Bicycle AccountWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200729

also provides information on cycling levels,trip purpose, and cyclist characteristics, thussupplementing the information from cordoncounts of cyclists and other travel surveys.OdenseInformation on cycling in Odense wascollected directly from its former bicyclingplanner, Troels Andersen, and from thefollowing published sources: City of Odense(2007); Andersen, T. (2005); and DutchBicycling Council (2006).Odense was designated as Denmark’s officialNational Bicycling City in 1999. It has thehighest bike mode share of any Danish city,with cycling accounting for about a quarter ofall trips. That is not much higher than theoverall Danish average of 18%, but it isimpressive nevertheless.Odense is the third largest city in Denmark,with 185,000 inhabitants. That includesabout 40,000 university students, who areamong the most frequent cyclists. Odense islocated at the centre of the island Fyn about140 km southwest of Copenhagen. Its flattopography and moderate climate facilitatecycling.Travel trendsFrom 1984 to 2002, the total number of biketrips in Odense grew substantially - by about80%, based on regular, manual cordoncounts on 21 key cycling routes (DutchBicycling Council, 2006). The increasingnumber of bike trips is due mainly toconsiderable growth in overall traveldemand, of which cycling has captured aslightly higher percentage share. Althoughtravel surveys are only available for theshorter time period from 1994 to 2002, theySeparate cycling facilities in Odense attractmen and women, young and oldSource: Troels Andersenindicate that the bike share of trips rose onlyslightly - from 22.5% to 24.6%, but withfluctuations from year to year. Thanks to theextraordinary package of federally supportedpro-bike programs implemented betweenWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200730

1999 and 2002, there was an impressive20% increase in total bike trips over thatshort 3-year period.Odense developed a unique trip countingdevice in 2002 that supplanted manualcounts. Cycling volumes are nowautomatically measured as cyclists pass eachof 25 permanent counting stations. Thatpermits frequent monitoring of cycling traveldemand, greatly facilitating bike planning(Andersen, 2005).Overall policy goalsThe main objective of transport policy inOdense has been to increase cycling levelswhile reducing cycling injuries. As notedabove, the city has achieved those dualobjectives over the past 20 years. The recentfocus of the city’s policies has been onThe city has also carried out a massive,multi-faceted marketing campaign aimed atall groups. Thus, another aspect of Odense’scycling policy is to get everyone cyclingmore, including men and women, all agegroups, and all professions. The emphasishas been on everyday cycling for practicalpurposes, but there are also programs toencourage recreational cycling (Andersen,2005).SafetyWhile Odense has undertaken manymeasures to improve cycling safety, bicyclinginjuries remain a top concern. From 1999 to2004, total cyclist injuries fell from 80 to 57,indicating considerable success.Unfortunately, the number of serious injuriesfell only slightly (from 36 to 33), and thenumber of fatalities actually rose (from 1 to3). Since the number of bike trips increasedover the same period by about 20% over thesame period, however, the decrease in bothtotal and serious cyclist injuries wouldtranslate into a more significant fall in theoverall cycling injury rate per trip (DutchBicycling Council, 2006; Andersen, 2005).The correlation between rising cycling levelsand falling injury rates in Odense isconsistent with the theory of “safety innumbers,” which suggests that more cyclingleads to greater cycling safety, asdocumented for a range of countries andcities by Jacobsen (2003). Of course, greatercycling safety also encourages more cycling,so the causation is surely in both directions.Innovative bike trip counter in Odense,displaying real-time information on dailycycling volumes on this route.Source: Troels Andersen, City of Odensemodernising, improving, and bettermaintaining its existing cycling facilities,which are already quite extensive (DutchBicycling Council, 2006; Andersen, 2005).As one of several approaches to improvingcycling safety, Odense has been stronglypromoting bike helmets. During anexperimental period, the city provided 50%World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200731

discounts on helmet purchases and widelyadvertised the safety advantages of helmetuse in various media campaigns. Theseefforts were quite successful. From 1999 to2005, the rate of helmet use rose from 1.5%to 10.4% for adults and from 50% to 89%for children. The rate of helmet use amongadults is still very low but higher than inmost German and Dutch cities (DutchBicycling Council, 2006; Andersen, 2005).As in many German and Dutch cities,children in Odense receive training in safecycling as part of their school curriculum.That is crucial, since 43% of children reachschool by bike. Recently, Odense introducedthe world’s first interactive cycling trainer forchildren to help them improve their cyclingskills in traffic (www.b-game.dk/demo.php).It is in the form of an internet video game,but with actual scenes of cycling throughoutOdense. The user plays the role of a cyclistwho must respond to a wide range of trafficsituations.The city also has encouraged more use oflights on bikes at night by offering cyclistsfree lights. They operate without batteriesfrom electricity generated by magnetsattached to the wheels, which automaticallyproduce the needed current from the act ofpedalling the bike. A pilot study including4,000 cyclists resulted in a 32% fall in cyclistaccidents.Provision of cycling facilitiesAlready since the mid 1980s, Odense hashad over 500km of bike lanes and paths, soit has long had a very extensive cyclingnetwork. The National Cycling City programfrom 1999 to 2002 extended the network byonly another 400m with one new bike lane(Dutch Bicycling Council, 2006; Andersen,2005).Nevertheless, there were numerous minorinfrastructure improvements: modificationsto bike lane and path crossings at 20intersections, installation of 5 new right handturn lanes and 5 mini-roundabouts, andbright blue painting of cyclist crossings atintersections.In addition, manyintersections wereequipped with advancebicyclist waitingpositions (ahead ofmotorists), andcombined with advancegreen traffic signals forcyclists. Finally,signage of all cyclingroutes was improvedthroughout thenetwork.Green wave for cyclists in Odense, withbright green lights flashing on bollards just tothe right of the lane to indicate correctcycling speed to achieve all green lights atintersectionsSource: Troels Andersen, City of OdenseNot only does Odense provide extensive andhigh quality cycling facilities, but itundertakes truly extraordinary measures toensure proper maintenance. It employs agroup of 4 free-lance trouble-shootingcyclists who regularly cover the entireWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200732

network and report any defects ormaintenance problems, receiving €3.30 forevery confirmed repair problem that needs tobe fixed. Even more impressive is the use ofa special vehicle with laser technology toinspect the fundamental structure underlyingevery bike lane and path in order to detectpossible surface problems before they evenoccur. Finally, bike lanes and paths arepromptly cleared of ice and snow with aspecial vehicle that sprays a salt solutiononto the riding surface. That facilitates wintercycling (Andersen, 2005).Restrictions on carsThere are no direct routes for cars to passthrough Odense’s city centre from one sideto the other. In effect, that restricts traffic tovehicles with destinations in the city centreinstead of just passing through. That resultsin less traffic overall as well as less noise, airpollution, and traffic danger. There are alsoa number of car-free pedestrian streets thathave been modified with 3.5m two-way cyclepaths through the middle to permitaccommodate cyclists.As in many Danish, Dutch, and Germancities, parking in the city centre is quitelimited and expensive, which discourages caruse in general and obviously provides anadditional incentive to bike or walk.Coordination with public transportBike parking at the main train station inOdense is probably the most important formof multi-modal coordination of cycling withpublic transport. In addition to 400 regularbike racks just behind Odense’s CentralStation, there is also a state-of-the-art bikeparking facility immediately below thestation, with 300 bike racks that provideespecially high level of security, with videosurveillance cameras, as well as piped-inmusicandconveniences suchas toilets, drinkingfountains, luggageboxes, and a bikeshop for repairsand rentals. Thereare also 800 freeparking stands atthe second CycleCentre next toCentral Station(Dutch BicyclingCouncil, 2006;Andersen, 2005).Simple but convenient bike parking at bus stop in OdenseSource: Troels Andersen, City of OdenseWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200733

