Give a Damn About EU Cycling Projects? Here's Why!
Cycling-focused European Initiatives Unveiled: Notable Insights Revealed
Wondering how your town can benefit from EU's cycling projects? These suckers are crammed with case studies from specific cities, giving you the low-down on what worked and what missed the mark. Even if your city's not playing at the big leagues, EU funding allows projects to test-drive different solutions for boosting and promoting cycling. Just 'cause there's a whole bunch of projects with detailed evaluation reports that'll scare the bejeezus out of most folks doesn't mean you should skip looking at the results. Here are the Top 5 EU cycling projects and their priceless lessons:
PTP Cycle
Mission:
Landed a punch to car usage, steering more journeys toward bikes or public transport. Aimed to find an affordable tactic for altering behavior. Provided scattered folks with info, incentives, and motivation to kick the car habit and embrace sustainable choices.
Methodology:
Contacted people by phone, at their door, at work, or during city events. Divided participants into interested peeps, regular eco-warriors, and those who haven't yet jumped on the green bandwagon. Kept tabs on the interested lot to see who wanted to sign up for local travel info and services like maintenance sessions and advice sessions.
Results:
Racked up 47,823 PTPs (twice the original goal, y'all!), reached 65,700 people, recorded a 5% decrease in car use for home-to-work commuting, saw an 8% bump in cycling's share, and a 7% increase in the share for walkin' it. After one year, the average number of sick days plummeted by 2.2 days, and edumacated over 200 trainees, delivered over 1,000 hours of training, and recruited over 100 volunteers.
Where:
Cities like Antwerp, Burgos, Ljubljana, London (babysitting Haringey and Greenwich), and Riga.
When:
Lived la dolce vita from April 2013 to March 2016.
Budget:
2.044.813,00 € (75% funded by EU)
Key Takeaways:
- If direct communication ain't a go-to move, public events are the way to go. Folks are more open to a chat about their travel habits and more accessible to new info in a public locale.
- Household engagement can be tricky if direct doorstep contact ain't the norm. Get to know your audience and adapt accordingly.
- Linked the project to major infrastructure projects in the city, boosting its impact.
Want more PTP Cycle deets? Clack here.
PRESTO
Mission:
Wave a magic wand for energy efficiency and lower CO2 emissions and air pollution by jacking up cycling's modal share. Mixed environmental advantages with safe traffic and health promotion. Offered a toolkit for technicians to build cycle-friendly environments.
Methodology:
Went hard on these three emotional pillars:
- Infrastructure development (lane networks, parking, and the like)
- Soft Measures (attitude shifts, cycling culture)
- E-bikes for less enthusiastic cyclists, such as elders and businesspeople.
Results:
Created policies on cycling infrastructure, promotion, electric bikes, and walkability, whipped up 25 factsheets with practical implementation tips, put infrastructure implementation plans in place to boost cycling cultures in participating cities, improved cycling's image through promotional activities, and allowed folks to test e-bikes. Also hammered out e-learning programs with on-site training sessions and online classes for interested stakeholders.
Where:
Not the cozy confines of a particular city but featured various organizations like the European Cyclist's Federation, the Grenoble Alpes Métropole, the German Cyclist's Federation Bremen, and the Cities of Zagreb, Venice, and Tczew.
When:
Shook things up from May 2009 to January 2012.
Budget:
1.865.632,00 € (75% funded by EU)
Key Takeaways:
- Obligations to PRESTO served as a kick in the pants to keep up momentum on local issues and nudged certain projects back into action.
- Local context is vital when building and fostering a cycling culture. It's dumb to send Dutch experts to Poland or Croatia if they're just gonna impose Dutch experiences on their unsuspecting hosts.
- Exchanges between cities on common problems helped technicians (the peskiest of bunch!) get comfy with new ideas, making it easier to share victories.
Dig deeper into PRESTO with this snazzy presentation. Find all the related project resources here.
CARMA
Mission:
Developed new marketing techniques for cycling, focusing on selected target groups. Emphasized an improved understanding of the target groups' beliefs and behaviors related to cycling.
Methodology:
- Spotlighted target groups.
- Built relationships through internal and external networks.
- Developed capacity via training sessions and workshops.
- Implemented communication activities.
Results:
Spotted the gold mine of target groups with the highest potential for switching to cycling, waged 38 campaigns across CARMA cities, targeted 100,000 students and 40,000 employees, organized 54 internal and 34 external network meetings, plus 36 focus group meetings to ramp up promotion.
Where:
Made stops in Budapest, Gothenburg, Eindhoven, Kensington & Chelsea, Parma, and Riga.
When:
Rollicked from May 2010 to April 2013.
