As in previous years, Eco-Counter is taking part in Velo-City, the flagship event for bicycle promotion, held this year in Ghent. One of the highlights of the event is the ECF Awards, which took place on Tuesday June 16. The winners have just been announced!

This year, the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) was rewarding committed players in five different categories (including a new “Best Active Mobility Initiative” category to highlight outstanding achievements in promoting cycling):

• Cycle-Friendly Employer Award
• Road Safety Award
• Cycling Infrastructure Award
• Best Active Mobility Initiative
• Cycling Improvement Award

Eco-Counter once again partnered the 3rd edition of this event in the “Cycling Improvement Award” category.

In 2023, we rewarded the city of Heidelberg in Germany, a well-deserved highlight for the fantastic work the city has done over the years to improve its cycling network.

And the 2024 winners are…

• The European Parliament in the “Cycle-Friendly Employer” category after becoming the first EU institution to achieve Cycle Friendly Employer certification. As the ECF notes, “The institution is exemplary in the way an employer can encourage its employees to cycle to work”. It offers free bike maintenance, bike parking and organizes annual promotional events including conferences, workshops, bike tours and training courses.
• The city of Bologna, Italy, in the “Road Safety Award” category after being the first major Italian city to impose 30 km/h speed limits on most streets. Thanks to this measure, the number of cyclists increased by 29% in the first few months following implementation.
• The city of Quelimane, Mozambique, in the “Best Active Mobility Initiative” category for the construction of the country’s first bicycle path. The mayor of Quelimane, Manuel Araujo, was rewarded for leading the city’s transition to sustainable mobility, with modal share now reaching 40% for walking and 35% for cycling.
• Velo-city’s host, the city of Ghent in Belgium, won the ECF cycling infrastructure award for its 500 kilometers of cycling infrastructure and more than 60 cycling bridges and underpasses connecting cyclists to their desired destinations. Velo-city will see the inauguration of Ghent’s latest major infrastructure, the Annie Vande Wielebrug bridge, which will welcome over 3,000 cyclists and pedestrians a day.
• And finally, in the “Cycling Improvement Award” category, the Metropolis of Lyon! Its 500 million euro 2024-2030 plan aims to ensure that 99% of its citizens are less than 10 minutes from a quality cycle route.

Congratulations to all the winners and to the ECF for this wonderful event highlighting pro-bike initiatives. Eco-Counter is proud to be working with the Metropolis of Lyon, that has long been committed to building a genuine cycling ecosystem of services, infrastructure, communication and promotion.

ECF Awards 2024 ceremony in Ghent

About Greater Lyon’s cycling policy

The Lyon Urban Community’s first Cycling Master Plan was adopted in 1998. In 2003, a Master Plan was adopted to develop a cycling network, then in its infancy. In 2009, a Plan Modes Doux was adopted, followed in 2016 by the Plan d’Actions pour les Mobilités Actives (PAMA), which aims to increase the Metropole’s network of cycle paths to 1,000 km.

A new milestone has been reached with the launch in 2021 of Voies Lyonnaises, the local bicycle express network, which promises the completion of over 350km of separate, safe cycle lanes by 2030.

Map of the future “Voies Lyonnaises” network

An ambitious monitoring program

To assess the effectiveness of the improvements made, understand how the network is used, and analyze ridership trends, the Metropole uses 4 types of tools: Vélov’ data (its bikesharing scheme), mobility barometers, manual counts and permanent counts.

In terms of permanent counts, the Metropole has set up a vast network to monitor ridership, with over 70 permanent counters installed. Bridges are a strategic focus for traffic measurement, and all bridges on the Rhône and Saône rivers have been equipped. The Metropole also installed an Eco-DISPLAY cycle barometer at the exit of the Croix-Rousse Tunnel, specifically dedicated to active transportation.

As part of the development of this cycling policy, several automatic counters were progressively installed by the Metropolis to monitor changes in ridership. Between 1998 and 2001, ridership was still on the decline, but from 2001 onwards, the introduction of bikesharing (Vélov’ in Lyon) led to a boom in activity (10 to 15% growth per year at the time).

Bicycle ridership then levelled off for a few years, before rising again from 2009 and 2016, when the increase was once again 10 to 15% per year, in line with the PAMA (Plan d’Actions pour les Mobilités Actives – Action Plan for Active Mobility).

Positive results

After 10 years of monitoring ridership, the Metropole notes that growth in bicycle traffic has been +15% per year for the past 6 years, and 370% in 10 years.

In 2023, Fabien Bagnon, vice-president for mobility, notes a 12% increase in bicycle traffic between 2021 and 2022, on all counting sites in the Metropole. Last year, traffic increased by 7% (compared to 2022).

Data shared with the general public

For several years now, the Metropole is also sharing visitor numbers with the public, through our Public Webpage. Analysis of the data confirms an upward trend in bicycle use on the territory, which is unlikely to slow down given the efforts made and the already extremely encouraging results!