Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Cycling Cities = Sustainable Cities

Throughout Europe, increased traffic in town and city centers has resulted in chronic congestion, with the many adverse consequences that this entails in terms of delays and pollution. Air and noise pollution is getting worse year by year. Urban traffic is responsible for 40% of CO2 emissions and 70% of emissions of other pollutants arising from road transport.
Cities can benefit greatly from cycling. However, the number of road traffic accidents in towns and cities is also growing each year: one in three fatal accidents now happen in urban areas, and it is the most vulnerable people, namely pedestrians and cyclists, who are the main victims. By integrating cycling planning in their urban mobility policies, local authorities guarantee the improvement of the attractiveness and safety of their cities. Spicycles has addressed main stream elements of cycling policy that can help cities to improve, also in East European countries. Spicycles made this overview in Polish, Czech, Rumanian and Hungarian.