Budget:
1.762.800,00 € (75% funded by EU)
Key Takeaways:
- Knowledge is power, especially when it comes to crafting effective marketing campaigns. Study the ins and outs of planning and executing comms campaigns, get advice, and don't start without a strategy!
- A great marketing message can't save a bad product (poor cycling infrastructure).
- CARMA shone a spotlight on the importance of targeting campaigns based on the lifestyles and habits of intended audiences. Hungry for more CARMA deets? Check out the Handbook.
TrendyTravel
Mission:
Played up the telltale signs of sustainable travel's appeal to woo folks with an emotional approach.
Methodology:
Leveraged five emotions: Storytelling, a focus on habits, high-quality visuals, pester power (persuading parents to let kiddos use sustainable modes of transport), and sensually appealing bike routes.
Results:
The emotional angle trumps boring rational arguments, the power of storytelling, and annual cycling event calendars are powerful tools for building a positive perception of cycling, some cycling events have now become a permanent part of cycling policies, an audiobook featuring stories on sustainable transport, and making decision-makers aware of the potential solution for urban traffic problems.
Where:
Stopped in Bolzano and Salerno, Cork, Graz, Aarhus, Györ, Plovdiv, Vilnius, Martin, and included the Nederlandse Spoorwegen (Netherlands Railways) as a partner.
When:
Took a spin from October 2007 to September 2010.
Budget:
2.006.346,00 € (EU funding 50%)
Key Takeaways:
- Stick with the little ‘uns. They've got the power to convince their parents to hop on a bike.
- Targeted campaigns are more cost-effective, efficient, and easier to measure.
- 'Tis the power of storytelling! Communicate positively to build a cycling culture and involve the relevant stakeholders.
Crave more TrendyTravel info? Click here.
CHAMP
Mission:
Raised awareness among decision-makers in European cities about the economic, environmental, and energy-efficient benefits of cycling. Aimed to build expertise on cycling policy by sharing experiences.
Methodology:
Sorted participating cities into Champion Cities (cities with an existing cycling policy) and Beginner Cities (cities wanting to learn). Carried out a gap analysis and developed revised cycling strategies for each city. Champion cycling cities exchanged and adapted their policies, and each city implemented two innovative measures in their city, sharing the results with the beginner cities.
Results:
Boosted cycling trips by 10% in the CHAMP cities, created the CHAMP analysis tool, organized training workshops, launched an exchange program, published a CHAMP catalogue, and calculated an estimated reduction of 80,000t CO2/year by 2020 from the CHAMP project's innovative measures.
Where:
Involved CHAMP cities like Groningen, Örebro, Bolzano, Edinburgh, Ljubljana, Burgos, and Kaunas.
When:
Rode along from 2011 to 2014.
Budget:
1.385.550,00 € (75% EU financing)
Key Takeaways:
- Every city can improve, even Groningen with a cycling share around 50%. Get honest feedback to identify areas for improvement.
- The bicycle account is a valuable tool for monitoring cycling development and communicating the city's commitment to cycling.
- A well-designed infrastructure layout is as crucial as nurturing a bicycle culture.
Want more CHAMP knowledge? Check out the CHAMP Catalogue.
- The PTP Cycle project, a part of EU's cycling projects, used various methods to influence people's travel habits, resulting in a significant decrease in car usage and an increase in cycling and walking for households in Antwerp, Burgos, Ljubljana, London, and Riga.
- The PRESTO project, focusing on energy efficiency and air quality, provided cities like Grenoble, Bremen, Zagreb, Venice, and Tczew with a toolkit to build cycle-friendly environments and improve cycling's image through promotional activities.
- The CARMA project targeted specific groups to understand their beliefs and behaviors related to cycling, resulting in effective marketing campaigns and a shift towards sustainable travel in cities like Budapest, Gothenburg, Eindhoven, and Plovdiv.
- The TrendyTravel project employed an emotional approach to promote sustainable travel, focusing on storytelling, visuals, and catering to children's influence, leading to increased awareness and positive perceptions of cycling in cities like Salerno, Cork, and Vilnius.
- The CHAMP project aimed to raise awareness among decision-makers in European cities about the benefits of cycling, sharing experiences and revising cycling strategies, resulting in a 10% increase in cycling trips in cities such as Groningen, Orebro, and Edinburgh. These projects demonstrate the importance of EU funding in testing and implementing solutions for boosting and promoting cycling and sustainable travel in various cities. Furthermore, these projects provide valuable lessons for health-and-wellness, environmental-science, education-and-self-development, lifestyle, home-and-garden, technology, sports, and climate-change sectors, as they promote sustainable practices and encourage proper infrastructure development for a greener future.
