CITY CYCLING: MOST LOGICAL URBAN TRANSPORT METHOD
Cycling will come to dominate the new urban landscape
As of 2018, 4.2 billion people are living in urban areas – which makes up 55% of the world’s population. The predictions show that by 2050 approximately 2.5 billion more people are expected to move to urban areas, which would make up a total of 68% of the world’s population.
In Europe, around 74% of the population now lives in urban areas. This number will surely increase as people continue to migrate to bigger cities.
Cities are facing complex challenges when it comes to urban mobility – whether it is private travel or commercial purposes (i.e., delivery services). Some of the most urgent issues in urban areas include higher levels of emissions, lower urban air quality, and traffic congestion.
Bicycles might just be the light at the end of the tunnel for urban transport challenges. Not only will it solve the congested traffic of city life, but it will also help improve the quality of life and environment of the urbanized area.
Local and national authorities all over the world are also trying to improve cycling infrastructure and introduce policies to make traveling with bicycles more attractive for their citizens and tourists.
City cycling confronts congested urban traffic
Dense traffic is unsurprisingly one of the most common daily challenges of modern urban living, as moving around is intrinsically connected to human behavior. Roads are filled with people commuting from home to work and school, or any other places. Besides, big cities usually also attract many tourists.
Urban cycling might just be the solution to reduce not only traffic jams and the air and noise pollution caused by traffic, but also a way to trim down the wear and tear of public roads and create more space resulting from the decrease in car traffic.
Moreover, people seem to be more motivated by the convenience of bicycles in urban areas than its environmental benefits. With the super-fast spread of eBikes, people have realized that bicycles are simply the fastest and easiest way to move around the city.
Additionally, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, people are being urged to keep their distance from each other as much as possible. This has decreased the use of public transport and made people prefer to cycle.
Last but not least – people now more than ever are aware of their health. Local and national governments are encouraging citizens to live a healthy life and improve their well-being. What can be better for general mobility than opting for cycling over the car?
Answering environmental and sustainability demands
Let’s not forget cycling has been a great solution to many environmental problems, such as air and noise pollution.
The European Commission aims to achieve a 90% reduction in greenhouse emissions from transport, as part of the European Green Deal, and to become a climate-neutral economy by 2050. To achieve this goal, it has just released its Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy.
Part of this sustainability plan is “Making interurban and urban mobility healthy and sustainable – for instance by doubling high-speed rail traffic and developing extra cycling infrastructure over the next 10 years”. No doubt, cycling is more interesting when infrastructure is better and safety is a greater priority.
Safe cycling infrastructure, the main setback
Nevertheless, people are hesitant to take their bicycle in such crowded place as the city centre. This is where local and national authorities play a big role. And indeed, many European countries are looking for ways to improve their infrastructure to be more bicycle-friendly.
ADK Insights has managed to identify a large number of public investments, initiations, and subsidies provided by governments all around the world. All of them will be published on our website before the end of Q1/2021.
Why is this interesting?
New mobility solutions are one of the hottest topics ever. And clients are obviously interested to better understand both consumers, retailers and other traders’ approach and interest in new mobility solutions such as e-Bikes, bike-sharing programmes, bike and electric vehicle lease plans, and so on.
Who is already using them? Who might be tempted to switch? What is the user experience? How has the purchase journey of various mobility solutions changed?
At ADK Insights, we monitor emerging mobility trends and translate their impact on consumer behaviours, providing insights to help businesses future-proof their innovation.
To find out more about our experience and how we can help, please contact Nimrod.
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Nimrod Moyal
26 years market intelligence experience. Specializes in bespoke solutions design, with focus on qualitative approaches, product clinics, and in-depth & creative result-oriented output.