Bike ParkingThere was already extensive bike parking inOdense prior to 1999, but the National CycleCity program greatly increased the numberand quality of bike parking facilities. The cityadded 400 sheltered bike parking standsnear the main shopping area, where there isalso a state-of-the-art automatic bikeparking facility for 20 bicycles, in the form ofa carrousel.As already noted, the Central Train Stationadded 400 bike racks in back of the stationas well as 300 bike parking spaces in aspecial bike parking garage beneath thestation, featuring video camera surveillanceand attendants for greater security, as wellas special lighting, music, luggage boxes,and bike repairs and rentals (Dutch BicyclingCouncil, 2006; Andersen, 2005).Convenient bike air pumps throughout central city of OdenseSource: Peter Berkeleymost notable efforts include (Dutch BicyclingBicycling promotion in OdenseCouncil, 2006; Andersen, 2005):However innovative the infrastructureimprovements have been in Odense in recentyears, the wide range of cycling marketing• The “Cycling Duckie” program forvery young children, which offersprograms have certainly attracted the mostgifts, candy, balloons, andattention. Of the six case study cities in thisentertainmentarticle, Odense has unquestionably been themost imaginative and enthusiastic in• A range of cycling competitions forpromoting cycling among all age groups. Thesomewhat older schoolchildrenWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________ 34Volume 13. Number 3. December 2007

• Improved lighting and security ofbike parking facilities, especiallyimportant for women concernedabout their personal safety• The “Get Rid of the Sack” programtargeted at overweight middle-agedmen with pot bellies, with cyclingviewed a good form of exercise tolose weight• Extensive bike touring programs forseniors• A fleet of 67 bicycles for 29companies who let their employeesuse these bikes during the day forshort business trips• Ten special bike tire air pumpingstations all over the city• Free test bike trailers to haul kidsbehind bikes• Subsidised bike lights and bikehelmets to encourage safety• Distribution of free candy and fruit tocyclistshttp://www.cykelby.dk/eng/index.asp• Over 800 articles on bicycling in localnewspapers and magazines; frequentadvertising on radio and TV; and freelectures on cycling• Annual Bike Day in June, featuringbike exhibits, lotteries, cyclingcompetitions, etc.• Cycling Ambassador Programme: 86cycling ambassadors serve as rolemodels of safe cycling and help withcycling promotion in neighbourhoodsthroughout the city, distributingnewsletters and information aboutcycling events.As interesting and innovative as these cyclingpromotion efforts have been, cycliststhemselves appear to be more impressed byactual improvements in cycling conditions. Aspart of the National Cycling City program,cyclists were surveyed in 2002 to determinetheir preferred strategies for improvingcycling. Somewhat surprisingly, most cyclistsdid not even mention the many highlycreative marketing programs in Odense.• Innovative, interesting-looking cycletrip counters that regularly measurecycling volumes and publicise risinglevels of cycling• Digital display signs along bike routesthat measure the speeds of passingcyclists• Bicycling website with extensiveinformation for cyclists on bicyclingroutes, activities, special programs,health benefits of cycling, bike andbikes and bike accessoriesInstead, the survey respondents praisedinfrastructure improvements and trafficpriority. Above all, cyclists strongly endorsedpriority traffic signals for cyclists atintersections and synchronised green wavelights adjusted to cyclist speeds; improvedand better maintained surfaces of theexisting cycle paths and lanes; and expandedand improved bike parking facilities. Thus,while marketing is a key part of an overallcycling policy, it seems clear thatimprovements in actual cycling conditions arefar more important.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200735

Summary: Cycling in OdenseAlthough Odense was designated the officialNational Cycling City of Denmark from 1999to 2002, it does not stand out as much fromother Danish cities as does Muenster fromother German cities. Danish cycling levelsare almost twice as high as in Germanyoverall (18% vs. 10%), and Muenster’s bikeshare of trips is higher than Odense’s (35%vs. 25%).Nevertheless, there can be no question thatcycling is an important part of Odense’scharacter and gives it a special ambiencethat makes Odense a special place. Similar toMuenster, Odense has been vigorously andenthusiastically building on that reputationby implementing the most innovative anddiverse cycling promotion programs of anycity examined for this article.Case Studies of Cycling in GermanyGermany is especially interesting for thisexamination of cycling policies preciselybecause the country does not have a longtradition of cycling, certainly nothing evenapproaching the bicycling culture of theNetherlands. Moreover, Germany has a muchhigher level of car ownership and use thanthe Netherlands and Denmark, indeed one ofthe highest rates of car ownership in theworld. Germany is home to some of theworld’s most important car manufacturers(Volkswagen, Daimler-Benz, Audi, Porsche,BMW), which together represent a verystrong lobby for highways and cars. And forindividual Germans, there is a love affair withthe car that is at least as passionate as thatin the USA. Thus, it is surprising indeed thatGerman cities have undertaken so manypolicies to promote cycling.Of the two German case study cities,Muenster seems almost identical in manyways to its Dutch neighbours just an hour ortwo to the west. And its bike share of trips isroughly the same as well. By comparison,Berlin is probably more typical of Germancities. Although it has vastly expanded itscycling facilities in recent years and achieveda 10% bike share of trips, Berlin does notcome close to the dominance of cycling inAmsterdam and Copenhagen.BerlinInformation on cycling in Berlin was collecteddirectly from German transportation plannersand cycling experts. The main bicyclingplanner for Berlin, Roland Jannermann,provided extensive information as well ascorrections and improvements to this casestudy of Berlin. Information was alsocollected from the following publishedsources: City of Berlin (2003; 2004; 2005;2007a; 2007b); and German Railways(2007).Berlin is the largest of our 6 case study citiesand is situated in eastern Germany, about 70miles from the Polish border. It has about 3.4million inhabitants and is completelysurrounded by the rural State ofBrandenburg. The larger Berlin Regioncontains about 4.5 million inhabitants,including the City of Berlin and adjacentcounties in the State of Brandenburg (City ofBerlin, 2003).From 1961 to 1989 Berlin was divided intotwo distinct parts, with different politicalsystems of government that left their imprinton Berlin’s transport systems. The westernpart was controlled by the allied forces (theUSA, UK, and France). The eastern part wasthe capital of the German DemocraticRepublic (GDR). Differences in the formertransport systems can still be seen todaybetween East and West Berlin. The easternpart of the city lacks bike paths and lanes.Cycling is also impaired in the east by manybumpy cobblestone streets and roadsbisected by tram tracks (City of Berlin, 2003and 2007a).World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200736

In contrast to the other five case study citiespresented in this paper, Berlin is not a typicalbicycling city. The city is very spread out.Moreover, the winters are long and cold.Finally, after World War II West Berlinaccommodated the automobile bydemolishing its tramway system and buildinglimited access highways in the city centre.East Berlin accommodated the automobile bybuilding large arterial boulevards and had thehighest rates of car ownership and use in allof East Germany. Today road supply in Berlinis so abundant that traffic congestion israrely a problem. Indeed, the average speedof a car trip in the city is higher than theaverage speed of a transit trip.Upon reunification of the city in 1990, thebike mode share was 6% in West Berlin andonly 3% in the Eastern part. Especially since2000, the city has tried to promote bicyclingfor a wide range of trip purposes. Today’sshare of all trips made by bike is 10%, whichcan be considered high given the coldwinters, the automobile oriented transportpolicies implemented in the past, and thepopulation size of the city (City of Berlin,2003 and 2007a).The main driving forces for promotingbicycling in Berlin were environmentalpollution and air quality considerations, butalso the city’s worsening financial crises.Promoting bicycling and expanding cyclinginfrastructure is relatively cheap compared tobuilding roads or rail transport infrastructure.Even though Berlin is spread out, it is flatand has a bike friendly spatial developmentstructure. City life is organized around manyvibrant neighbourhoods (Kieze) with a goodmix of land uses, which keeps trip distancesshort. A recent travel survey found that 45%of all trips in Berlin are shorter than 3kilometres, a distance easily covered by bike.Current efforts are geared toward increasingbiking for everyday utilitarian purposes, suchas shopping (City of Berlin, 2003 and2007a).Travel trendsSimilar to most other Western Europeancities, bike use in Berlin dropped after WWII.From 1951 to 1972 kilometres cycled perinhabitant declined by nearly 90%. Duringthat period, the city was rebuilt from wardamages in a way to accommodate the carthrough highways and wide boulevards.Moreover, disposable income and automobileownership skyrocketed. Since 1972kilometres of bike use have increased, but in2004 cycling levels were still less than half ofthe 1951 level (City of Berlin, 2003 and2007a).Between 1992 and 1998 the share of all tripsmade by bicycle increased from 7% to 10%.Unfortunately, the travel survey of 1998 wasthe last comprehensive city wide survey. Anew survey is planned but has been deemedtoo expensive for the city to afford. Inpersonal interviews transportation plannersreported that bicycle counts at certain roadsand intersections confirm a 10% or evenslightly higher bike share since 1998. Theonly recent data that exist for the whole cityis the German National Travel Survey (MiD)2002. That survey reports a bike share of7% of all trips in Berlin, with a margin oferror of 3%. Berlin’s bike planners point outthat the sample for this survey was verysmall, and that a 10% bike mode share isstill within the margin of error (City of Berlin,2003 and 2007a).World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200737

