Making cycling more attractive through better information and services

Summary

The provision of online “bike and ride” information was part of the creation of an intermodal travel planner for the greater Stockholm area and promoted cycling as a sustainable way to supplement other transport modes.

Implementing sustainable mobility

At the time of measure implementation, cycling had a relatively low modal share in Stockholm, being relatively underused for commuting and short journeys compared to other Nordic cities. At the same time the city suffered from air and noise pollution and traffic congestion. The goals of the measure were therefore to:

• create suitable conditions for promoting cycling as a means of transportation;
• increase use of bike and ride facilities at public transport interchanges;
• increase cyclists’ satisfaction with the traffic situation in the city; and
• encourage a shift from the private car and public transport to cycling, thus reducing fuel consumption and negative environmental impacts.

Stockholm’s well-signposted cycle path network facilitated efforts to promote cycling, thus the measure could focus on providing information on the fastest and safest cycle paths through the city, as well as information on bike and ride facilities.

Progress

The Stockholm regional division of the Swedish Transport Administration provided information on bike and ride facilities close to public transport hubs on the website www.trafiken.nu. The same website was already providing information about the real-time traffic situation in the city for all modes of transport.

Service stations for bicycles at bike and ride and public transport facilities were also installed.

Evaluations were based on:

• number of website visitors; and
• interviews with website users (focus groups, individual interviews and online surveys) covering the information on the website and how user friendly it is.

Outcomes

Information on cycle routes and facilities was successfully integrated into the www.trafiken.nu website, providing cyclists with real-time information on their journeys and links to other transport modes.