Photo: Flickr/ibm4381

Spring is upon us, and so are cycling campaigns! Whether to encourage new cyclists to dust off their bike, or to encourage more trips by bicycle, check out what these two cities are doing. Know of any other campaigns? Share them with us!

After the B-Track-B symposium and meeting in Lisbon, AREAL in Algarve, Portugal started to prepare a new campaign in order to gather as many new participants as possible. B-Track-B is a campaign that combines technology to be used by cities to track and reward cyclists. In this second campaign, AREAL will focus their energy on schools and bicycle associations, while continuing to encourage families from the first campaign to keep participating in the project.

As an incentive, they intend to promote the interaction among the participants through two competitions with a reward system linked to the sum of total trips: one for classrooms (or groups of students) and another for individual participants. In the first competition, a prize will be awarded to the group with the highest number of trips made by bicycle. For the second competition, the prize will be drawn among the 30 participants with the highest number of trips made by bike during a given period. A major event is expected to take place at the end of the campaign, with an awards ceremony for the prizewinners.

Bike Experience in Brussels is another innovative campaign soon underway. Bike Experience pairs a ‘Bike Coach’ with a new cyclist in an effort to encourage Brussels to commute to work by bike. Beat traffic and learn something new! Aimed at both businesses – to boost employees commuting by bike – as well as the individual, Bike Experience gets you out of the traffic jams and onto a bike. As a coach you take a course and meet a cyclist who you will accompany on their daily commute, giving them tips and tricks for navigating by bike in Brussels. As a new cyclist you get guidance and – let’s face it – the motivation of another to start commuting by bike! Living in Brussels and interested in joining? Click here. Don’t have a bicycle? They’ll lend you one in exchange for a small deposit!

With innovative campaigns like that in Algarve and Bruxelles, there are no excuses left to not bike! Meet new people, win prizes, beat traffic, and feel the breeze on your face - all by bike!

 About the Author

Zoé Kruchten is a Communications Assistant at the European Cyclists’ Federation. She has a BA in International Relations and has worked in the past as a bike mechanic.