Most residential neighbourhoods in Berlin aretraffic calmed in this way, providing idealconditions for cycling. Indeed, 72% of allstreets are traffic calmed, with speed limitsof 30km/hr or less. Cyclists and pedestrianshave as much right to use these streets asmotorists.Source: Peter BerkeleyOverall policy goalsThe city of Berlin wants to increase the modeshare of bicycling to 15% of all trips by 2015.The city’s bicycling strategy states thatbicycling should become as convenient andsafe as possible. One of the means to realizethis goal is to make every city street bikefriendly, either by building bike paths andlanes or by traffic calming residential areas(City of Berlin, 2003 and 2007b).Increased funding for bicycling facilities willhelp accomplish this goal. Until 2000, the citygovernment only funded cyclinginfrastructure in connection with new roadconstruction projects. This made it nearlyimpossible to upgrade existing roads toaccommodate the needs of bicycle traffic. In2000, the city established a dedicated annualfunding source for bicycling infrastructure byintroducing a special bicycling budget of €1.5million per year. In 2006 the bikebudget increased to €2.5 millionper year and is expected toincrease even further to €3 millionin 2008. Additionally, the federalgovernment now makes fundsavailable for cycling infrastructure,such as separate bike pathsalongside federal highways. In theyears 2008 and 2009, an additionalprogram for upgrading substandardcycling paths will commence at abudget of €1 million per year.Berlin’s bike planners estimate thatroughly 5-8 million Euros per yearwill be spent on cycling in 2008 and2009.According to the “Cycling Strategy” of 2004the city intends to increase the budget forbicycling to more than €15 million annuallyby 2015. Due to the current financial crisisof the city, these plans are subject to annualavailability of city government funds,however. The funds would be used to closegaps in the existing bike network, tointegrate cycling with public transport,increase bike parking, improve signage forcyclists, improve and expand training forchildren, upgrade surfaces of roads and bikepaths, and to promote bike tourism in Berlinand its hinterlands. With financial assistancefrom the federal government, the cityadministration intends to invest €80 millionin cycling projects between 2004 and 2010.(City of Berlin, 2003 and 2007a).SafetyBetween 1998 and 2004 the number ofcyclists killed in traffic declined by 30%.Severe cyclist injuries dropped by 22% andthe number of minor cyclist injuries fell byabout 8%. Police reports show that cyclistsare only involved in 5% of all traffic accidentsin the city, less than the bike mode share ofWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200738

10% would lead to expect (City of Berlin,2003, 2004, and 2007a).and lanes at intersections, and enhancedsignage and connectivity ofIn Germany, children younger than 8 yearsold have to ride their bike on the sidewalk orcompletely separate bike paths. Children ofthis age are not considered to be alertenough to cycle on the road, not even inseparate bike lanes. In general, cyclists olderthan 8 years of age can choose to ride on theroad or on bike paths and lanes. At certainespecially dangerous intersections andstreets, all cyclists are required to use thebike path or lane. These sections are markedby a blue round traffic sign for cyclists.Cyclists have to conform to these signs andall other traffic signals throughout the city. Infact, Berlin police are planning to enforcecurrent traffic regulations for cyclists anddrivers more strictly (City of Berlin, 2003,2004 and 2007a). Overall, the city wants topromote responsible driving and bike ridingand to improve the co-existence of cyclistsand automobile traffic. The city willsupplement this awareness and enforcementcampaign by building improved facilities forcyclists. These improvements will includemore advanced green lights for cyclists atAs in most German cities, school childrenhave to take part in cycling training and passa test with real police between 3 rd and 4 thgrade. During this training police officers firstsupervise cycling lessons for children onclosed training grounds with miniature roadsand traffic signals. Once the children havemastered the traffic signs on the trainingcourse the police take them for a ride on realcity streets and bike lanes and paths.Unfortunately, this second step is sometimesomitted due to lack of staff. During thecourses, children learn about bicyclists’responsibilities on the road and someessentials about bike safety, such as wearinga helmet or cycling with lights when it isdark.Provision of cycling facilitiesIn 2004, Berlin had 620km separate bikepaths, 60km of on-road bike lanes, 70km ofshared bus lanes, 100km of jointpedestrian/cyclist sidewalks, 50km of bikelanes on sidewalks, and 190km of off-roadbikeways through parks and forests. Inaddition, there were3,800km of traffic calmedneighbourhoods (City ofBerlin, 2003 and 2007a).Special bicycling testcourse for children in BerlinSource: Ralph Buehlertraffic lights, advanced stop lines for cyclistsat intersections, better marking of bike pathsThese mostly residentialareas do not have anyspecial bike facilities.Instead, bikes and carsshare these roads, whichhave a maximum speed of 30km/h or evenless on special “Spielstrassen” (home zones),where speed limits can be as low as 7 km/h.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200739

Overall 72% of all city streets are trafficcalmed. Unfortunately, some of these trafficcalmed areas, especially in the eastern partof the city, have cobble stone road surfacesand still have to be made more bike friendly.Separate facilities for bikes are only deemednecessary at roads with a speed limit of50km/h or more and with automobile trafficvolume of at least 10,000 cars per day.Overall, more than half of all heavilytrafficked roads in Berlin have bike facilities(750km out of 1450km). Together with theoff-road paths and bike friendly trafficcalmed areas the city is easily and safelyaccessible by bicycle. For the future the cityis planning on building and sign posting 12radial bicycling routes that connect the city’sneighbourhoods to its centre. Additionally, 8tangential bike routes are planned to link the12 radial bike routes and to connect theneighbourhoods to each other (City of Berlin,2007b).Restrictions on carsIn contrast to many other German citiesBerlin does not have a car-free downtownarea. Some smaller car-free areas exist incertain neighbourhoods (e.g. downtownSpandau or the Nikolaiviertel), but they areby far less extensive than in other Germancities, such as Muenster.While the city does not have extensive carfreezones, it has implemented restrictedparking areas in many parts of the citythrough so-called parking managementsystems (Parkraumbewirtschaftung). Inthese areas long term parking is provided forresidents only. In contrast, shoppers orvisitors have to pay and can only park for alimited amount of time. Overall, however,Berlin’s effort to limit car use are verymodest compared to our other case studycities.The latest city wide travel survey found thatthe mode share of car use was only 38% in1998. This is well below other German cities.Car ownership rates are also low in Berlin.After an initial increase in car ownershiprates after reunification, the level of carownership has been roughly stable since1994 at only about 330 cars per capita(compared to about 560 for Germany as awhole). Clearly, low levels of car ownershipand less access to cars increase the potentialfor cycling, walking and transit use (City ofBerlin, 2003).Bike Parking and Coordination withpublic transportIn 2004, there were 22,600 bike & rideparking spots at regional and commuter rail(S-Bahn) as well as at subway stations (U-Bahn). The S-Bahn and regional transitproviders plan to increase bike parking attransit stops. From 2004 to 2005 the S-Bahnalready built 2,000 additional bike parkingspots. The regional transit provider BVGplans to increase bike parking by 7,000places by the year 2010 (City of Berlin,2007a and 2007b). Unlike Muenster,Groningen or Amsterdam, however, Berlindoes not have special bike parking garagesat its large train stations. Bike parking, ofcourse exists at train stations, but is mainlylimited to bike racks, some of which aresheltered from the rain. Bicycles are allowed24 hours a day on trams (streetcars) as wellas on regional and commuter trains in Berlin.There is a modest additional charge forseason ticket holders who want to transporttheir bike frequently on public transport (€ 8per month). All other passengers pay € 1.50per trip and per bike within Berlin and up to€ 2.70 in the suburbs per trip and bike.Many train stations are equipped withelevators and ramps, which facilitate taking abike from the street level to the platform andonto the trains (City of Berlin, 2007a).World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200740

