This paper (attached PDF) has been submitted to the New Mobility Partnerships by Dr. Odile Schwarz-Herion, Sustainable Development Consultant, Ettlingen, Germany. She welcomes comments and questions to EOKK.Black@....

 

Karlsruhe - Cycling City Nr. 1 of Southern Germany by 2015?

 

Abstract

 

Against the setting of its tradition as home town of the great-grandfather of the bicycle and its location in the totally even Upper Rhine Valley, its mitigated climate, and its easily accessible city center, Karlsruhe has always defined itself as bicycle city. Therefore, the decision makers of Karlsruhe were irritated when Karlsruhe performed below its expectations in a test regarding bicycle-friendliness of 22 selected German cities carried out in 2004 by the ADAC (Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobilclub = General German Automotive Club). The test in which Karlsruhe achieved only satisfactory results has been a wake-up call for Karlsruhe.

 

It has shown in which fields concerning bicycle traffic planning, Karlsruhe has the largest capability of improvement. Consequently, Karlsruhe decided to do something about its deficits and to use its suitable geographic and climatic conditions to become bicycle city Nr. 1 in Southern Germany by 2015 as laid down in the “Masterplan 2015”. This objective is supposed to be achieved by a 20-points-program passed by Karlsruhe’s municipal council on 25^th of October 2005. It encourages different players of the public and private sector to make cycling in Karlsruhe as safe and attractive as possible, especially by improvement in infrastructure and by increased public work within and outside the city.

 

Since passing the 20-points-program, Karlsruhe has already been successful with many activities in the field of bicycle traffic planning. This includes Karlsruhe’s success as winner of the competition „Emissionsfreie Kommunen“ (emission free municipalities) in 2009, the construction of bicycle roads (roads specifically created for cyclists), the creation of the bicycle rental system “Call a bike”, and different PR campaigns. This way, Karlsruhe might actually become bicycle city Nr. 1 in Southern Germany by 2015 at the occasion of the city’s 300^th birthday.

 

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Also available form the author in support of this paper:

 

·         Map of Karlsruhe

·         Karlsruhe 20 point program

·         ADAC test, 2004

·         How to use Call-a-Bike in Karlsruhe