How Different Countries Encourage People to Switch to Bicycles

Bicycles How transport appeared much earlier motorcycle и cars. A couple of centuries ago, they sometimes even had a rather pretentious appearance: the rear wheel was huge, and the front one was several times smaller. And it was most often not ordinary people who rode them, but representatives of the aristocracy.


But after the advent of "motorized carts" everything became completely different. Since then, successful people wanted to own not pedal-powered vehicles, but ultra-modern technology equipped with internal combustion engines.


Then bicycles turned into, at best, second-class recreational transport. At worst, they began to target the poor strata of the population who do not have the opportunity to buy even the most basic motorcycle or moped.

For whom is the bicycle closest?

And this situation persisted for many decades, during which ICE vehicles reigned supreme. Pedal technology became the lot of those who were not very lucky in life:

✅ residents of rural areas
✅ inhabitants of the slums
✅ citizens of the poorest countries in the world

However, a few decades ago a new trend emerged, called "healthy lifestyle". And the bicycle fits into it perfectly. Another way to promote pedal technology to the people can be considered the successful holding of cycling competitions.



As is often the case with other newfangled trends, the leading ones in this regard were the large cities of developed European countries. In order for the process to acquire an organized rather than chaotic appearance, a number of measures were applied:

✅ advertising in the media is involved
✅ famous politicians and other celebrities are involved in the case
✅ the total length of bike paths has been significantly increased

It has become quite common for the president of, say, Austria to get to his workplace from home not by official car, but by regular city bike. This process is actively developing in the traditionally "bicycle" states of the continent:

✅ Germany
✅ Holland
✅ Italy
✅ Austria
✅ Czech Republic and others.

It is already quite common for German or Czech cities to see their residents riding around in special gear in the summer. However, with the onset of winter, the number of such fans of ecology and a healthy lifestyle will noticeably decrease. Several steps have been taken to promote pedal transport:

✅ special lanes are allocated on the highways
✅ cyclists are exempt from paying road tax
✅ no need to obtain a driving license
✅ it is allowed to move on pedestrian paths in cities

One of the European leaders in the development of bicycle infrastructure is the Danish capital, Copenhagen. Here, as in other places where pedal transport is popularized, they try to distance special sections as much as possible from public roads. This step allows cyclists to feel completely safe, which inevitably leads to a sharp increase in their number.

What the British experience looks like

The UK, separated from Europe by the English Channel, always claims its uniqueness. This includes their famous Brexit and the original left-hand traffic. They tried to approach the problem of cyclists in an unconventional way.


Therefore, they not only created a comfortable infrastructure with direct routes, but also took into account the interests of all parties. After all, the construction of special paths leads to the fact that it is necessary to "bite off a part" from motorists. And this process, given the ubiquitous traffic jams, always looks very painful.

From the very beginning of the development of a new project, all interested parties are involved in the discussion in order to achieve an optimal consensus. Communication takes place not only with all participants of the movement, but also with other persons:

✅ drivers
✅ cyclists
✅ pedestrians
✅ politicians
✅ press

Another important aspect of the development of the cycling movement is bike sharing. It has long been firmly established both in foreign Europe and in large Russian cities. When resorting to this method, British enthusiasts always pursue several goals at once:

✅ free access to rental equipment
✅ traffic safety
✅ protection of bicycles from theft

The latter issue is often resolved by introducing larger and heavier models to the market, which are harder to steal and use in the future. But in terms of choosing the geography for bicycle parking, they are more inclined to be close to cars: up to 10 two-wheeled vehicles can be placed in one place for four-wheeled transport.


And in pedestrian areas, bike racks often obstruct free passage, which is very important for large cities. Another way to effectively promote a healthy lifestyle is to temporarily close streets so that cyclists can ride comfortably along common routes.

The municipality of the Czech capital has succeeded in the latter point. Every year, bike rides are held along the historic streets of Prague for everyone who wants to. Car traffic is always temporarily suspended for this event. But the most interesting idea was invented by the Italians.

Monetary interest

The decision was made to interest the residents of the Apennine Peninsula in the process of transferring from a car to a bicycle more actively. Starting last year, the authorities of Florence launched a program that officially started on May 13.


It not only asks Italians to switch to eco-friendly transport, but even rewards them for it. That's why the whole process is called Pedala, Firenze ti premia ("Pedal, and Florence will reward you!").

The seriousness of the organizers is demonstrated by the amount of funds allocated for the implementation of the initiative - the equivalent of about 118,5 million rubles. Its main goal is said to be improving the overall quality of urban air, and the most active "bicycle lovers" will receive a monthly reward in the amount of 3000 rubles.

To confirm their right to the prize, each participant in the competition must download a special application to their smartphone and open access to it after registration. For this purpose, a sensor has been created that allows tracking data on the movement of a vehicle via Bluetooth.

It is attached to the steering wheel, after which a pleasant counter starts. A regular route (to school or work) is charged at 20 rubles. For each overtime trip, another five are added. This is how you can now pedal in Florence, Italy, and at the same time replenish your family budget.


Further development of the project led to competitions being held between its participants. One of them is to identify two hundred of the most active, who will receive an additional bonus of 100 euros or 10 thousand rubles. They also want to reward regular participants of events dedicated to urban ecology.

Of course, all countries still need to work and work in this direction. But what has already been done helps cyclists feel more like full-fledged participants in road traffic. And there is no doubt that in the future there will be many more tens of kilometers of new special paths.