"A lot of catching up to do"

Cycling in Vienna is growing faster than cycle paths

(Bild: APA/Roland Schlager)

Vienna can boast new record figures for bicycle traffic. In just one year, the total number of journeys has increased by nine percent, and in some places even more. The VCÖ believes that the city hall, as well as Viennese employers, are lagging behind despite the cycle path offensive.

Vienna's 17 bicycle counting stations measured nine percent more cyclists in the first half of the year. The counting station in Operngasse alone saw an average of more than 110,000 bikes per month, which is 11,000 more each month than in 2023. Although outdoor temperatures play a smaller role in the density of cycling traffic over the course of the year than in the past, they still have a noticeable effect: June was the strongest month of the first half of the year, with an increase of 200,000 journeys compared to May.

"Cycling helps to reduce traffic jams"
"The public transport city of Vienna is increasingly becoming a cycling city," summarizes Katharina Jaschinsky. According to the VCÖ expert, this is good news not only in terms of climate protection and the benefits for personal fitness, but also for city traffic as a whole: "Cycling helps to reduce traffic jams," says Jaschinsky, reminding car drivers of the benefits of cycling for them.

The city's cycle path offensive is lagging behind demand, says the VCÖ.

(Bild: Andreas Tischler / Vienna Press)

Employers lagging behind
In the opinion of the VCÖ, Vienna's cycle path offensive is not keeping pace with the growing number of cyclists; the backlog from the past is simply too great. Accident data from Statistics Austria show that good cycle path infrastructure is one of the most important measures for safe cycling. They are the only traffic routes without a single fatality last year.

However, the VCÖ believes that Vienna's employers have even more catching up to do than the city when it comes to cycling awareness. It is high time for them to think more about offers such as job bikes and other incentives for cycling to work.