John Pucher, Jennifer Dill, and Susan Handy, "Infrastructure, Programs and Policies to Increase Bicycling: An International Review," Preventive Medicine, Vol. 50, No. S1, January 2010, pp S106-S125. Commissioned by the Active Living Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Alliance for Biking & Walking's Benchmarking Report is an essential resource and tool for government officials, advocates, and those working to promote bicycling and walking. The Benchmarking Project is an on-going effort to collect and analyze data on bicycling and walking in all 50 states and the 51 largest U.S. cities.

This second biennial report reveals data including: bicycling and walking levels and demographics; bicycle and pedestrian safety; bicycle and pedestrian policies and provisions; funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects; bicycle and pedestrian staffing levels; written policies on bicycling and walking; bicycle infrastructure including bike lanes, paths, signed bike routes, and bicycle parking; bike-transit integration including presence of bike racks on buses, bike parking at transit stops; bicycling and walking education and encouragement activities; and public health indicators including levels of obesity, physical activity, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

The report is full of data tables and graphs so you can see how your state or cities stacks up. Inside you will find unprecedented statistics to help support your case for increasing safe bicycling and walking in your community. (January 2010, 192 pages)

You are cycling abroad and need some help with repairing your bike? You don't know what "flat tyre" means in Polish or Italian or in any other of the official 23 EU languages? No problem. The new European Cycling Lexicon, published by the European Economic and Social Committee, has translated all main bicycle-related vocabulary into all the languages.

 

A new comprehensive Bicycle Parking Manual from the Danish Cyclists Federation is now available in English.

- Link to manual for screen purpose (10 Mb):

http://www.celis.dk/Bicycle_Parking_Manual_Screenversion.pdf

- Link to manual for print purpose (135 Mb):

http://www.celis.dk/Bicycle_Parking_Manual_Printversion.pdf

Bicicleta Club de Catalunya – BACC has carried out a study on bike use and cycling promotion in universities in Spain and Britain in May 2007. The study is written in Spanish and includes an executive summary in English. The questionnaires completed by the participants in the study are included in the document’s annex.

How do we achieve behavioural change? This is the central question of this paper.

This article contains detailed case studies of cycling in six cities:  Amsterdam, Groningen, Berlin, Muenster, Copenhagen, and Odense.

This paper shows how the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany have made bicycling a safe, convenient, and practical way to get around their cities.

The European Cyclists’ Federation is the umbrella federation of the national cyclists’ associations in Europe, reinforced by similar organisations from other parts of the world. Altogether we have 51 member groups, representing over half a million individual European citizens.

 

ECF members gathered in Berne recognise that global climate change is now among the greatest threats to human civilisation: we have joined to issue the following statement..

The ECF Declaration of Berne in French language
To download (Pdf, 59 Kb)

The ECF Declaration of Berne in German language
To download (Pdf, 72 Kb)

The ECF Declaration of Berne in Hungarian language
To download (Pdf, 48 Kb)

The ECF  Declaration of Berne in Italian language
To donload (Pdf, 83 Kb)

The ECF Declaration of Berne in Russian Language
To download (Pdf, 89 Kb)

The ECF  Declaration of Berne in Spanish language
To download (Pdf, 134 Kb)

Non motorized transportation is the most popular in the Netherlands, where 46% of citizens name walking or cycling as their primary mode of daily mobility. In Romania 34% and in Hungary 33% of respondents also mentioned non-motorized transport. Walking and cycling are the least popular in Malta, Cyprus and Luxemburg (8%, 7% and 6%). Citizens in the New Member States are generally more likely than those in the EU15 to use non motorized transport.

'..There are good reasons for encouraging bicycle use. High bicycle usage contributes to the accessibility of cities and towns, to many citizens’ scope for sustainable development and - not least - to public health. Cities and regions in the Netherlands are often regarded as examples of best practices on cycling and supporting policies. We owe our thanks to facilitating governments, the work of active NGO’s and many companies that earn their living with cycling related business. In this way, there is a whole chain of cycling infrastructure that makes cycling an attractive  option for our daily mobility..'
Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management
Directorate-General for Passenger Transport

2006 has been a groundbreaking year for Sustrans. For the first time we were able to demonstrate what we always felt to be true – that our work has huge economic benefits to the UK in both health and carbon terms. We were able to show this by taking guidance developed for the Department of Transport by Sustrans’ Research and Monitoring team, and applying it to some of our key projects. For the first time we now have a level playing field that allows the return on investment of a walking and cycling scheme to be directly compared to other transport initiatives such as road-building.

Contacted by the Spanish ECF Member ConBici
www.conbici.org

This Fietsberaad-publication contains a number of accounts concerning the traffic policy of several cities characterised by a relatively high degree of bicycle use, extending over a prolonged period. Each account gives a specific picture of the ‘course of development’ of bicycle use in a municipality and the relation between bicycle use and local policy. They concern five cities in the Netherlands known as ‘cycling cities’: Groningen, Amsterdam, Enschede, Zwolle and Veenendaal. This is added by a selection of five cities from other neighbouring countries  that also know a respectable level of bicycle use: Münster and Freiburg in Germany, Copenhagen and Odense in Denmark and Ghent in Belgium.

