Cycling country Germany? Bicycles and e-bikes have been in the fast lane in Germany for years, and they're tasty. But it could be much more: cycling could be a mobility revolution if it were safer and less stressful, and if our government committed to it. We'll show you what needs to happen now so that the mobility revolution can finally succeed!
Everything actually looked so good in August 2022: Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing declared that he wanted to make “Germany a cycling country”. Finally! We couldn't believe it, but we were happy. Oddly enough, much of what came later from the Federal Ministry was more directed against the project "Fahrradland Deutschland". The expansion of the motorway network, for example, is of little help on the way to becoming a cycling country, as is the consistent restriction of cities and communities in regulating the speed on their streets themselves and being given the freedom to set up new cycle paths. Let's see what has to change for the bicycle country to become a reality - without claiming to be exhaustive, of course. Here are our ten points so that bicycles and e-bikes can finally become number one when it comes to road traffic:
1. Abolish car privileges!
A fundamental change: the federal government must finally amend the road traffic law as planned; the priority of car traffic in decisions must be abolished. Road users from pedestrians to truck drivers must be treated equally. So far, a good 550 cities and municipalities have joined forces to tackle the priority car regulation. It makes it impossible to create a basis for livable cities. For example, it is only possible in very rare cases to set up 30 km/h zones outside of purely residential areas. Lower inner-city speeds are one of the prerequisites for healthier cities that offer real quality of life for their residents. Another current quote: Wissing doesn't think much of this traffic calming. "Not only the interests of the residents are affected, but also those who have to drive through," he said loudly Zeit Online only recently. Destination bike country?
2. Every beginning a burden?
When it comes to cargo bikes, many municipalities have already understood that their use is another essential prerequisite for less noisy, less harmful traffic and fewer parked streets, cycle paths and sidewalks. In many places there are cargo bike support programs that give you support for buying a cargo bike. Good! But more rental would also be very important: "Cargo bike sharing is like a gateway drug," agrees Alexander Lutz from the consulting firm Cargobike Now, who has a lot of experience in mobility consulting for municipalities. Sharing has two advantages: It also enables people with a lower income to get to know the opportunities that the cargo bike offers and perhaps to switch permanently. And through sharing, the cargo bike is much more quickly perceived by the public and integrated into the cityscape.
3. More SUV spaces - for cargo bikes!
Funding alone doesn't help: if they are there, (cargo) bikes must also be able to park. There are already often disputes among residents in large cities because of the – supposedly huge – parking space that cargo bikes claim for themselves. Speaking of which: how many SUVs fit into a cargo bike parking area...? Anyway, parking is almost as important as driving. Rededication is the magic word. In large cities, some car parking spaces are closed bike parking replaced. Here more courage is needed on the part of the decision-maker. By the way: It is already allowed to park bicycles in car parking spaces ...
4. Ask mobility specialists instead of car experts
In general, hire people who have an idea of the artery, not those who have been planning Auto-Welt-compliant for ages! An example in cycling country Germany: The new bicycle parking garage in Hamburg Kellinghusenstraße with 600 spaces. Anyone who has found the building without a sign can only reach it by pushing from one direction. But even those who stand in front of it have to look for the entrance. According to the media, the upper, actual parking area is only accessible to those who carry their bike or e-bike up a flight of stairs(!) or push it up a twenty centimeter narrow ramp that goes alongside a flight of stairs.... for comparison: the large Dutch one Parking lots in Utrecht (12.500 parking spaces) leads cyclists to the individual parking decks on wide, safe cycle paths. Just take a look, dear decision-makers in the communities. And then work with mobility experts who know their stuff.
5. More courage!
The quieter the traffic and the more suitable the traffic infrastructure for bicycles, the safer the cyclists and the better the chances for a quick turnaround in traffic. The changes to the transport infrastructure, which many decision-makers are now making with a heavy heart and with fear of the next local elections, are often half-hearted at best. They try to somehow leave everything as it is, so as not to upset anyone on four wheels and yet do justice to a new mobility. Of course it doesn't work: the space in the cities is extremely limited. If cyclists are to get more of it, it has to be taken elsewhere. Point.
It will probably never be clarified among all bicycle lobbyists whether bicycle paths must always run separately from car traffic - most cities have streets that are too narrow for this - or whether there is a possibility without strict separation that does justice to all road users. So be it. In any case, things would certainly be better with less car speed on the streets – but that brings us back to the 30 km/h problem in cities.
6. NRVP – National Cycling Plan. finally do it!
The General Bicycle Club Germany (ADFC), demands to finally implement the National Cycle Traffic Plan 3.0 and to invest significantly more in the cycle traffic structure: expand and refine the cycle path network, finally accelerate the construction of the cycle highways. Shortly beforehand, the ADFC also demanded that Minister Wissing make a clear commitment to cycling and act more quickly. Does it help? As seen above, he had already made the commitment in 2022 – only to then follow up with completely different actions. Even that TÜV calls for the expansion of the cycling infrastructure to finally be accelerated. Confessions or not - creating opportunities to love politics, and then doing is now the motto. Cycle path networks that do not have dangerous gaps every hundred meters, cycle lanes that are then not cleared for all vehicles and parked up again, crossings that allow cyclists and pedestrians to pass safely without having to queue for half an hour at the begging light.
7. Mobility for everyone!
Many people who drive their car every day have not yet realized that cycling is not attack on, but a possible one alternative for she is. Much more public relations work is required. But how do I explain to people who don't have anything to do with bicycles and who have always internalized the everyday image campaign "Germany's most important and most beautiful child is the car" that there is no reason to put automobility above everything else?
How about a mobility driving school, which could be part of the mandatory part of the driver's license? Present alternatives and show what other forms of mobility can do better than automobility. A short-distance mobility that can be more fun, brings more health and quality of life and protects life? Perhaps that would also help close the gap between drivers and cyclists.
Current catalog of fines: Penalties for traffic violations with a focus on bicycle traffic
Advice / Law: The catalog of fines in road traffic was last comprehensively updated in November 2021 with a focus on bicycle traffic. We provide an overview of the most common violations and the penalties that are due in each case. Cyclists who ride on the wrong side or are caught on the sidewalk face a fine of up to 55 […]
8. Real education and not turning victims into perpetrators
In the majority of all accidents between motor vehicles and bikes, the driver is to blame. But those responsible for communication are working on other construction sites: there are always “blind spot campaigns” in which cyclists are to be informed that they should not come too close to a truck. Tenor: It's not the driver's fault if he "overlooks" them and runs over them like that. In the police reports and media there is often a perpetrator-victim reversal: "The cyclist injured himself on impact" - instead of "the car driver hit the cyclist and injured him..."
9. Implement laws - even if it's to the advantage of cyclists.
Despite all communication: A catalog of rules is also needed that is consistently implemented and, above all, punished. Example of the overtaking distance when passing a cyclist: since 2020 it has finally been stipulated that it must be at least 1,5 meters in built-up areas and 2,0 meters outside of built-up areas. Anyone who does not comply with it can expect a fine of 30 euros or more.
But who has ever seen or heard that someone who almost touched the handlebars of the overtaken cyclist with the side mirror had to pay? Where are the signs not to overtake cyclists because the road is too narrow to keep the distance?
10. Against self-fulfilling prophecies!
Transport Minister Wissing Incidentally, in March 2023 he drastically put his own vision of Germany as a cycling country into perspective: it is expected that the share of cycling will increase from 10 percent today to just 12 percent - by 2050, according to the Minister of Transport. If so, then he and his colleagues have probably done quite a lot wrong in recent years. So quickly take a different path, Mr. Wissing – you have now received a few tips.