PRAGUE, 15/07/2016 – More than thirteen hundred cyclists voted in historically first Czech Cycle Barometer of cities and towns.

The thirty questions contained in the first National Cycle Barometer regarded evaluating the country’s cycling infrastructure, safety and promotion of cycling by city officials. The contest, which saw this year its first edition, was inspired by a similar German survey, the ADFC Fahrradklima-test. The respondents of Czech cycle Barometer were the participants of the nation-wide campaign „By bike to work“.

„We decided to use the campaign to assess the feelings of every day bicycle’s users. These respondents evaluated the current situation of cycling in the Czech cities and towns and they decided that the winner of the Czech cycle Barometer is the city of Hradec Králové,“ explains Daniel Mourek of Nadace Partnerství, the Czech member of the European Cyclists Federation, which organized the test together with other partners.

On a scale from one to six the respondents evaluated the performance of the cities involved in the campaign By bike to work. “The questions were divided into four sections dealing with cycling infrastructure, safety of cyclists, comfort on cycle lanes and current state of infrastructure” continues Mourek, explaining the methodology used. “The final note is an average of notes given in different blocks”.

The winning city of Hradec Králové received overall score 2,75. As a reward the city will receive free monitoring of cyclists by automated counters provided by Eco-counter, a Nadace partner, for three months. Hradec Králové was followed by Pardubice (both cities on the EuroVelo 7 Elbe Cycle Route) and Otrokovice with the final grade of 2,85. At the bottom of the table two North Bohemian cities, Liberec with note 3,76, and Ústí nad Labem with the absolute lowest score – 4,25. On the other hand, bigger cities like Prague in Bohemia and Brno in Moravia can’t be too satisfied with their outcome either. Brno ended as third last and Prague just a rank higher. This score reflect the current cycling situation in both capitals.

The largest criticism expressed by cyclists was the lack of comfort on cycle trails. When it comes to judging the width or the quality of the cycling surface, none of the reviewed cities reached a satisfying note below 3. On the other hand the promotion and safety were judged more positively with an average note 2,94, where the highest score was received by the winner Hradec Králové with a note of 2,25.

Cycling culture influences the overall happiness of the life in the city along with other factors connected to the mobility of citizens. „The assessment over the city isn’t influenced only by indicators connected to bicycle but also by the general volumes of transit, the size of the city and the quality of public transport. The city is one single organism and all modes of transport should be in balance,“ adds  Jaroslav Martinek of Centrum dopravního výzkumu (CDV).

The contest labelled „Cyklobarometr“ will be extended to cities and towns which were not yet involved in the campaign “By bike to work. „In similar contests conducted in Germany by ADFC, hundred thousand of cyclists participate. Those evaluations are a great and important feedback for local politicians when it comes to cycling policies“ explains Daniel Mourek.

More information at www.cyklobarometr.cz

Contact:
Martin Gillár, martin.gillar@nap.cz, tel.: +420 515 903 122, +420 775 958 907