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Malmö calls
itself ‘the Cycling City’
because it already has more than 370 km of cycle ways (compared to 900 km car
ways) and it is planned to reach 520 km. The City Council’s goal over a ten
year period is to
- Increase cycle traffic by 10 %
- Decrease car traffic by 2-3 %
- Decrease
car emissions in Malmö by approx 5 %
The latter target seems hard to
reach but if the short car journeys can be replaced by cycling it will have
much greater effect on AQ than the reduced number of car journeys predicts.
This is due to the fact that the catalyst has not reached optimum effect when
the engine is cold. Thus the engine emits more until the catalyst has reached
its working temperature.
The topography of Malmö is ideal for cycling and increasing
safety on the cycle ways, building a fully comprehensive cycle network,
creating attractive and recreational cycle routes, providing safe and secure
cycle parking facilities and promoting the advantages of cycling to all Malmö’s inhabitants will contribute to reaching the goals
for ‘the Cycling City’.
Cycle parking and marketing are
very often overlooked. There should be a sufficient number of bike stands
throughout the city, appropriately positioned, user friendly, secure and where
possible, protected from the weather. Cycle parking should have the same
importance in transport planning as car parking.
Marketing should be divided in
two categories; one for general info as cycle maps functioning both as route
guides and as the basis for themed trips, and the other category for campaigns.
To be successful campaigns should focus on a limited part of the bicycle
network such as a new lane in a district. Too wide campaigns do not have as
good effect as more narrow ones |