The expansion of Bonn's cycling infrastructure is based on the cycle path network plan of the  2020 traffic development plan (VEP). A VEP is a transport planning instrument that takes into account all modes and modes of transport in Bonn. It is developed at city level and defines goals and measures for the city's overall transport development.

The cycle path network plan is currently being supplemented and fleshed out with the expertise of the Radentscheid Bonn and ADFC Bonn initiatives. The cycle path network is an important step in the planning and prioritization of future cycling projects.

Over the coming years, a comfortable and safe cycling infrastructure is to be created step by step along the Bundesstraße 9.

• 2019:  Protected bike lane and  environmental l ane in the Sandkaule
• 2021: Establishment of the Belderberg environmental lane
• 2024: Installation of a safe cycling facility, a  protected bike lane, along a section of Adenauerallee (B9) between Bundeskanzlerplatz and Rheinweg. All information can  be found here.

Between Sankt Augustiner Straße and Hermann-Wandersleb-Ring, a comfortable and safe cycling infrastructure will be created step by step over the coming years. By creating cycle paths and  environmental lanes along the east-west axis, the city of Bonn will connect districts better and more safely. According to current plans, the following sections will be realized as follows

• 2022: Installation of an environmental lane and cycle paths at Berliner Freiheit and Oxfordstraße
• 2022: Installation of environmental lanes on the Herrmann-Wandersleb-Ring (traffic trial)
• 2022: Installation of cycle lanes on the Viktoria Bridge
• 2022: Commissioning of expert opinion on the installation of environmental lanes on Endenich Straße
• 2023: Start of construction work for a pedestrian and cycle underpass at the old cemetery
• 2023/2024: Closing the gap in the pedestrian and cycle path on Bundesstraße 56 between Beuel and the Sankt Augustin city limits (section between Am Herrengarten and Reinold-Hagen-Straße/Bundesgrenzschutzstraße)
• 2023/2024: Early public participation and start of planning for the  redesign of the cycle route at Bertha-von-Suttner-Platz
• 2023: Start of planning for the redesign of the cycle traffic routing at Konrad-Adenauer-Platz and Sankt Augustiner Straße

 Cycle commuter routes connect workplaces and city centers with residential areas so that more people cycle to work, school or university instead of driving.

Cycling from Bornheim-Alfter via Dransdorf to the city center should be safer and quicker in the future. The commuter route is divided into several sections, which are at different stages of planning and implementation. Cycle bridges and new cycle paths are being planned for the expansion and will be gradually extended over the coming years.

Further route options and pathways for the cycle commuter routes in the Rhein-Sieg district are currently being examined as part of a potential analysis.

From April to October 2024, a total of 40 cycle lanes are to be set up along 21.5 kilometers.

Cyclists set the pace on cycle lanes and enjoy special rights. Cyclists can get around quickly, comfortably and safely. Since 2023, the city of Bonn has been applying a new marking and planning standard that ensures new minimum widths and shows the cycle lanes even more clearly to all road users.

You can find more information on cycle lanes  here. here.

In 2022, the cycle paths on the right bank of the Rhine were widened.

The Erzberger, Brassert and Rathenau banks have also been made bicycle-friendly in recent years. The measures to calm motor traffic have enhanced the riverbank area for local recreation. In the coming years, the banks of the Rhine will be architecturally redesigned. The improvements for cyclists will then be continued in the long term and the traffic calming measures for motorists will be maintained.

Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to widen the cycle paths on the left bank of the Rhine due to nature conservation and monument protection concerns. The city of Bonn is currently examining alternatives.

With the implementation of the  bicycle parking concept, the city of Bonn has already created many new parking facilities for bicycles in all parts of the city. The expansion is being driven forward and geared towards the specific needs of the city's population. Bonn residents will also be able to use the  City-Key app to report the need for bicycle parking facilities directly to the City of Bonn in a simplified manner.

Further bicycle parking garages will be built in 2024. Secure parking spaces for bicycles will be available at Stiftsplatz, Beueler Bahnhof, Konrad-Adenauer-Platz and Frankenbad. A bicycle parking garage is also to be built at Bad Godesberg station. In addition, the underground parking garage of the City Hall has already been equipped with a secure parking facility for bicycles and cargo bikes.

Read more about  parking facilities for cyclists here.

To make cycling in Bonn even more attractive, the city has already installed  green arrows for cycling at almost 30 intersections.

More and more people have been cycling in Bonn in recent years. And the volume of cycling is set to increase further. This is measured, among other things, at 15 permanent counting stations in Bonn, whose data is constantly accessed by the city administration's traffic planning team.

In order to avoid conflicts and accidents with cyclists and to protect them, it is particularly important to give this form of mobility more space in city traffic.

Bicycle and car traffic in Bonn has increased in recent years. This has exacerbated conflicts over existing traffic areas. The growth in car traffic, combined with the increased size and weight of individual vehicles, increases the risk of accidents for cyclists and also has a negative impact on the subjective perception of safety.

A good cycling infrastructure helps to improve the subjective perception of safety and objectively increase safety. Only if people feel safe on a bicycle in road traffic will more people dare to switch from cars to bicycles. In as many places as possible, the cycle path is structurally separated from car traffic. This has been proven to make cyclists feel safer.

