Measuring Success

RPUS links to Streetsblog which links to Treehugger about Berlin's Bicycle Success. Warning: we're going to get an "I told you so" from w.

Two years ago, the Berlin Senate decided that bikes should make up 15% of city traffic by the year 2010. Results released from the newest traffic study of the Berlin Development Administration show that the goal could be reached early: the number of bicyclists has more than doubled in the last decade to 400,000 riders daily, accounting for 12% of total traffic.

A clever investment strategy in biking infrastructure is likely the primary facilitator of the migration to human powered vehicles. The program targeted improvement of connections between train stations and bike paths, and over 3000 bicycle parking places have been built on 40 stations. The current situation in Berlin is the envy of many a city: Berliners have access to 620 Km of bike paths, 80 Km of bike lanes in the streets, 70 Km of bus lanes which are also open to bicyclists, 100 Km of combined pedestrian/bike paths and 50 Km of marked bike lanes on the sidewalks. The Berlin Senate Bicycle Traffic Strategy foresees pulling all these routes together into a network with primary routes running from the city center out to the suburbs and two traffic rings by 2016. Park-and-ride facilities will be added at 20 additional U-bahn stations in the coming year.

Additionally, 16 million Euros were invested in expanding intercity bike paths for bicycle tourism. Tourism by bicycle has seen a strong increase according to the German Bicycle Club (ADFC), especially on the route along the former Berlin Wall and for trips on long distance bike paths such as the Berlin-Copenhagen route.

Treehugger has a lot of good bike posts. Including this video of a bike thief set to music.

Comments

[Lee Watkins]

Berlin is awesome... and yes the trains are excellent. I can see how, between a bicycle and the train you could do very well in that city. It's a good thing they have the trains, because it's an expansive city!

[w]

Berlin- I told you so. Actually it is similar in many ways to DC- relatively flat- and 10 story buildings- very human scale place.we could be doing this here.Lets make it legal and safe to cycle on the sidewalks here in DC just like in Holland,Denamrk, and Germany.

[mike]

go berlin! it'll never happen here..so my other post!...although "infrastructure" investment is the explanantion: Americans dont know the difference between and investment and a cost...

[Chris]

It's true that DC is flat, similar to Berlin. Here's the difference: Americans aren't German. Why do I point this out? Because we Americans are much more chaotic and unstructured then Germans. In this way, bike lanes on sidewalks on downtown streets is a recipe for disaster. Just as cars park in bike lanes on the streets, how in the world can anybody believe that pedestrians won't be walking all over bike lanes on the sidewalks. No thanks - I stick to streets on my bike; riding confidently in the middle of the right lane when necessary to protect myself.

[desyl]

People don't walk in bike lanes here because they would get run over if they did. It is a dedicated lane for bicycle use and riders move at the appropriate speed.

Also, buildings here are typically only five, maybe six stories high, altbau or new construction.

[Contrarian]

Here's interesting reading about the Berlin infrastructure:

http://john-s-allen.com/research/berlin_1987/index.html

From the introduction:
"The 1987 Berlin Police Department study of bicycle crashes is notable for its importance in dispelling the myth of improved safety for bicyclists on sidewalk-type bicycle facilities."

As well as this quote: "Bikeways are now, as a rule, planned as bike lanes on the roadway, or bicyclists ride in mixed traffic. Many sidepaths have been removed."