Caption: Bike and Ride inBerlin: Cheap and easy rentalbikes provided by GermanRailwaysSource: Ralph BuehlerSince 2002, German Railways(DB) has offered its “Call-A-Bike” program in Berlin. In2006, there were 3,000 rentalbikes at train stations anddistributed all throughout thecity. These bikes are clearlymarked as DB bikes and havea phone number displayed onthem. Everyone who finds aparked bike can call the number, give theircredit card information and obtain a passcodefor the bike lock. Once the bike lock isopened DB charges € 0.08 per minute, up toa maximum of € 15 for 24 hours. Owners ofrailway or S-Bahn season tickets pay only €0.06 per minute. The bikes can then be usedfor as long as necessary and can be left atany intersection in the city. GermanRailways ceases charging as soon as the lockof the bike is closed. In 2005, there were anaverage of 535 bike rentals a day, with anaverage use of 50 minutes per rental. Since2002, the annual number of users of theservice has increased fivefold, from 5,000 toover 23,000 in 2006 (German Railways,2007).Since 2006, Berlin has joined other Europeancities and participates in the EU fundedprogram Sustainable Planning andInnovations for Bicycles (SPI-Cycles) (City ofBerlin, 2007a and 2007b). The goal of theprogram is to improve bicycling for everydayuse. For example it will enhance bikeparking for shopping. Additionally, the citybuilding code for Berlin requires newbuildings and existing buildings undergoingmajor renovations to accommodate bicyclingparking (City of Berlin, 2005).Bicycling promotionOnce a year in May or June, the Berlinbranch of the German bicycling federation(ADFC) holds a major bike rally (Sternfahrt),supported by the city government. Majorroads in the city are closed for this event,and cyclists converge from all parts of thecity towards a large roundabout (GrosserStern) at the centre of the city. The sameevent is repeated on a smaller scale inSeptember. In 2005, more than 100,000cyclists participated - in pouring rain. Cyclistsstarted from 81 origins all over the city andconverged on 17 different routes towards thecentral meeting area (City of Berlin, 2007a).Furthermore, the city government publishesa comprehensive bike map, as well as manyleaflets and brochures containing informationfor cyclists, such as suggested cycle routes,updates on bike infrastructure constructionand new policies to encourage cycling.In 2003, the city administration of Berlinfounded Berlin’s first bicycle council(FahrRat). This group consists of bicycleexperts from different departments of thecity of Berlin, bicycle experts from researchcentres, representatives from the bicycleindustry, bike advocacy groups, and transitWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200741

cyclists can follow the suggested directionswhile en route (City of Berlin, 2007a and2007b).Cycling in Berlin: Some ConclusionsAlthough Berlin does not come close to thebicycle orientation of the five other casestudy cities in this article, it has a bike shareof trips that is higher than any otherEuropean city of comparable size. Moreover,it has roughly doubled cycling levels in thepast two decades by a concerted effort toimprove cycling conditions in the city, boththrough the provisions of a growing networkof bike paths and lanes and by traffic calmingalmost all its residential neighbourhoods.Berlin might not be a bicyclist’s paradise, butit offers some valuable lessons for cities ofcomparable size onhow best to promotecycling in such alarge city.The 5km bicyclingexpressway inMuenster, whichcompletely encirclesthe central city andprovides numerouslinks with bike lanesand paths in alldirections.Source: PeterBerkeleyproviders. This group meets regularly todiscuss relevant bicycling issues in the cityand participated actively in formulatingBerlin’s bicycling strategy. Due to thedifferent backgrounds of the councilmembers many different perspectives oncycling are represented in the discussionprocess.One particularly innovative tool is Berlin’sonline bike planning website. On thisinternet site, cyclists can enter the addressesof origin and destination of their bike trip andthe computer calculates the best route totake. Cyclists can select different options fortheir trips. The program asks about thedesired kind of bicycling facility for the trip.Choices include: the type of right of way: onstreetroutes, separate bike paths and lanesor off-road trails. Furthermore, cyclists canchoose to avoid signalized intersections. Theprogram then maps and describes thesuggested route, complete with location ofnearest transit stops, traffic signals, andsteepness. The program also calculates triptimes based on different cycling speeds. Theinformation can be accessed both bycomputer and with mobile phones so thatMuensterInformation on cycling in Muenster wascollected directly from German transportationplanners and cycling experts. The mainbicycling planners for Muenster, MartinaGuettler and Stephan Boehme, providedextensive information as well as correctionsand improvements to this case study ofMuenster.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200742

Information was also collected from thefollowing published sources: City of Muenster(2004 and 2007); Boehme (2005); andDutch Bicycling Council (2006).Muenster has a long history of cycling, muchlike its neighbouring cities in theNetherlands. For many decades, it has hadthe highest bike share of trips of any Germancity, thus leading to Muenster’s reputation asthe most bicycling friendly city in thecountry.Muenster is the regional capital of Westphaliain north-western Germany. Located only70km from the Dutch border, it has 278,000inhabitants, including about 55,000university students, who provide an idealsource of potential cyclists (City of Muenster,2007). Similar to many Dutch and Danishcities, cycling in Muenster benefits from amostly flat topography. Although the city hasa reputation for being cloudy or rainy mostdays, its moderate temperatures facilitatecycling by avoiding extreme heat and cold.Another factor promoting cycling in Muensteris its compact urban form, with 71% of themetropolitan region’s population living withina 7km radius of the city centre. In spite ofcontinuing suburbanization, the city’s historiccentre remains strong and vibrant,containing most of the shopping, educational,and employment opportunities in the region.Reinforcing local efforts, the state of NorthRhine-Westphalia recently implementedregulations to prohibit large shopping centresand outlet malls outside of established cities.That will strengthen the competitive positionof Muenster’s centre relative to its suburbs(City of Muenster, 2004 and 2007).Planning codes ensure considerable mixedland uses (especially commercial, shopping,and residential), which promote short tripsthat can be covered by bike. Most newresidential developments in the suburbs aresubject to strict planning guidelines thatrequire bicycling and pedestrian facilities aspart of their basic transport infrastructure.Moreover, many residential streets aredeliberately circuitous in order to discouragecar traffic and to make walking and cyclingsafer.Unlike many German cities destroyed in theSecond World War, local government officialsdecided to rebuild Muenster in virtually thesame compact, medieval form it had beforethe war. Thus, there are many winding,narrow streets and no motorways or majorarterials passing through the city centre. As amatter of deliberate traffic policy, throughtrafficis diverted around the centre by twocircumferential bypasses (City of Muenster,2004 and 2007; Dutch Cycling Federation,2006).Travel trendsThe bicycling share of total trips in Muensterincreased from 29.2% in 1982 to 35.2% in2001, the year of the most recentcomprehensive travel survey. By comparison,walking trips fell sharply, from 25% of alllocal trips in 1982 to only 13% in 2001 (Cityof Muenster, 2004 and 2007; Boehm, 2005).Over the same period, public transport’sshare rose from 7% to 11% of all trips,mostly due to improvements in overall routestructure and service quality as well asspecial discount semester tickets for themany university students.Especially on rainy days, many students nowtake a bus instead of cycling. Thus, it is allthe more impressive that cycling’s shareactually increased slightly instead of falling.Overall, the environmental modes(bike+walk+public transport) lost only 2% oftheir market share to the private car, whoseproportion of local trips rose from 39% in1982 to 41% in 2001 (City of Muenster,World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200743

