€183m German cycling autobahn linking 10 cities nears full govt funding

A Dutch traffic planner and bicycle professor has insisted that Europe is about to enter an age of long-distance cycle commuting.

The statement comes alongside news that a €183.7 million cycle autobahn in Germany that's set to connect 10 cities in the Ruhr Area nears full government funding.

>Germany opens first stretch of bicycle ‘autobahn’

The professor, Ineke Spapé of Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands, told the Guardian that "of course" Europe is entering a new age of long-distance cycle commuting, and it's set to happen in the "very near future."

She said “Of course [Europe is entering an age of long-distance cycle commuting]! The Dutch already have, thanks to the enormous popularity of electric bikes and our network of fast cycle connections. And in Germany it’s going to happen in the very near future.’’

>The Dutch could open 45kmph e-bike paths

Spapé was talking to the Guardian about the opening of Germany's bicycle autobahn, a scheme which is looking to ape the Dutch model of inter-city cycle links he mentions above.

The expensive German project is predicted to reduce carbon emissions by 16,000 tonnes per year and remove 50,000 cars from the roads, while also keeping cyclists and walkers away from major vehicular routes via underpasses and bridges.

Spapé, however, was quick to point out that "luxurious" projects are perhaps unnecessary.

“The term ‘bicycle highway’ sounds very luxurious, so we prefer to talk of ‘fast cycle connections’,” Spapé said. 

“In the Netherlands, they are not always 13-ft wide with expensive overpasses and underpasses. Sometimes there’s no space; sometimes it’s more practical to just improve existing cycle paths and connections. And it’s cheaper to give cyclists priority at a crossing than to build a flyover or a tunnel.”

That's not to suggest that the Ruhr Area project is unnecessarily ambitious or expensive, the professor who regularly finds herself being consulted about European cycle infrastructure schemes was simply commenting on the need for pragmatism when it comes to projects such as these.

She said: "The Germans have guidelines that require footpaths parallel to their bicycle highways. When this is not possible, don’t cancel the plan: be pragmatic. What you want is to get people on their bikes – because the bike really is the future.’’

The professor also commented on the growing popuarity of e-bikes, using a friend of hers as a prime example of the potential the mode of transport has for long-distance commutes.

>Check out road.cc's sister site ebiketips.co.uk

“I have a colleague who commutes by power bike from Tilburg to Breda. That’s 16 miles,” she said. “In the future, more and more commuters will cycle – smiling – past the traffic jams.”