In its coalition agreement, Germany’s current federal government of SPD, Greens and FDP commits to the National Cycling Plan. The goal of the plan is to make Germany a “cycling country” by the year 2030. How far it still is to get there is shown by the Bike-Friendly Cities Rating 2022 of the Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club e. V. (ADFC), which was presented yesterday. In the test, the Germans give the country’s current bicycle traffic a straight four.
Record participation meets record low
On stage at the Quadriga Forum in Berlin, ADFC national director Ann-Kathrin Schneider tried to spread optimism alongside Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) and Berthold Bültgerds, the mayor of Wettringen, which was one of the winning towns. After all, more citizens than ever before took part in the survey for the Bike-Friendly Cities Rating 2022 with around 245,000 people. They rated 1,114 municipalities nationwide, which was also a record.
However, Schneider could not and did not want to explain away the partly very sobering conclusion. “The cycling climate in this country continues to be unsatisfactory in the view of the ADFC. People are more unhappy when cycling. They simply have less fun doing it,” she said. Several of the survey’s data support this statement. With an average value of 3.96, the index has worsened again compared to the previous Bike-Friendly Cities Rating for 2020. According to Schneider, about 80 percent of the respondents feel that bike lanes are too narrow. Around 72 percent of them express dissatisfaction with the inspections that are supposed to prevent parking on bike lanes. These are two reasons why 70 percent of those surveyed say they do not feel safe when cycling.
ADFC federal executive director Ann-Kathrin Schneider
Light, shadow and the desire for acceptance
In the points that people rated worst in the Bike-Friendly Cities Rating for 2022, two of the points mentioned by Schneider at the press conference appear:
- width of lanes for cyclists: Grade 4.7
- checking for illegal parking on bike lanes: Grade 4.7
- routing at construction sites: Grade 4.7
On the other hand, there are points that are considered most positive by the respondents. Nevertheless, this list also lacks a rating of “good” or even “very good”.
- accessibility of the city centre: Grade 2.7
- one-way streets open in the opposite direction: Grade 2.7
- rapid cycling: Grade 3.1
According to the ADFC, the most urgent wish of the respondents is for equal treatment. Cyclists should be accepted as equal and on an equal footing by all others participating in road traffic. The wish list also includes the following points:
- wider bike lanes
- town and city centres that are easily accessible by bicycle
- increased opening of one-way streets for bicycle traffic
- opportunities for rapid cycling
- sufficient options for safe bicycle parking
- easy access to rental bikes
Since 2014, the index of the ADFC bike-friendly cities rating has been continuously deteriorating.
Lack of finances only one reason for the bad mood
The fulfilment of such wishes directly concerns the federal government and its programmes to promote cycling infrastructure. For Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing, Bike-Friendly Cities Rating therefore contains important feedback on whether the promotion of cycling is appropriate. “With the recently launched Deutschlandticket, we as the federal government want to promote multimodal transport. Of course, this only works if the bicycle can be conveniently taken along or safely parked at the station, for example in a bicycle parking garage,” said Wissing. For something like this to come into being, more money is a popular demand, but by no means a panacea. The necessary planning capacity and expertise on the ground are at least as important, he said. “I recently inaugurated a bike lane. It took five years to plan and only seven months to build. That can’t be.” In this context, Wissing referred to a new in-service course starting in July 2023, which his Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport was offering. In the course entitled “Planning and implementing inviting cycling networks”, employees of municipalities can receive further training and learn, for example, how to best use funding programmes for cycling.
Glimmers of hope in the metropolises
In cities with more than 500,000 people, such funded measures seem to be taking shape more and more. At least that is the impression of the respondents to the survey. They sense an intensification of bicycle promotion in recent times and reward this with a slightly improved rating. The metropolises are the only class of cities in which the index of the Bike-Friendly Cities Rating has risen slightly. In Hamburg, the people living there rate the rental bike system with a 2.0. The fact that more one-way streets are being opened for bicycle traffic in the opposite direction meets with much approval in Cologne with a grade of 2.3. A few hundred kilometres further east in Frankfurt, people consider the signposting for bicycle traffic, bicycle transport on local public transport and the general promotion of cycling to be quite good and give them grades from 2.4 to 2.6.