2004 and 2007; Boehme, 2005; DutchBicycling Council, 2006).Overall policy goalsIn spite of its already high bike share of localtravel, the City of Muenster has continuallyendeavoured to improve cycling conditions inas many ways as possible. The overall goalsof the city are to preserve its position asGermany’s premier cycling city, to increasecycling safety, to reduce bike theft, and toimplement state-of-the-art measures toenhance the convenience, feasibility, andoverall attractiveness of cycling for all agegroups. Cycling plays a crucial role in thenationwide image of Muenster, providing yetfurther motivation to reinforce its position asGermany’s No. 1 Cycling City (City ofMuenster, 2007).SafetyCycling in Muenster is safe. In their officialreport on the status of cycling, the Cityemphasizes the low risk of being injuredwhile cycling. In 2001, for example, therewere 606 bike crashes. In the same year, theresidents of Muenster made over 135 millionbike trips, averaging only one cycling injuryfor every 223,000 trips. Unfortunately, thenumber of cycling injuries rose from 606 to843 between 2001 and 2006 (City ofMuenster, 2007). City cycling plannersattribute the additional cyclist crashes to anincrease in motor vehicle traffic. They arenow intensifying their efforts to protectcyclists from motorists by implementing yetmore pro-bike policies and program thanpreviously.Nevertheless, cycling is still viewed by mostof Muenster’s residents as very safe. Perhapsfor this reason, only about 2% of adultMuenster cyclists wear safety helmets, andeven among children, only about half wearhelmets. The bikes of some young childrenare equipped with special warning flags ontall poles attached to the back of the bike toalert motorists to avoid endangering theseyoung cyclists, who are less visible thanolder, bigger cyclists. City officials have beentrying to increase the rate of helmet use andhave achieved some success among youngchildren. With such low crash rates, however,most cyclists feel so safe that they quitesimply do not feel the need for helmets.Traffic police strictly enforce cyclingregulations and regularly give tickets tocyclists riding in the wrong direction, runningred lights and stop signs, and not using lightsat night. Perhaps even more important,police ticket motorists who endangerbicyclists or otherwise disobey traffic lawsintended to promote pedestrian and cyclistsafety. That dual strategy encourages safercycling as well as safer driving behaviour(Boehme, 2005). Most traffic police inMuenster are trained to patrol on bike aswell. That ensures more effective policing ofbicyclist behaviour on Muenster’s extensivepathway system. The widespread presence ofpolice on bikes also tends to furtherlegitimize the rights of cyclists.One of the most serious problems inMuenster is bike theft. Roughly 8,000 bikesare stolen every year (Dutch BicyclingFederation, 2006). To discourage bike theft,police often set up surprise checkpointsaround the city, forcing cyclists to dismountto have the bikes’ registration numberchecked to determine if it is stolen. At thesame time, the police check bikes to be surethey are in safe working condition and havethe required safety features in order(reflectors, lights, etc.). The other approachto reducing bike theft is the provision ofsecure, guarded bike parking, as notedbelow.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200744

Provision of cycling facilitiesMuenster and its surrounding suburbs offeran extremely extensive, well-integrated, andhigh-quality network of bicycling facilities,including bike paths, bike lanes, bicyclingstreets, traffic calmed neighbourhood streets,rural and agricultural paths (Paettkes), andmany lightly travelled roads ideal for cycling.The City of Muenster itself (302 sq.km.)roughly doubled the extent of separatepaths, lanes, and combination bus-bike lanesfrom 145km in 1975 to 320km in 2005. Inaddition, the city has designated over 300kmof lightly travelled roads in its outlying areasas on-street bicycling routes, with motorvehicle use restricted to residents livingalong the roads and thus excluding throughtraffic. Within the more Odensely developedarea of the city, 12 streets are officiallydesignated as bicycling streets(Fahrradstrassen), where the entire width ofthe street is intended for cycling, but wheremotor vehicles are usually permitted providethey travel at cyclist speeds and do notendanger cyclists, who have priority overcars on these streets. The city has plans todesignate 10 more streets as bicyclingstreets, bringing the total number of suchstreets to 22 (City of Muenster, 2007).Of particular note is the famous bike/walkPromenade, a 4.5-km car-free beltway thatencircles the old town of the city and servesas connector and distributor for 16 bikepaths radiating outward toward the suburbsand 26 routes leading to the city centre andCathedral Square. The bike path in thecentre of the Promenade is very wide (about7m) and is flanked by a completely separatepedestrian path on each side, with rows oftrees between the bike and pedestrianportions of the beltway. Over 12,000 biketrips per day are made along this facility(1,300 cyclists per hour during the daytime).Muenster successfully developed a fullyintegrated, comprehensive system ofdirectional signs for cyclists, separate fromthose for motorists. They indicate directionsand distances to various destinations, andare colour-coded to correspond to thedifferent types of bike route networks in thecity and the surrounding Muensterlandregion. The system is now being adopted inthe rest of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous in Germany.There is also an Internet bike trip planner forthe entire state that permits the user to inputthe origin and destination of a trip as well aspreferences about the type of route, cyclingspeed, flat vs. hilly gradients, separationfrom traffic -(http://www.radroutenplaner.nrw.de).The Internet planner then shows thesuggested route on a map, along withvarious details about the projected time andaverage speed of the trip.Typical traffic signal in Muenster, wherecyclists usually get an advance green lightahead of motoristsSource: Peter BerkeleyThe traffic calming of almost all residentialneighbourhoods in Muenster is crucial toWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200745

Ideal intersection modifications in Muenster: Special bike access lane, advance stop line, andpriority green light for cyclists. Cyclists well into intersection before cars can even start to move.Source: City of Muenster, Department of Transport Planningfacilitating cycling on residential streetswithout the need to provide any special bikelanes or paths at all. Thus, the speed limit onmost residential streets is 30 km/hr or less.Many non-arterial residential streets -especially in new residential areas - are yetfurther traffic calmed, with speed limits of 7km/hr. They are designated as“Spielstrassen” (play streets), which areequivalent to the Dutch “Woonerf” and theBritish “Home Zone.” Traffic signs clearlynotify motorists that they must share thestreet with pedestrians, cyclists, and playingchildren, who have traffic priority over carson such streets (Boehme, 2005; City ofMuenster, 2004 and 2007).In addition, there are many car-free zonesthroughout the city - including the mainstreet (Prinzipalmarkt) - which are off-limitsto cars but permit bike use. Some pedestrianstreets only allow cycling at off-peak hourswhen they are not so crowded as to causeserious conflicts between pedestrians andcyclists.Intersection treatments and trafficpriority for cyclistsMost major intersections in Muenster havespecial arrangements for cyclists, includingspecial traffic signals for cyclists, usuallygiving them advance green lights well beforemotorists. Many intersections also haveadvance stop positions for cyclists, in front ofwaiting cars, thus giving them a head start incrossing the intersection, increasing both thespeed and safety of cycling. In addition, suchintersections offer special bike access lanesbringing the cyclists right up to theintersection so that cyclists do not have towait behind cars.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200746

