The ECF Awards returned for its second edition at Velo-city 2023 Leipzig. The winners of the four award categories were unveiled during the third day of the conference at the official award ceremony hosted by ECF President Henk Swarttouw and ECF CEO Jill Warren in front of a full house of conference attendees.

The winners of the awards:

• The City of Helsingborg for the Cycling Infrastructure Award
• The City of Essen for the Cycle-Friendly Employer Award, sponsored by JobRad.
• The City of Oslo for the Road Safety Award, sponsored by Geveko Markings.
• The City of Heidelberg for the Cycling Improvement Award, sponsored by Eco-Counter.

Speaking at the ceremony, Swarttouw acknowledged the excellent work and progress made by all the winners, stating:

“Velo-city is the world’s premier event for cycling advocacy and promotion, and the European Cyclists’ Federation’s flagship event for knowledge exchange throughout the global cycling community. This is why we believe there is no better place to recognise and celebrate the efforts and achievements of those who are striving to ensure more cycling in their cities and regions.”

On behalf of ECF, he extended his thanks to all the sponsors who helped make the awards possible.

The next edition of the awards will be held during Velo-city 2024 Ghent, Belgium.

About the winners

The City of Helsingborg – Cycling Infrastructure Award

• Helsinborg’s Varvsbron Bridge is a magnificent cycling and pedestrian bridge that not only looks incredible but also places active travel at the top of the local mobility pyramid. This landmark bridge encourages people to get on their bikes by connecting the up-and-coming smart neighbourhood of Oceanhamnen with the city centre and a nearby public transport hub. Its sleek design and gently sloping, meandering shape gives users a smooth ride, as they cross over the city’s harbour in style.

The City of Essen – Cycle-Friendly Employer Award

• The City of Essen is truly a standout in their field. Since earning a silver-level Cycle-Friendly Employer certification in 2019, their continued efforts saw them upgraded to a gold-level certificate in 2022. A great example of “Leading the Transition”, they have been sponsoring other local CFE companies and joining forces with organisations and authorities to form a network of cycle-friendly employers. The numbers speak for themselves, with 18 CFE certified employers now in the city.

The City of Oslo – Road Safety Award

• Oslo is a city that has been making incredible progress in recent years towards becoming one of Europe’s safest cities for cyclists. Thanks to the city’s ambitions and concrete actions, a 2022 public survey revealed that 31% of respondents now consider it safe to cycle in the city, a meteoric rise from only 9% in 2014. Following radical changes to city streets, such as the implementation of 30 km/h speed limits and the removal of over 700 on-street parking spots inside the city’s inner ring road, this city became one of the first in Europe to achieve Vision Zero, with zero road deaths on its streets in 2019, and has since been leading the way with one of the fewest numbers of cyclist fatalities per year in Europe.

City of Heidelberg – Cycling Improvement Award  

• With 40% of Heidelberg’s inhabitants using their bikes as their main mode of transport for inner city journeys, the city has clear ambitions and is implementing concrete actions that are further increasing and improving cycling as part of a larger transition. In 2022, the city’s cycling counters recorded a 17% growth in the amount of bicycle journeys compared to the previous year – from an already high base. The public bike-sharing service registered almost twice as many rentals (325,165) rentals as in the previous year (166,465). Investments in cycling infrastructure include more bicycle parking, as well as a new programme to improve rural-to-urban cycling paths to enable more and safer commuting by bike. The city has also provided subsidies for bicycle purchase. And their leaders are “leading by example”, with the city’s Mayor Eckart Würzner known to lead informative cycling tours for citizens.