Cities across the world are transforming to make liveable urban spaces that encourage walking and cycling. The city planning and construction industry has adapted to the car industry for many years but things are slowly turning around. In many cities across Europe, there is a shift from owning a private car to shared mobility and cycling. Cycling for leisure, sports, work and touring is the new approach towards a healthy lifestyle that people have slowly started adopting. The trend is picking up amongst a few as the advantages of sustainable mobility come to light, but what can be done to make cycling a global movement for liveable cities?
“Spain is one of the countries with the highest levels of public transport use, however, it shows low levels of cycling mobility compared to those in other countries of the European Union. The cycling modal share system is much higher in cities such as Berlin (13%), Copenhagen (31.5%) and Amsterdam (31%), when compared to Madrid (1.2%), Barcelona (2.2%) and Seville (6%). According to a recent study (CONECTA, 2015), 14% of the population, rarely use the bicycle as an urban transport mode. 29% of the population reject its use but 57% of the people are considered as potential cyclists, since they assert they would be willing to cycle in the future, given certain circumstances and conditions,” shares Gustavo Romanillos. His doctoral thesis: ‘The Digital Footprint of the Cycling City: GPS Cycle Routes Visualization and Analysis’, is a part of the online platform Huellaciclistademadrid.
‘Te mueves en bici? Deja tu Heulla’ (Use the bike, leave your mark), a motto for Huellaciclistademadrid, is an initiative launched by the tGIS research group of the Universidad Complutense with the objective of visualising, analysing and modelling the cyclist flow in the city of Madrid. It considers normal cyclists, bike messengers and users of BiciMAD, the public bicycle system of Madrid. In the case of Madrid, the existing infrastructure may not be as widespread as in other cities, but the city offers different kinds of segregated and non-segregated bike lanes that could be analysed in terms of their real impact on the cyclists’ mobility and their role in the distribution of the cycling flow across the city network.
Over the last few years, Madrid has shown a gradual positive trend since it is encouraged by the recent pro-cycling policy measures and infrastructure implemented by the local government. The online platform reinforces the trend and allows volunteers to download the free GPS app for smartphones, Map My Tracks, embedded on the website to record personal journeys, consult personal data and statistics like distance, duration, slope, speed and height difference. This allows the users to become a part of the collective design of the Madrid Cyclist Track and visualise their own routes and data.
Seville is another city that has shown a growing trend in the use of sustainable modes of transport. Of the many digital platforms and apps, Ciclogreen is a private company that launched an app that incentivises its users that choose to walk, run, cycle, share a car, use public transport, electric vehicles or skate.
Ciclogreen is gaining recognition nationally and internationally as it rewards sustainable mobility.
This app allows its users to accumulate points for every kilometre covered using a sustainable mode of transport. These points can then be redeemed for discounts and gifts, for instance, get a 50% off on a coffee pack or get free parking worth 8 Euros for your bike. Gregorio Magno Toral initiated this app to create a positive impact in the mobility sector and create awareness in Seville. The data collected from users is given to the city council and various companies for analysis and implementation in infrastructure planning.
“Recently, Ciclogreen provided a Control Panel to the city council of Barcelona so they can visualise mobility patterns for a period of 30 days. We acquired data for a total distance of 60,000 km and shared it in the form of heat maps on social media platforms. The city council, neighbourhood council and the citizens could access these heat maps on Twitter and other social media platforms. Currently, besides the city council and the Frontiers Cities (European Smart Cities), there are ten private companies who use Ciclogreen services to gain access to the data to motivate and promote sustainable transport. On a more personal level, each user can access their own data and statistics through the app as well,” states Gregorio. Till 2030, the European Cyclists’ Foundation (ECF) is committed to being the European Cyclists Federation for civil society organisations advocating and working for better conditions for cyclists as well as increased cycling.
The European Union (EU) aims to phase out ‘conventionally fueled’ cars in cities by 2050 and achieve essentially CO2 free city logistics in major urban centres by 2030.
Congestion is one of the main challenges for Europe’s transport system, one of the reasons being private cars or company cars, which comprise 50% of the new car sales in the EU. The EU is encouraging introduction of fiscal measures to promote cycling and remove barriers for cycling from home to work. It would prove to be more effective if there was less emphasis on cars in general (fueled or non-fueled) and reinforcement of cycle use, which would allow for less congestion and better air quality in cities.