Throughout the city, cyclists are generallypermitted to cycle in both directions on onewaystreets that are restricted to only onedirection of travel for cars. Moreover, cyclistsare often permitted to make left or rightturns where they are prohibited by car.Finally, there are numerous short-cuts forcyclists throughout the city, providing cyclistsdirect, off-street connections between streetsand paths that ensure them quick andconvenient access to every part of the city.By comparison, car travel is often detouredby artificial dead-ends and deliberate streetblockages of various sorts, reducing thespeed and convenience of car travel.Restrictions on carsJust as in Odense and Groningen, much ofthe city centre is off limits to cars. It is notpossible for cars to pass from one end of thecity to the other through the town centre.That forces car traffic to take circumferentialroutes and helps mitigate the congestion,environmental, and safety problems that theadditional through-traffic would cause in thecity centre. As already noted, speeds arerestricted to 30km/hr on virtually allresidential streets, and a wide range of trafficcalming measures restrict both the speed,the direction, and routing of car travel.The reduction of car parking spaces in thecity centre has also discouraged car usethere. New car parks have been built nearthe edge of the city centre, with motoristsencouraged to park their cars there and thento walk, bike, or take a bus to the centre.Parking in many residential areas isrestricted to neighbourhood residents. Onstreetparking is usually restricted in durationand its price rises sharply with proximity tothe city centre. The restricted supply andhigh price of parking obviously discouragecar use and increase the relative convenienceof cycling (Boehme, 2005; Dutch BicyclingCouncil, 2006).Coordination with public transportMuenster greatly facilitates bike and ride byproviding ample bike parking at all trainstations and many bus stops as well. Forexample, there are 3,300 bike parking placesin the modern, attractive, state-of-the-artbike parking station immediately in front ofthe main train station. The Radstation (bikestation) offers short-term, medium-term, andlong-term bike parking as well as bikerepairs, bike rentals, luggage storage, anddirect access to the train platforms.Immediately next to the bike parking stationis the city’s main bus terminal serving dozensof bus lines that serve the entire region. Thecareful co-location of bike parking with themain train station and bus terminal obviouslyfacilitates bike and ride with both transitmodes. Bikes can be taken on almost alltrains in the Muenster region, but withvarious fees charged, depending on tripdistance and type of service. In contrast,bikes are not allowed on most buses, andalmost no buses are equipped with bike racks(Boehme, 2005). The modern bike stationwas built to help alleviate the so-called“parking chaos” caused by more than 6,000bikes parked every day on all sides of themain train station. Since that did notsucceed, the city has now vastly improvedbike parking at the rear of the station aswell, with about 800 new bike racks installed.Incredibly the new parking facilities onlyseem to attract more bikes and more biketrips, since the train station continues to besurrounded on all sides by the same 6,000bikes. At least the provision of more parkinghas given cyclists more options for secure,sheltered parking.Bike ParkingIn addition to the impressive bike parkingfacilities at train stations and bus stops,Muenster has extensive bike parking facilitiesof various sorts in all parts of the city. TheWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200747

many thousands of parked bikes throughoutMuenster have practically become atrademark of the city, reinforcing its identityas Germany’s No. 1 Bicycling City. There isThat also features bike rentals, bike repairs,luggage storage, and bike tour planningadvice. Similar to the situation at the maintrain station, however, this additional bikeparking in the city’smain shoppingdistrict hardly makesdent in the overallbike parking needs ofthe city. Most bikesare simply parked onsidewalks, in plazas,or anywhere there isspace to put a bike.Convenient bike washin bike parking facilityat Muenster’s maintrain stationSource: PeterBerkeleyhardly a building or private house withoutsome sort of bike parking.Churches, theatres, schools,university buildings, stores,pubs, cafes, and restaurants areusually surrounded by parkedbikes crowded onto nearbysidewalks and public spaces.Since there are never enoughbike racks, bikes are oftenchained to posts of any sort,leaned up against a wall, orparked without securing them toanything at all, resting on theirown stands.Surely, the most impressive bike parkingfacilities are at Muenster’s main train station.The city has been trying to improve bikeparking in other areas of the city as well. Themost recent expansion of bike parking was inFebruary 2007, when the city opened asecured, sheltered facility for 286 bikes inthe new City Mall downtown shopping area.Above-ground view of bike parking facility atMuenster’s main train station and busterminal, with 3,500 parking spots as well asbike rental and repair facilities.Source: City of Muenster, Department ofTransport PlanningWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200748

Bicycling promotion in MuensterMuenster has a long tradition of promotingbicycling among all age groups, starting withschool children, who take lessons in bicyclingsafety in the 3 rd or 4 th grades. The coursesinclude practice runs on special cyclingtraining courses as well as on-the-road bikerides supervised by traffic police, whoadminister a cycling test at the end of thesafety course. Thus, children are taught safecycling skills at a very young age, enablingthem to bike to school. Cycling training in theschools is only the first step in Muenster’scycling promotion programs. Others include(Boehme, 2005; Dutch Bicycling Council,2006):• Annual bicycling festivals thatpromote the environmental advantages ofbicycling, display the latest bike models andaccessories, and disseminate various otherrelevant information for bike enthusiasts• Annual awards to firms that do themost to increase bicycling among theiremployees by providing showers, lockers,bike parking, bikes to borrow, and a flexibledress code• Reflecting its key role, the bicyclewas chosen as the official symbol of the cityduring the celebrations marking 1200 yearanniversary of the founding of Muenster in793• Extensive bike tour planning offeredby city tourism office, including wide range ofbike tours with different lengths, durations,themes, and locations• Superb series of bike maps for everypart of the city and the surrounding region,called the Muensterland• Well signed and maintained bikeroutes both in the city and the surroundingcountryside, with superb connectionsbetween different routes, colour-coded,systematic numbering of paths for improvedguidance• Arrangements for cheap, bikefriendlyaccommodations for cycling touristson their bike tours through the region• Internet website for bicyclinginformation in Muenster• Wide range of informationalbrochures available from City of Muenster onevery aspect of cycling, both in hard copyand downloadable from internet site• Range of bicycling competitions fordifferent ages of childrenWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200749

Interior view of bike parking facility at main train station in Muenster, with bike ramp from streetlevel to parking level and direct access to train platformsSource: Peter BerkeleySummary: Cycling in MuensterBicycling is an intrinsic part of life inMuenster. It is not just a normal, acceptedway to get around. For most residents,cycling is the primary means of travel withinthe city. Bicycling is the dominant transportmode for women as well as men and amongall age groups, professions, and incomeclasses. Truly, more than any other Germancity, bicycling is key to the very identity ofMuenster.The high bike mode share in Muenster is animpressive accomplishment given the highincomes and car ownership levels inGermany, as well as a host of worldwidetechnological, economic, and social trendsencouraging lower density suburban sprawland increasing trip distances. It seems likelythat Muenster itself will remain the vibrant,liveable, attractive centre of its region formany years to come.Although some degree of decentralisation ofboth residences and workplaces is inevitable,new suburban developments tend to be quitecompact and biteable. Thanks to a widerange of pro-bike transport and land usepolicies, Muenster will surely remain thebicycling capital of Germany.Conclusions and Policy ImplicationsWith the exception of Berlin, the citiesexamined in the preceding case studies aretruly models of what bicycling friendly citiesshould be. Cycling in Amsterdam, Groningen,Copenhagen, Odense, and Muenster is sosafe and convenient that virtually everyonecycles: women as well as men, all agegroups, and all income classes. Moreover,they cycle for daily travel and for a widerange of trip purposes.For decades our five model cities haveboasted bike shares of travel that have beenWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________ 50Volume 13. Number 3. December 2007

