Cycling Budapest Programme Launched (Hungary)

Accompanied by great media attention and in the presence of leading political representatives a new urban cycling action plan was officially presented and launched in Budapest on 21 May. The purpose of the Cycling Budapest Programme is to serve as the mid- and long term strategy to improve the conditions for urban biking.

The paper - developed by the Budapest Technical University and the Hungarian Cyclists’ Club for the Municipality of Budapest - provides a detailed action plan to make biking a viable alternative to motorized private transport. The most visible results will be the construction of 176 kms of bike roads by 2013 and the increase of modal share of cycling from the current 2% to 5%.

As Greg Spencer (The Regional Environmental Center for Central and Eastern Europe) outlined Budapest is now at a similar turning point where Paris was in 1995. In addition to a series of traffic calming and infrastructure measures, the Cycling Budapest Programme also foresees the launch of a similar bike rental service to that of Paris. Furthermore, 62 Bike and Ride parking facilities will be constructed at public transport nodes. An important element of the strategy is the definition of a priority order how space should be allocated to biking infrastructure in a compact urban setting. Only if all possibilities fail can walking space be sacrificed - a radical change from the rather car friendly development patterns so far.

Source: Népszabadság http://nol.hu/budapest/cikk/492564 (in Hungarian)

Download strategy: Hungarian Cyclists’ Federation http://kerekparosklub.hu (in Hungarian)

News Category: Initiatives Around Europe

Date Posted: 27/05/2008