Hamburg in the bicycle climate test: only seventh place among big cities!

Hamburg in the bicycle climate test: only seventh place among big cities!

Hamburg, Deutschland - The current bicycle climate-test The ADFC has in the valuation of the ADFC Bicycle friendliness moved to seventh place. With an overall rating of 3.96, the Hanseatic city is among the 15 largest German cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants. A certain need for action is in the air, which is clear. The survey, which was carried out under 184,500 participants from September to November 2024: the view of the cyclists reflects and gives traffic planners: Interior feedback.

Hamburg has to line up behind cities like Frankfurt am Main, which takes up the top position with a grade of 3.49. Other cities that were able to achieve a better result are Hanover, Bremen, Leipzig, Munich and Dresden. At the end of the ranking, Duisburg is with an assessment of 4.46. The ADFC has now published the results to draw attention to the requirements of the cyclists.

positive and negative at a glance

There are some positive aspects in Hamburg, such as taking bicycle in buses and lanes as well as a functional bicycle rental system. Nevertheless, a survey by ADFC A clear language: 58% of those surveyed feel cycling in the city as stressful. The main reason for this are security concerns, as Cajus Pruin from the ADFC Hamburg explains. These concerns run through the city center to the outdoor districts.

Especially in the outskirts, the respondents have reported a lack of acceptance of cyclists: inside and the infrastructure. Winter service on cycle paths was also criticized, which makes use of use significantly more difficult in winter. This means that many cyclists feel unsafe, 70 percent already consider it to be rather endangered in road traffic. Therefore, better control and sanctioning of risky behavior by drivers is required.

development and outlook

Although Hamburg is now placed in midfield in the evaluation, the ADFC is also progressing. The association emphasizes that significant improvements were found in ten of the 15 major cities. Hamburg has a need to catch up, but the efforts to make a sustainable turnover of traffic are not entirely for nothing. Progress in the creation of new cycle paths and in sensitization for safer cycling are necessary to solve the acute problems.

The results of the test can give the decisive impetus to further expand the wheel infrastructure and make it more attractive. This is the only way to make the city of Hamburg more pleasant and safer for cyclists so that more people switch to the bike and change the cityscape.