Safe cycling on well-developed cycle paths: Most cities and municipalities in Germany still have a lot of catching up to do. Every two years, the Allgemeine Fahrradclub Deutschland (ADFC) surveys tens of thousands of cyclists nationwide on how comfortable they feel in the saddle in their towns and communities. The places that did best this year will receive an award this Monday in Berlin.
Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) has also announced that the winners will be announced. Large cities such as Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg and Bremen as well as smaller towns with up to 20,000 inhabitants, including Wettringen, Reken and Rutesheim, are invited. According to the ADAC, the survey is aimed specifically at cyclists.
In the survey two years ago, many were extremely dissatisfied with the conditions for cyclists in Germany. Expressed in school grades, the country only received a 3.9, i.e. “sufficient”. According to the ADFC, there were some bright spots, such as the numerous pop-up cycle paths that Berlin, for example, set up during the Corona crisis. Overall, however, respondents complained that there was too little progress during the pandemic.
Two years have passed – but traffic experts are still criticizing the fact that the infrastructure in many cities is geared primarily to the needs of drivers. The conflict about the place on the street also recently played a role in the Berlin election campaign, where the outgoing Senate had fallen out over the blocking of central Friedrichstrasse for cars.