Overview of the five best and worst rated major cities in the ADFC bike-friendly cities rating 2022
Gaps in the route network and great lack of safety in rural areas
The problem child in the 2022 Bike-Friendly Cities Rating turns out to be rural areas. The ADFC focused on those in particular and included five additional questions in the questionnaires. For example, the question asked how easy and safe it is to reach neighbouring towns. Due to the greater distances between the towns, the distances for different occasions are often longer than in an urban setting. According to the ADFC, around 42 percent of respondents who live in towns with fewer than 20,000 people own a pedelec. Technically, they have adapted to the conditions and are well prepared for the extra kilometres. Nevertheless, with an average score of 3.8, the index points to dissatisfaction with bicycle traffic. Only 44 percent of the participants stated that neighbouring towns were directly and comfortably accessible. Just 36 percent of respondents felt safe from accidents riding between towns.
Continuity is the secret of success
Of course, not everything can be generalised here either. Especially not since Wettringen, a town located in a rural area, received the best rating in the entire 2022 Bike-Friendly Cities Rating. The small town in Münsterland near the Dutch border counts just under 8,300 people. From the point of view of Mayor Berthold Bültgerds, there are three factors in particular that led to the grade of 2.0: safe bike lanes to school, a town centre that is easily accessible by bike from all directions, and good connections to all neighbouring communities. At some points in the cycle path network, bicycles enjoy priority over cars. “The current result goes back to many years of continuous work,” says Mayor Bültgerds. “Since 2019, we have invested around four million euros. That equates to a good 120 euros per capita every year. And in the meantime, people here perceive the bicycle as a real alternative to the car.”
Development of the number of respondents to the ADFC bike-friendly cities rating from 2014 to 2022
Winner among cities and municipalities with a maximum of 20,000 people
1st place: Wettringen – grade 2.0
2nd place: Reken – grade 2.4
3rd place: Rutesheim – grade 2.5
Winner among cities with 20,000 to 50,000 people
1st place: Baunatal – grade 2.5
2nd place: Meckenheim – grade 2.6
3rd place: Coesfeld – grade 3.1
Winner among the cities with 50,000 to 100,000 people
1st place: Nordhorn – grade 2.8
2nd place: Bocholt – grade 3.1
3rd place: Tübingen – grade 3.1
Winner among cities with 100,000 to 200,000 people
1st place: Erlangen – grade 3.2
2nd place: Göttingen – grade 3.5
3rd place: Darmstadt – grade 3.6
Winner among cities with 200,000 to 500,000 people
1st place: Münster – grade 3.0
2nd place: Karlsruhe – grade 3.1
3rd place: Freiburg i.Br. – grade 3.1
Winner among cities with more than 500,000 people
1st place: Bremen – grade 3.6
2nd place: Frankfurt a.M. – grade 3.6
3rd place: Hanover – grade 3.6
Most improved among cities and municipalities with 20,000 people or less
Neuenkirchen – from grade 3.4 to grade 2.9
Most improved among towns and cities with 20,000 to 50,000 people
Bad Honnef – from grade 4.5 to grade 3.6
Most improved among cities with 50,000 to 100,000 people
Landshut – from 4.2 to 3.9
Most improved among cities with 100,000 to 200,000 people
Koblenz – from 4.7 to 4.3
Most improved among cities with 200,000 to 500,000 people
Bonn – from 4.2 to 3.8
Most improved among cities with more than 500,000 people
Cologne – from 4.4 to 4.2
Background to the ADFC Cycling Climate Test
The ADFC has been compiling the Bike-Friendly Cities Rating for Germany since 2012. Every two years, citizens and municipalities can answer the multi-page questionnaire. For this edition, 1,114 cities and municipalities participated. Of the approximately 245,000 respondents, 63 percent use a bicycle (almost) daily, 91 percent at least once a week. More than 90 percent have a car, either fully or partially, and are therefore familiar with both perspectives in road traffic.
Pictures: ADFC e. V.
