'Bicycle transport' has been growing in significance among German local authorities as they realise its benefits. The advantages of bicycles are discussed and the features of an ecologically orientated transport policy listed. An account is then given of the 'Bicycle-Friendly Towns' project which aimed to encourage the use of the bicycle and have it accepted as an environmentally benign means of mobility. Detmold and Rosenheim were the towns chosen for the creation of a user-friendly bicycle infrastructure with subsidiary projects set up in several other towns to study individual aspects of cycling. The projects were served by an advisory committee of 50 representatives and DM 2.5 million were provided for projects by the Federal Environmental Agency over a period of six years. In the pilot study towns bicycle offices were set up and immediate measures taken to improve bicycle facilities, e.g. at junctions. The urban bicycle network was then planned using destination network planning methods. Facilities set up included 'bicycle locks,' cycle tracks along former tram routes, linking quiet residential streets and new cycle paths to existing routes, cycle lanes in one-way streets, creation of leisure routes, bicycle rental facilities at stations, public relations activities and the acquisition of bicycles for local authority employees. On completion of the projects a brochure was published, the main recommendations of which are listed.
Abstract