Bicycle Highways in Germany!

Local Editor

Without red lights or trucks, just a clear, smooth lane to zoom down with the wind in your face, Germany receives people as the first bicycle Autobahn.

As a glimpse of a greener urban transport future, Germany just opened the first five-kilometer stretch of a bicycle highway that is set to span over 100 kilometers.

The highway is planned to connect 10 western cities including Duisburg, Bochum and Hamm and four universities, running largely along disused railroad tracks in the crumbling Ruhr industrial region.

Relatively, Martin Toennes of regional development group RVR explained that almost two million people live within two kilometers of the route and will be able to use sections for their daily commutes.

An RVR study predicts that the new track should take 50,000 cars off the roads on a daily basis aided by booming demand for electric bikes, which take the sting out of uphill sections.

The idea, pioneered in the Netherlands and Denmark, is gaining traction elsewhere in Germany too.

In parallel, the banking center of Frankfurt is planning a 30-kilometer path south to Darmstadt, and Nuremberg launched a feasibility study into a track linking it with four cities.

For its part, he German Bicycle Club ADFC argues that, since about 10% of trips in the country are now done by bicycle, cycling infrastructure should get at least 10% of federal transport funding.

Manager of the club, Burkhard Stork considered that "Building highways in cities is a life-threatening recipe from the 1960s," adding that "No one wants more cars in cities."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team