On Sunday, around 18,000 people took to the streets of Munich by bike to set an example for a better cycling infrastructure. Now, one day later, the cycling club ADFC has again published the results of the 2022 cycling climate test. This survey asks about different aspects of cycling every two years. The participants can assign school grades.
As has been the case for ten years, the cycling climate in Munich has not improved. The city still gets the grade “sufficient”. Last year, with an average of 3.9, it even came off a little worse than in 2020, when the average was 3.8. And when it comes to the question of whether cycling is fun, there is only one “sufficient”.
The bicycle climate test is a nationwide survey funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport. Last autumn, 27 aspects of safety and driving comfort were surveyed in more than 1000 municipalities, divided according to size.
And in the big cities, the participants in the survey see an increased need for action, as they have since the survey began in 2012. Munich falls from fourth to fifth place among the 14 German cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants. In a Bavarian comparison, however, the state capital is ahead of Nuremberg, which finished with a grade of 4.16. Augsburg is the only Bavarian city with 200,000 to 500,000 inhabitants to achieve a grade of 3.99.
Among the five Bavarian cities with 100,000 to 200,000 inhabitants, Erlangen takes first place with 3.24. Passau received the worst rating in Bavaria in the category of up to 100,000 residents with a grade of 4.45, which is just about sufficient.
Dissatisfaction with the lack of control of illegal parking on cycle paths
In Munich, 3914 people took part in the ADFC survey. The people of Munich again found the offer of public rental bikes the best, which they rated with a grade of 2.5, i.e. just “good”. Also at 2.5 is the range of one-way streets that are open to bikes going in the opposite direction.
The next best grade is then a 2.9 for the question of whether young and old people can get through the city equally safely. The accessibility of the city center is also always satisfactory (3.1), and the recent promotion of cycling is only adequate (3.7). Just as sufficient are, among other things, the winter service, acceptance as a road user, the feeling of security, the obstacles on cycle paths and – just barely – being guided to construction sites and driving in mixed traffic.
Conflicts with motor vehicles are rated as unsatisfactory (4.7), traffic lights for cyclists (4.8), taking bicycles with you on local public transport (4.8) and checking illegal parking on cycle paths and the width of cycle paths (both 5, 0). On the latter, for example, the vast majority of participants complain that safe overtaking is hardly or only with difficulty.
Twelve percent of the Altstadt-Radlring has been built
While the results may look unflattering for Munich, that doesn’t mean the city has been idle in recent years. The mobility department points out that almost twelve percent of the Altstadt-Radlring is currently under construction, and another almost 20 percent are in the planning stage. Further draft resolutions are already being worked on.
The implementation of the Radentscheid is also in progress. The city council has passed five bundles of measures, three individual projects have been decided and are being implemented, the public has already been involved in eight projects, and another 25 projects are still in the planning stage.
Of course, the improvement of the infrastructure is progressing too slowly for the ADFC, as the club never tires of emphasizing. The fact that things can be done more quickly here is also a key goal of the Bavarian cycling event, for which so many people pedaled at the weekend.