In Seville, Ciclogreen has tied up with private companies to encourage home to work travel using sustainable modes of transport. The companies are interested in the data related to the reduction of CO2 emissions they achieve through the incentive programme. ULMA is one such company that has invested in company buses for their employees to promote sustainable transport and Ciclogreen provides the data generated to the company in order to keep track of its usage without being invasive of their employee’s privacy. The employees receive points and miles as incentives and in turn the overall sustainability score of the company itself gets hiked up. One of the latest reports conducted by Ciclogreen states that, considering an average route of 6.5 km to go to work or study centre by bicycle, a person who moves in this healthy and sustainable way from Monday to Friday will save € 26 per month in fuel and parking charges and will burn about 4,000 calories.
However, while popularising cycling, it is crucial to understand the various categories of users. “Identifying particular needs is important to promote specific measures, policies or infrastructure that may be effective for each group. For instance, bike messengers, especially those delivering parcels from shopping mall areas to consumers’ residences, could benefit from measures that promote the implementation of charging stations, so that their bikes (and their navigation devices) can be charged while they are collecting and organising the parcels. In the case of casual cyclists, it would be the implementation of more parking points located in the areas with higher demand, or to implement other infrastructure close to or at facilities of some companies, in agreement with them, with the aim of advancing cycling mobility in the area where an important flow of commuting cyclists (or potential commuting cyclists) has been identified. Finally, the analysis of travel patterns of BiciMAD users in the specific case of Madrid, may shed light on the kind of infrastructure that becomes more attractive to a certain group of users (such as tourists) and in consequence try to support and channelise the flow of this group by strategically connecting the most important touristic areas,” arms Gustavo as he stresses on Huellaciclistademadrid being an important tool for the future of planning and accessibility for the mobility sector in Madrid.
SOURCE: HUELLACICLISTADEMADRID
The data analysis through the apps and its communication to the various users is as important as the initiative itself. It allows the users to understand the positive impact they have on the environment when they choose sustainable mobility options. Ciclogreen conducts the ’30 days by bike’ challenge, which measures the mobility patterns of companies, public entities and universities twice a year. This offers a channel to inform users and customers about their data on the sustainable journeys to work and reflects on the commitment to the environment. One of the analyses of their 2017 challenges shows that participating companies and universities have managed to accumulate a total of more than 57,000 kms of cycling in just 30 days, which means a reduction of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere of more than 14 tonnes; an important contribution in the fight against climate change.
As he elaborates on the possible ways to implement the data analysis through Huellaciclistademadrid in Madrid, Gustavo adds, “The dynamic analysis of certain mobility patterns and their evolution over time can help promote policies and measures for specific periods of time, for instance, by closing certain streets to motor traffic and promoting cycling during the weekends or holidays. Analysing the cycling mobility over the course of a day and according to the different types of users provides important information in terms of cycling flow during peak hours and this can be further used to adopt measures for specific time frames at particular locations.”
Investments in the cycling sector have mostly been driven by factors like the need for a more efficient transport system, congestion relief, health benefits or improved access.
Employment in the cycling sector has rarely been explored at the international level, except for cycling tourism. The European Cyclists Federation is conducting research to show that employment in the cycling sector is a co-benefit of investments in cycling and also a benefit in its own right. This could take the incentivisation of sustainable mobility one step ahead in the near future. The implementation of, and the accessibility to, the big data in transportation through these digital platforms and apps can pave a path to the quick evolution towards sustainable mobility.
Through these initiatives it has been established that opting for sustainable mobility can appeal to many if access, incentive and awareness is promoted. While the European Cyclists Federation strives to make a radical change to sustainable mobility systems in Europe and Spain is still grappling with the slow growing trend of ‘bike to work’, initiatives like Ciclogreen and Huellaciclistademadrid are proving to be promising platforms that can bring about that radical change.
Bibliography:
https://ecf.com/sites/ecf.com/files/141125-Cycling-Works-Jobs-and-Job-Creation-in-the-Cycling-Economy.pdf
https://ecf.com/who-we-are/our-mission/vision-2030
http://blog.ciclogreen.com/ii-informe-ciclogreenmovilidad-sostenible-2017/
http://huellaciclistademadrid.es/informacion
Comments (0)