Mid-term review of the White Paper on the European transport policy, Public Consultation.
Submitted to the Commission on 20th December 2005.
With Introduction by ECF President Manfred Neun.

ECF and ETRA, The European Twowheel Retailers' Association, organized a succesful meeting with Members of the EU Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday 30th November. Please also look at section Activities.

ETRA and ECF meet cycling-friendly MEPs

On Wednesday 30th November, the European Twowheel Retailers' Association (ETRA) and the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF) jointly organized a very fruitful and encouraging meeting with Members of the European Parliament in Brussels.

The meeting was attended by 5 MEPs and 1 MEP assistant. Mr Bart Staes is a Belgian MEP and by his own account a bike addict. He made it possible for the meeting to take place in the European Parliament. Mr Staes has always grant any request from cycling organisations for support in making European legislation more cycling-friendly. Mrs Ewa Hedvkist Petersen is a Swedish MEP with a particular interest in road safety. She was rapporteur for the proposal on the use of frontal protection systems on motor vehicles. Mr Michael Cramer is a cycling-friendly German MEP and coordinator for transport issues in the Group of Geens. In the debate on the Third Railway Package he has been pushing for the amendment concerning the transport of bicycles on trains. His fellow countryman Markus Ferber is also very interested in cycling issues. Finnish MEP Mrs Satu Hassi is Vice-Chairwoman of the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety. At the meeting she was very concerned with the issue of bikes in boxes. Finally, Mrs Lucas, who was represented by her assistant, is a UK MEP who, in the past, has shown her sympathy for cyclists and cycling on many occasions. She made sure that cycling was mentioned in the EP's report on the Commission's White Paper on the European Transport Policy. In addition to the MEPs who attended the meeting, 14 other MEPs excused themselves on account of other engagements, but explicitly asked to be informed on the outcome of the meeting.

After a general introduction, ECF and ETRA discussed with the MEPs the mutual benefits of a closer association. All participants agreed that cycling can contribute to achieving European policy objectives in many different areas such as transport, environment, public health, sustainable tourism, etc. ECF and ETRA also made short presentations on 4 "current EU bicycle affairs": cyclists' safety, bikes and trains, bikes in boxes and reduced VAT rates. The subsequent discussion led to concrete agreements on the continuation of the contact between ECF, ETRA and the MEPs. Mrs Ewa Hedkvist Petersen stated that she was very pleased about the fact that cycling organisations had taken the initiative to knock on European Parliament's door. "Do feed us with any cycling related information, proposals, suggestions, you deem interesting" Mrs Hedvkist Petersen said. She explicitly asked for ECF and ETRA's assistance in amending the proposal for the new Directive on safer car fronts which will probably be submitted to the EP next Spring. Mr Staes had several concrete proposals for strengthening the ties between ECF and ETRA and the European authorities. He will be the pacesetter for the establishment of regular consultation between the two organisations and cycling-friendly MEPs.

Annick Roetynck, ETRA
www.etra-eu.com

 Opening Speach (Pdf, 102 Kb)
 Retro-fit blind spot mirror (Pdf, 122 Kb)
 Safe car fronts (Pdf, 104 Kb)

Contract signing speach by Manfred Neun, ECF President
Thursday, June 16th, 2005, 11 a.m. in Munich City Hall with Mayor Hep Monatzeder

(In Italian) www.fiab-onlus.it

Pressemeddelelse BYPAD, Thomas Krag

Message Of The UITP EU Committee, November 2005

It is very likely that the potential for stepping up cycling in your town is much greater than the predictions which you could make based on the current situation. While daily cycling may not yet have become one of the habits of your fellow citizens, it is nevertheless a mode of transport which promises to play a significant role in mobility management.

Studie zur technischen Sicherheit von Velos, IG Velo, Schweiz

Dear friends of the cyclists

Millions of citizens in Europe happily promote their daily health, promote jobs in regions of cycle tourism, promote the bicycle industry and business, promote and preserve the environment and resources and offer solutions to improve the quality of life in towns, by the simple fact that they ride a bike. Therefore the European citizens have rights!
In ECF the 450,000 members of national cyclist organisations and bicycle initiatives have united to enforce this at the European level. Our success is in the interest of all people in Europe.

Horst Hahn-Klöckner

President European Cyclists´Federation

Download (Pdf, 419 Kb)

ECF (European Cyclists' Federation) comments to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, The European Parliament, The European Economic and Social Committee and The Committee of the Regions

ECF-Memorandum to the EU informal council of ministers for transport and the environment Louvain-La-Neuve, 15 September

The bike must be accepted as a realistic mode of transport. Intermodality. Traffic safety. The establishment of a Europe-wide cycle network. Integration of policies.