New winner in the 2018 edition of ECF's German member organisation's ADFC Bicycle Climate test: For the first time, Karlsruhe is the most bicycle-friendly of Germany's larger cities. The title, together with awards for cities in all size classes, was announced by Federal Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer earlier this month. A warning sign for public authorities: the bicycle climate, the overall satisfaction of cyclists in Germany, has continued to drop slightly from an overall score of 3.8 to 3.9, with 1 being the best and 6 being the worst grade.

The ADFC Bicycle Climate Test is the largest survey on the satisfaction of cyclists worldwide. In autumn 2018, 32 questions on bicycle friendliness were asked nationwide via an online survey - for example, whether cycling is fun or stressful, whether cycling paths are kept free from parking vehicles and whether cycling feels safe even for families with children. More than 170,000 citizens took part in the survey and assessed the situation in 683 cities and municipalities. Only 15% of them were members of ADFC, showing that the survey has helped the organisation to achieve an outreach that goes far beyond cycling activists. Three quarters of the respondents are both cyclists and car drivers and therefore know both perspectives. The survey is not representative, but comparisons with other studies have shown that the results are very relevant.

Andreas Scheuer, Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure, stated:

The ADFC Bicycle Climate Test provides cities and municipalities with information on what people would like to see improved in order to make cycling even more attractive and safer. That's why we've been promoting the test for eight years now. Today's award winners show: Many years of commitment and consistent promotion of cycling in the communities are paying off. I would like to see many imitators. The bicycle climate test shows cities and municipalities where they can take action to further improve local bicycle traffic.

Besides ranking cities, the survey results also deliver clear warning signs on the state of cycling in Germany: According to the participants, the cycling climate, i.e. the satisfaction of the interviewees with cycling conditions, has deteriorated further. In 2014 the bicycle climate was rated at 3.7, in 2016 at 3.8 - in 2018 at 3.9.

The trend that people feel increasingly insecure when cycling is particularly worrying (score 4.2 compared to 3.9 in 2016). ADFC attributes the poor results for perceived safety to bicycle lanes that are far too narrow and the frequent lack of separation between cycling and car traffic. 81 percent of respondents consider it important or very important to be separated from car traffic - among women, the figure is as high as 86 percent. 74 percent of those surveyed also say that they have a bad feeling when leaving their children to ride their bicycles alone. In the big cities, this figure even goes up to 85 percent.

The Bicycles Climate test is now also conducted by several other ECF members around Europe: For example, in France FUB organises the "Baromètre des villes cyclables", while in the Czech Republic Nadace Partnerství initiated the "Cyklobarometr".