Members of Radlobby Österreich receive the VCÖ mobility award (Photo ©VCÖ/APA-Fotoservice/Hautzinger)

ECF member Radlobby Österreich has won the prestigious national mobility award from Verkehrsclub Österreich (VCÖ) for its bike to work campaign. 

Every year VCÖ, the major Austrian advocacy organization for the promotion of sustainable and environmentally friendly transport, hands out its national mobility award. In 2013, Radlobby Österreich got into the game with 17.000 cyclists registered and 1,1 million kilometers cycled in their bike to work ("Österreich radelt zur Arbeit") campaign.  

Numbers impressive enough to make the cycling advocates a clear winner in the category "climate-friendly mobility".

The bike to work campaign had been running since 2011 and is being organized in cooperation with the national health ministry, the AK Wien union, as well as the nine Austrian federal states.

"Many employees in Austria have a commute to work that can easily be done by bike," VCÖ executive Willi Nowak said, congratulating Radlobby Österreich. "Cycling is not only environmentally friendly, but also good for your health and keeps us fit. That's because initiatives such as the bike to work campaign are very, very helpful."

What's more, the award is one of the first successes for Radlobby Österreich. It had been founded earlier in 2013 as an umbrella organization for 6 regional cycling advocacy organizations with the aim to make a stronger impact on the national level and coordinate their action. 

With only a few months in, joining forces already paid off.

About the Author

Karsten Marhold works as Communications Assistant at the European Cyclists’ Federation. He has a masters degree in European history and cultures and is a researcher in European Integration in Brussels. His interests focus on cycling as a sustainable form of mobility and the corresponding EU policies.