The Province of Groningen is the northernmost province of the Netherlands, and is a region situated around the City of Groningen, consisting of smaller rural towns and villages, with an approximate population of 600,000 inhabitants. The province boasts a rich cycling history which includes manufacturing of the characteristic “Dutch bike” as early as 1870. Many of the bicycles in today’s streets bare strong resemblance to the late 19^th century designs developed in the province. The province’s cycling modal share was 37% in 2017 and has been growing steadily.

Photo credit: Province of Groningen

For the province, carefree connections, and mobility options between and across towns, villages, and the city for all residents and visitors, are key priorities when it comes to planning. This is reflected in the Mobility Strategy 2022-2035, which presents long-term policy objectives. Among these is the objective to increase the number of cyclists by 20% by 2027. To reach this goal, the province is working on the following:

• Maintaining high quality cycling infrastructure and facilities: Province Groningen works closely with municipalities to ensure that cycling infrastructure, bike parking (e.g. at mobility hubs and bus stops) within the city, towns and villages is maintained at a good standard.
• Connecting satellite towns to the city through new infrastructure: Province Groningen is constructing broad bike paths where bicycles have priority on crossings, known as cycle highways or 'doorfietsroutes' to facilitate cycling from towns across the province to the city of Groningen.
• Ensuring multi-modal travel is carefree and all modes are well-linked: transfers from bike to bus and train are made easy due to high quality safe bike parking facilities at mobility hubs, where hubs also have rental bikes on offer to facilitate the full passenger journey including first and last mile.
• Offering cycling education at an early age: young children get acquainted with cycling through projects using walking bikes at kindergartens, while schoolchildren can use carefully routed children's cycle routes ‘kinderfietsroutes’, which offer an array of small activities along the way.
• Promoting modal shift via (e-)bike pilots: targeting mainly commuters living within a 25 km radius from their workplace, the province is offering free (e-)bike and e-cargobike try-outs to replace fossil fuel commuting and logistics/ deliveries.
• Engaging elderly commuters: the national cycle on programme 'doortrappen' is rolled out across all municipalities in the province and is targeted at stimulating safe cycling amongst the elderly residents.
• Establishing a cycling community: Province of Groningen has initiated the establishment of “Fietscommunity Groningen” through which private sector companies, public sector governmental organisations and cycling enthusiasts come together to develop and strengthen (new) projects and find fruitful collaborations. All initiatives are focused on stimulating bike use and strengthening the cycling culture in the province.

By becoming a member of ECF's Cities & Regions for Cyclists, the Province of Groningen is looking to network with fellow members, to share and gain knowledge and insight, as well as to connect with members working on cycling projects in (semi-)rural regions.

Cover photo credit: Routebureau Groningen

Province of Groningen joins a network of cities and regions committed to promoting cycling as a mode of transport and leisure, collectively representing over 50 million citizens across Europe and beyond.
For more information on ECF’s CRC network and how to join, visit our Cities & Regions for Cyclists page.
For more information on Province of Groningen, click here.