Managing the attractiveness of cycling as a long-term modal alternative.

Since 1994 the City of Ettlingen (pop. 38,500) is a member of the climate alliance of European cities. The main goal is the reduction of 50% of all carbon dioxide emissions of the year 1987 until 2010. Consequently, one essential measure is the promotion of alternatives to the car. Within the local transport plan, the part on 'Verkehr und Klimaschutz' (Transport and Climate Protection) was first ratified by the Ettlingen City Council. In there, the scenario of 'INTEGRATION' (integration of urban development and transport) is the key element among the goals of the plan. An effective strategy to cope with transport problems in a medium-sized city is the promotion of bicycle use to reduce the number of short car trips. Thus, the Integrated Bike Project, co-funded by the Ministry of the Environment and Transport of the Federal State of Baden-Wurttemberg and the County of Karlsruhe, was established. According to them, through an integrative approach bicycle use should be increased and promoted as an environmental friendly and socially accepted modal alternative. From the beginning a strong public relations part and the inclusion of local partnerships have played an important role in raising awareness in Ettlingen besides the improvement of infrastructure elements. The paper gives an overview of the plan's promoted infrastructure, regulatory and mobility management objectives and their implementation within the project. As a second step, the different results of each measure are presented and evaluated regarding their effectiveness to meet the objectives set in the local transport plan. This is followed by a presentation of a wide range of mobility management measures as well as the different events and public awareness campaigns which were organised by the Planning Department. The overall conclusion of the paper is that full integration of cycling as a modal alternative is possible when decision makers get together at a very early stage as was done through the implementation of a city-wide project group accompanying the on-going process which allowed that measures were accepted by a large consensus. For the covering abstract see ITRD E124693.