The most common causes of accidents between cyclists and cars are

• Turning accidents at junctions due to poor visibility and lack of shoulder vision,
• collisions with carelessly opened car doors,
• accidents caused by cars passing too closely.

If a motor vehicle passes cyclists too closely, they are not only unsettled, but the vehicle can even develop a suction effect - with fatal consequences for people on bicycles.

The objective safety of cyclists can therefore be increased most effectively by creating sufficient safety distances of at least 1.5 meters from moving traffic and 0.75 meters from parked cars.

A good and safe cycling infrastructure therefore needs more space on the road. To this end,  Radentscheid Bonn proposes new minimum widths and safety requirements for the expansion of bicycle traffic, to which the city of Bonn's traffic planning should be aligned.

The car has many individual advantages - once purchased, it is always at our doorstep, ready to take us from A to B in comfort. However, these individual advantages come with collective disadvantages in cities, as parking and road space is limited. In Bonn, 31 percent of journeys of less than 5 kilometers and 51 percent of journeys between 5 and 10 kilometers are made by car - there is a lot of potential for a shift from car to walking and cycling in Bonn. The consequences for all road users are tangible: traffic jams, frustrating searches for parking spaces and stress.

Bonn is the congestion capital of NRW. Why does it make sense, especially in this tense situation, to reallocate traffic areas in favor of public transport, cycling and walking? The expansion of cycling and walking infrastructure encourages people to switch from cars to bicycles, especially for shorter distances of less than ten kilometers. Every trip shifted from car to bicycle reduces the number of cars and traffic jams.

Not every journey is suitable for cycling and not everyone can or wants to cycle. People with physical disabilities, tradespeople, care services or delivery traffic are dependent on motor vehicles. If more people for whom this is possible switch to bicycles or buses and trains, there will be more space on roads and parking lots for those who are dependent on a motor vehicle.

Driving is very resource- and space-intensive. On average, there are only 1.46 people in a car. Depending on the speed, a moving car in the city consumes between 65.2 and 140 square meters, as the space required for braking distances and safety distances also increases with increasing speed. Similar to the car, bicycles enable an individual form of mobility, but consume significantly less space with a maximum of 41 square meters (source:  Agora Verkehrswende (opens in a new tab)).

Not everyone is able to ride a bike. However, this also applies the other way around: not everyone in Bonn is able to drive a car or wants to. Many cannot afford a car, some do not have the confidence to drive, while others are not in a good enough health to do so. An equal expansion of the infrastructure between motorized, bicycle and pedestrian traffic as well as public transport therefore increases the freedom of choice for Bonn residents as to which means of transport they would like to use.

Over the past 70 years, the focus has been on planning car-friendly cities. Equal mobility therefore now requires the special promotion and expansion of cycling. This is because cycling combines the demands of environmentally friendly and individual mobility.

Not everyone can drive a car. In 2021, one in five women and one in seven men in Germany did not have a driver's license. Women are therefore more likely to suffer from the restrictions of an inadequate range of so-called environmental transport options - including public transport, cycling and  walking.

Pioneers such as the cities of Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam and Copenhagen were courageous early on and have proven their worth: If a safe and comfortable cycling infrastructure is created, many people will switch from cars to bicycles. What is often neglected in the public debate is that the mobility transition is not only an important step towards climate neutrality, but also an important approach to creating a more liveable city.

People rate those cities as particularly liveable that are characterized by public space for encounters, lots of greenery and little traffic.  Radentscheid Bonn has formulated these goals: By improving the cycling and  walking infrastructure, the aim is to create more meeting spaces for Bonn residents and reduce traffic noise for city dwellers. Better conditions for cyclists and pedestrians should encourage people to switch to cycling or walking.

If the mobility transition is successful and individual car traffic decreases, there will be more space available for green areas and places to spend time in the future.

The bicycle is also the first means of transportation that children can use independently. If the cycling and walking infrastructure in Bonn improves, children's mobility will also improve. Children will be able to walk or cycle to school, play sports or visit friends earlier.

In order to achieve the climate targets in the transport sector, more people need to switch from cars to cycling, walking and public transport. This requires convenient and safe services. As road space in Bonn is limited, space will be distributed more fairly between the modes of transport - this is an enormous transformation process that will not succeed overnight, but will require transitional periods. Improvements for cycling and walking can only be implemented step by step, so the positive effects of the mobility transition will only become visible gradually.

What's more, planning processes take time and need to be coordinated and harmonized within the city. Funding for the expansion must be applied for, staff positions filled and interests renegotiated. Citizens who are affected by the changes must also be included in the planning and their concerns must be heard. These processes take time. The implementation of Bonn's cycling decision is therefore a longer-term transformation program for the city against the backdrop of the mobility transition and climate targets.

All measures to strengthen cycling have been adopted by the elected bodies of the City of Bonn and are being implemented by the administration. The citizens' initiative  Radentscheid Bonn determines the current direction of cycling planning in the city of Bonn. The voluntary initiative collected more than 28,000 signatures from Bonn residents in 2020. The city council subsequently accepted the petition and voted in favor of its implementation.

This makes the cycling referendum the most successful citizens' initiative in the history of the City of Bonn - both in terms of the number of signatures collected and the very high level of approval by the city council.

Bonn is not alone in this: there are comparable initiatives in more than 48 German cities and municipalities and in five federal states.