Cycling Barometer: ECF launches a new benchmark for the promotion of cycling in Europe
Which countries in Europe are ‘best for cycling’? Which are the safest countries to cycle in? What are the best places to cycle tour? The ECF Cycling Barometer intends to prompt a debate a few day away from next week's Velo-city 2013 conference in Vienna around 5 dimensions of cycling they are prioritising:
- modal share;
- road safety;
- cycling tourism;
- cycling industry;
- cycling advocacy.
For each field the ECF Cycling Barometer took a verifiable EU-wide survey. Then the countries are given points according to their rank in each field and all points are summed to get a final score.
The Netherlands and Denmark top the ranking after assessing daily cycling levels, cycle tourism, advocacy activity, bicycle sales and cyclists’ safety. Countries in the south and east of Europe showed they have a lot of potential for improvement.
|
Rank |
Country |
Score |
|
Rank |
Country |
Score |
|
Rank |
Country |
Score |
|
1= |
Denmark |
125 |
|
10 |
UK |
80 |
|
19 |
Luxembourg |
52 |
|
Netherlands |
125 |
|
11 |
France |
78 |
|
20= |
Poland |
47 |
|
|
3 |
Sweden |
119 |
|
12 |
Slovenia |
77 |
|
Lithuania |
47 |
|
|
4 |
Finland |
114 |
|
13 |
Czech Republic |
69 |
|
22 |
Cyprus |
41 |
|
5 |
Germany |
105 |
|
14 |
Ireland |
65 |
|
23= |
Portugal |
36 |
|
6 |
Belgium |
100 |
|
15= |
Estonia |
56 |
|
Spain |
36 |
|
|
7 |
Austria |
95 |
|
Italy |
56 |
|
25 |
Bulgaria |
30 |
|
|
8 |
Hungary |
91 |
|
17= |
Latvia |
54 |
|
26 |
Romania |
30 |
|
9 |
Slovakia |
88 |
|
Greece |
54 |
|
27 |
Malta |
15 |
ECF Cycling Barometer Project Manager Ms Chloe Mispelon said “The main purpose of launching the ECF Cycling Barometer [this week] is to get people talking about international comparisons in cycling."
"The lack of data at the EU level and different national statistics make it hard to be certain about the cycling record of each country" said Mispelon "but we call on the EU Horizon 2020 research program to establish data that is updated and maintained through to 2020."
"If we are to double cycling in Europe it is also vital for the EU to use this data and develop it to show where strategic investments, structural funds and research funding must be focused in coming years” concludes ECF Secretary General Bernhard Ensink.
The full press release and ECF Cycling Barometer report can be found on the European Cyclists' Federation website.