among the very highest in the WesternWorld. But they have not rested on theirlaurels. Although they already provideexcellent overall conditions for cycling,Europe’s best bicycling cities striveconstantly to make things even better forcyclists and thus to raise yet further theiralready very impressive cycling levels.Berlin is an anomaly. It is much larger thanAmsterdam and Copenhagen, more spreadout, and has both colder winters and hottersummers. Thus, it is perhaps all the moreimpressive that Berlin has been making sucha concerted effort to encourage more cycling.City politicians, administrators and plannersview cycling as the only mode they canafford to invest in, since the city is bankruptand cannot afford large expenditures on newrail systems or highways. Berlin evenmarkets itself as the “sexy bankrupt city.” Atleast one advantage of its financial distress isthe stark realisation that cycling is the mosteconomical mode of transport, in addition tobeing environmentally and sociallysustainable.Table 1: Traditional measures used in virtually all Dutch, Danish, and German cities to promotecyclingExtensive systems of separate cycling facilities• Well maintained, fully integrated paths and lanes• Connected off-street short-cuts, such as mid-block connections, and passages through dead ends for carsIntersection modifications and priority traffic signals• Advance green lights for cyclists• Advanced cyclist waiting positions (ahead of cars) fed by special bike lanes facilitate safer and quickercrossings and turnsTraffic calming• Traffic calming of residential neighborhoods via speed limit (30km/h) and physical infrastructure deterrentsfor cars• "Home Zones" with 5 km/h speed limit, where cars must yield to pedestrians and cyclists using the roadBike parking• Large supply of good bike parking throughout the cityCoordination with public transport• Extensive bike parking at metro, suburban, and regional train stations• Bike rentals at train stationsTraffic education and training• Comprehensive cycling training courses for school children• Special cycling training test tracks for children• Stringent training of motorists to respect pedestrians and cyclistsTraffic laws• Special legal protection for children and elderly cyclists• Strict enforcement of cyclist rights by police and courtsSource: Information provided directly to authors by bicycling coordinators in the Netherlands,Denmark, and Germany.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200751

To some extent, the cycling successes of thesix cities rely on more and betterimplementation of the same sorts oftraditional policies that many other Europeancities use. We briefly summarize thosetraditional pro-bike measures in Table 1.Clearly, there is nothing revolutionary inthese sorts of measures, but most of thecase study cities have done an especiallygood job implementing them. In addition, thecase study cities examined here have beenparticularly innovative, introducing newapproaches to encouraging cycling andmaking it safer. Table 2 summarises somekey examples of such measures, all of whichare described in detail in the six case studies.Table 2: Innovative measures recently implemented in Dutch, Danish, and German cities topromote safe and convenient cyclingCountryCity(populationin 000's)% BikeModeSharekm ofseparatedbike pathsand lanesInnovations• German railways' "Call-a-Bike" program: 3,000 bikes can be rented by cell phone, paid for bythe minute and left at any busy intersection in the city• Flexible internet bike trip planning tool allows finding the most comfortable or quickest route bybike• 70 km of shared bike-bus lanes and 100km of shared bike-pedestrian facilitiesBerlin(3,400)10% 900 km• 3,800km of traffic calmed streets (72% of all roads in the city)• 22,600 bike parking spots at metro and suburban rail stations• Land use planning enforces good mix of uses and keeps trips short and bikeable: 45% of all tripsare shorter than 3km• Bike path connecting Copenhagen to Berlin encourages bike tourism in both citiesGermany• The "FahrRat" bike council provides a platform for opinion exchange among stakeholders frombusinesses, the bike industry, the city administration, research institutes, universities, bikeexperts, and citizen advocacy groups• City policies favor cycling as most cost effective transport in a bankrupt city• Deluxe full-service parking garages for 3,300 bikes at the main train station and for 300 bikes inthe main shopping districtMuenster(278)35% 320 km• 4.5 km circumferential car-free "bike beltway" around old city• Extensive bicycling network connecting the city to the suburbs via 26 radial bike routes linked bycircumferential bikeway• Bicyclist priority signals at most intersections• Hundreds of short cuts for cyclists at intersections, mid-block connections, and dead ends forcars• Eleven bicycle streets, where bikes have priority over cars• Statewide integrated, flexible internet bicycling planning tool allows finding the most comfortableroute by bike in Muenster and all of the surrounding areas• Fully integrated, separate, and color coded set of signs for bikesWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200752

• Annual bicycle account survey that tracks cyclists' satisfaction with bike infrastructureCopenhagen(500)20% 375 km• Bike path connecting Copenhagen to Berlin encourages bike tourism in both cities• Separated bike paths turn into brightly colored bike lanes at intersections• 20,500 on-road bike parking spaces in the city• Free city bikes for cycling within the city• Traffic signals are synchronized at cyclist speeds assuring consecutive green lights for cyclists• Bollards with flashing lights along bike routes signal cyclists the right speed to reach the nextintersection at a green lightDenmark• City provided modern magnetic-electric bike lights to 4,000 cyclists for free• A special vehicle with laser x-ray technology regularly inspects all bike paths and lanes forpotential surface repair needsOdense(185)25% 500 km• Cyclist short cuts to make right-hand turns at normal intersections and exemption from red trafficsignals at T-intersections, thus increasing cyclist speed and safety• Deluxe bike parking garages at the main train station, with video surveillance, special lighting,and music• Firms provide free bikes for employees to make trips during work hours• Many intersections are equipped with advanced bicycling waiting positions (ahead of cars) aswell as priority traffic signals• Free-lance trouble shooting cyclists survey bike infrastructure and are paid for each reportednecessary repair• Special program to prevent bike theft, by engraving owner postal code into the frame of the biketo discourage theftAmsterdam(735)35% 400 km• Large guarded bike parking garages at all train stationsThe NetherlandsGroningen(181)40% 420 km• "Park and Bike" : discount bike rentals for motorists parking cars• Special cycling courses for immigrant women and children• Strict land use policy keeps settlement dense (78% of residents and 90% of jobs within 3kmradius)• Europe's first guarded parking facility opened here in 1982; expanded to 30 guarded facilities by2007• Extensive bike parking at all transit stops• Bike network built to avoid traffic lights and speed up bike travel• Short cuts for bikes at intersections, mid-block connections, and through dead ends for carsSource: Information provided directly to authors by bicycling coordinators in the Netherlands,Denmark, and Germany.In our sample of six Dutch, Danish, andGerman cities, the most important approachto making cycling safe, convenient, andattractive has been the provision of separatecycling facilities along heavily travelled roadsand at intersections, combined withextensive traffic calming of residentialneighbourhoods. Safe and relatively stressfreecycling routes are especially importantfor children, the elderly, women, and foranyone with special needs due to any sort ofdisability. Providing such separate facilities toconnect practical, utilitarian origins anddestinations also promotes cycling for work,school, and shopping trips.As noted in this article, separate facilities areonly part of the solution. Dutch, Danish, andGerman cities reinforce the safety,convenience, and attractiveness of excellentcycling rights of way with extensive bikeparking, integration with public transport,comprehensive traffic education and trainingof both cyclists and motorists, and a widerange of promotional events intended toWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200753

generate enthusiasm and wide public supportfor cycling.At the same time, car use is madeexpensive, less convenient, and lessnecessary through a host of taxes andrestrictions on car ownership, use, andparking. And land use policies fosterrelatively compact, mixed-use developmentsthat generate more bikeable, shorter trips.The key to the success of cycling policies inthe Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany isthe coordinated implementation of this multifaceted,self-reinforcing set of policies.Precisely because the policies are sensitive tothe very different needs of different socialgroups, they also succeed in making cyclingpossible for virtually everyone. TheNetherlands, Denmark, and Germany, ascountries, have led the world with their widerange of cycling policies and programs.Similarly, Amsterdam, Groningen,Copenhagen, Odense, and Muenster havebeen at the leading edge of cycling in theirrespective countries, and surely at thefrontiers of cycling in the world.AcknowledgementsThe authors are deeply indebted to a host ofcolleagues around the world for theirassistance and advice in writing this paper.They include national and local cyclingcoordinators, city planners, transportresearchers, national statistical experts,department of transport officials, and publichealth experts, listed here alphabetically:Peter Berkeley, Stefan Boehme, FrankBorgman, Linda Christensen, Lewis Dijkstra,Bernhard Ensink, Bent Flyvbjerg, Per Garder,Martina Guettler, Peter Herwig, Ria Hilshorst,Roland Jannermann, Niels Jensen, Cor vander Klaauw, Jutta Kloas, Thomas Krag,Wolfgang Richter, Piet Rietveld, BirgitSchmidt, Horst Wohlfarth von Alm, and BertZinn.ReferencesAndersen, T. (2005). Odense: The NationalCycle City of Denmark. Powerpointpresentation made in October, 6, 2005, atthe annual conference of the BicyclingFederation of Australia, Brisbane, Australia.Boehme, S. (2005). Fahrradfahren inMuenster. Powerpoint presentation provideddirectly by City of Muenster’s Department ofTransport Planning. Muenster, Germany: Cityof Muenster, 2005, pp. 86.Cervero, R. (2001). Transit Metropolis.Washington, DC: Island Press.City of Amsterdam (2003a). The AmsterdamBicycle Policy. Amsterdam, the Netherlands:Dienst Infrastructuur Verkeer en Vervoer.Gemeente Amsterdam.City of Amsterdam (2003b). Bicycling Factsand Figures. Amsterdam, The Netherlands:Gemeente Amsterdam.City of Amsterdam (2007). Choosing for thecyclist; Bicycle program 2007 – 2010.Amsterdam, The Netherlands: GemeenteAmsterdam, Dienst Infrastructuur, Verkeeren Vervoer.City of Berlin (2003). Cycling in Berlin.Berlin, Germany: Senatsverwaltung fuerStadtentwicklung. Presentation given atBarcelona Conference.City of Berlin Berlin (2004). Verkehrsunfällemit Radfahrern. Berlin, Germany:Polizeipraesidium Berlin.City of Berlin (2005). Bauordnung fuerBerlin. Berlin, Germany: Senatsverwaltungfuer Stadtentwicklung. Accessible online at:http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/service/gesetzestexte/de/bauen.shtmlWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200754

City of Berlin (2007a). Fahrradverkehr.Berlin, Germany: Senatsverwaltung fuerStadtentwicklung. Accessible online at:http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/verkehr/radverkehr/index.shtmlCity of Berlin (2007b). Bike and Ride. Berlin,Germany: Senatsverwaltung fuerStadtentwicklung. Accessible online at:www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/verkehr/radverkehr/bahn_bus/de/allgemeines.shtmlCity of Copenhagen (2002). Cycle Policy. Cityof Copenhagen: Copenhagen, Denmark.City of Copenhagen (2004). Bicycle Account.City of Copenhagen: Copenhagen, Denmark.http://www.sfbike.org/download/copenhagen/bicycle_account_2004.pdfCity of Copenhagen (2006). Bicycle Account.City of Copenhagen: Copenhagen, Denmark.http://www.vejpark2.kk.dk/publikationer/pdf/464_Cykelregnskab_UK.%202006.pdfCity of Copenhagen (2007a). The City ofCopenhagen. Accessible online at:http://www3.kk.dk/Globalmenu/City%20of%20Copenhagen.aspx, accessed March 2007City of Copenhagen (2007b). Cycle Policy -Revision of Goals. City of Copenhagen:Copenhagen, Denmark.City of Groningen (2007). Key Figures.Accessibleat:http://www.groningen.nl/assets/pdf/kerncijfers_2006_engels.pdfCity of Muenster (2004). FahrradhauptstadtMuenster. Muenster, Germany: Departmentof City Planning, City of Muenster, pp. 61.City of Muenster (2007). Verkehrsplanung inMuenster. Webpage of the City of Muenster’sDepartment of Transport Planning.Accessibleat:http://www.muenster.de/stadt/stadtplanung/index_verkehr.htmlCity of OOdense (2007). National Cycle City(Cycleby) Website. Accessible in English at:http://www.cykelby.dk/eng/index.aspCor van der Klaauw (2006). Groningerbinnenstad een grote fietsenstalling?Powerpoint presentation made for thenational Dutch cycling workshop“Fietsparkeren en binnenstad (Bike Parkingin the City Centre)”, Utrecht, Netherlands.Danish Ministry of Transport (2000).Promoting Safer Cycling: A Strategy.Copenhagen: Danish Ministry of Transport.Danish Ministry of Transport (2007). DanishNational Travel Surveys. Copenhagen, DK:Danish Institute of Transport Research.Department for Transport (DfT) (2005).Cycling Fact Sheet. London: Department forTransport. Accessible online at:http://www.dft.gov.uk/. Accessed on 03. July2007.Dutch Bicycling Council (2006).Continuousand integral: The cycling policies ofGroningen and other European cycling cities.Fietsberaad Publication 7. Amsterdam, NL:Fietsberaad, April, 2006, pp. 65-70.Available in pdf format from Fietsberaadwebsite: http://www.fietsberaad.nl/European Conference of the Ministers ofTransport (2004). National Policies toPromote Cycling. Paris, France: Organisationfor Economic Cooperation and Development.European Union (2003). EU Energy andTransport in Figures, 2001. Brussels,Belgium: European Commission.World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200755

Fonden Bycycklen (2007). City Bike.Accessible online at:http://www.bycyklen.dk/english.aspx.Accessed 03. January 2007.Garrard, J, Rose, G, and Lo, S. (2007).Promoting transportation cycling for women:The role of bicycle infrastructure. PreventiveMedicine, in press, 2007.France: Organisation for EconomicCooperation and Development.Osberg, J. S. and Stiles, S.C. (1998). BicycleUse and Safety. In: Paris, Boston, andAmsterdam. In: Transportation Quarterly52(4):61-76. Accessible online at:http://www.aaafoundation.org/pdf/bikeuse_PBA.pdfGerman Federal Ministry of Transport (2002).FahrRad! Ride Your Bike! National BicyclePlan. Berlin, Germany: German FederalMinistry of Transport.German Federal Ministry of Transport (2003).German Federal Travel Survey 2002 (MiD).Berlin, Germany: German Federal Ministry ofTransport.German Federal Ministry of Transport (2007).German Transportation in Figures. Berlin,Germany: German Federal Ministry ofTransport.Statistics Netherlands (2005). TransportationStatistics. Amsterdam, NL: StatisticsNetherlands.U.S. Department of Transportation (2003).National Household Travel Survey, 2001.Washington, DC: Federal HighwayAdministration.U.S. Department of Transportation (2007).Traffic Safety Fact Sheets. Washington, DC:National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration. Available at: http://wwwnrd.nhtsa.dot.govAccessed March 15, 2007.German Railways (2007). Call a Bike. Berlin,Germany: Deutsche Bahn. Accessible onlineat:http://www.db.de/site/bahn/de/reisen/mobilitaetskette/callabike/callabike.htmlJacobsen, P. (2003). Safety in numbers:more walkers and bicyclists, safer walkingand bicycling. Injury Prevention 9: 205-209.Langenberg, P. (2000). Cycling inAmsterdam. Developments in the City.Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Velo Mondial2000.Netherlands Ministry of Transport (2006).Cycling in the Netherlands. Rotterdam:Ministry of Transport, Public Works, andWater Management.Organisation for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment (2005). OECD Statistics. Paris,Walker, I. (2007). Drivers overtakingbicyclists: Objective data on the effects ofriding position, helmet use, vehicle type, andapparent gender. Accident Analysis andPrevention 39: 417-425.Author contact details:John Pucher and Ralph BuehlerBloustein School of Planning and Public PolicyRutgers University33 Livingston Avenue, Room 363New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901 USATel: 001-732-932-3822, ext. 722Fax: 001-732-932-2253Email:pucher@rci.rutgers.edu;ralphbu@eden.rutgers.eduhttp://www.policy.rutgers.edu/faculty/pucher.htmlWorld Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200756

World Transport Policy & PracticeVolume 13, Number 3Eco-Logica Ltd. ISSN 1352-7614World Transport Policy & Practice__________________________________________________Volume 13. Number 3. December 200757