Chapter 2: Regional cycling policies
Chapter 2.2: Good examples
1. Cooperation of the regional government with local governments
Example: The Region of South Moravia elaborates a database on cycling projects (planned and realised ones), including the full information on projects, map of regional cycle networks (cycle infrastructure incl. the phases of realisation, financing, objectives, monitoring etc.), activities of municipalities and micro-regions and other organisations within the region, relation of the activities with transport and tourism areas for the following periods:
- The year of 2007 and 2008
- Per year with a prospective for the years 2009 - 2013
2. Needs of cyclists in the region and an attitude of the regional government
The dialogue of responsible authorities with cyclists is very important, nevertheless in the Czech Republic, this is not broadly established yet, it works only in a small scale. First, the dialogue is naturally opened while dealing with signposting for cycle routes which the Czech Hiking Club is responsible for in the matter of production / installation of cycle signs on field and forest routes. Secondly, the dialogue starts while discussing major projects, the aim is to establish regular discussion groups between users and municipal officials (and communicating on the state of cycling infrastructure) which is not the case for the present. An example can be given from the Olomouc region where such a group exists – Olomouc Cyclists and the regional government cooperates with them. A similar case is in the Liberec region where the regional government communicates with the local cyclist group and organises common bicycle rides for promotion of cycling and the cycling infrastructure in the region.
3. Decision-makers and the cycling policy
Example: the Region of South Bohemia (capital: Ceske Budejovice) – the regional governor - Jan Zahradník and the reg. councillor - František Štangl are great promoters of cycling in the region which helps to implement a good cycling policy and establish a link with partners for development of suitable conditions for cycling.
4. Working groups and communication links at the authorities
In this matter, a large reserve can be seen in the Czech Republic. Among the related departments, internal working groups and communication on cycling is not sufficient. Only the Region of Highlands (Vysočina, capital: Jihlava) has established a stronger dialogue between the department of transport and the department of tourism. As well as, the Zlín regional government opened an intensive communication among departments which will be hopefully maintained.
5. Coordination with external partners
Example: the Region of South Bohemia. Beside the South-Bohemian regional government, many other partners contribute to development of cycling. The most important cooperation of the regional government is focused on cities, municipalities, private sector, and NGOs working in the field of development of tourism, sustainable transport or specifically dealing with cycling, such as cycle clubs or the Foundation for South Bohemian cycle paths – established in 2004. The foundation has been based on partnership of the South-Bohemia regional government, South-Bohemian Tourism Board, the bus service operator: ČSAD Jihotrans a.s. and a group of South-Bohemian cities and municipalities. The main objective of the foundation is to develop cycling and achieve a good coordination of all the activities in benefit of cycling within the whole region. Some of their popular activities are focused on organising cycling events, publishing leaflets on cycle routes in the region, auditing the quality of south-bohemian cycle routes and monitoring of bicycle use along them.
6. Regional cycling policy
Example: the Region of South Bohemia. By the end of 2005, the “Conception of cycling development in the South-Bohemian region“ was set up and fully adopted in 2006. The document has come out of the objectives of the National Cycling Strategy and defined concrete regional priorities for improvement of cycling in South Bohemia. The conception reflects both integral streams of cycling: 1) cycling as a means of environment-friendly transport and 2) cycling as an attractive way of tourism development. The policy defines the following main priorities for the period of 2007 – 2013:
- Priority 1 Development of cycling as an equal means of transport to others in the South Bohemian region
- Priority 2 Development of cycling as an integral and important part of tourism supply in South Bohemia
- Priority 3 Support of super-structural and cross-cutting activities in the area of cycle tourism and cycling transport development in South Bohemia
Similar conceptions were adopted in other regions: the Olomouc region, Zlín region, South Moravian region (capital: Brno), Karlovy Vary region, Pardubice region, Central Bohemian region (capital: Praha), Hradec Králové region. Some regions have started to elaborate a strategy of cycling development as well: the Moravian-Silesian region (capital: Ostrava) and the Usti nad Labem region.
7. Links between planning and realizing the regional cycling policy
Monitoring of realized measures (planned by adopted cycling strategies) is not sufficient in any region. In some cases the cycling strategies do not have the responsibilities concretized and targets quantified therefore the real works cannot be thoroughly compared to the strategic objectives which are either too general or without links to responsible officials or direct financial resources in action plans. The regional governments should therefore improve their planning and in some cases bring it to a more concrete scale which is also one of the main BYPAD recommendations. The BYPAD improvement plan helps to the regional governments to get oriented in a model cycling policy and define the local issues in order to fulfill their strategies in a more coherent way. The regional / municipal cycling policies should find their firm position in land use planning and should be practically linked to the related fields. The regional and municipal documents should integrate all modes of transport, on both levels: on paper and on the ground.
8. Financing of cycling measures
Example: the Olomouc region. The cycling measures are yearly financed from a fixed amount of the regional budget. Financing is earmarked mainly for construction and improvement of cycling infrastructure (2004: 6.788.000,- CZK, 2005: 15.000.000,- CZK, 2006: 14.548.000,- CZK). Since 2005 the regional government financially supports maintenance of cycle signs (300.000 CZK/year), the promotion tour series „Discover the Olomouc region by bicycle“ (100.000 CZK/year). Promotion of cycle tourism makes a part of the tourism promotion strategy. Support of cycling from the regional government is equilibrated among realisation of long-distance cycle routes and local routes for commuting of cyclists (which mostly go on roads with low car traffic or separately in some cases). The regional government has a competence to develop stretches of interurban cycle routes suitable for daily cycling as well.
Example: the Central Bohemian region. In 2006, the region updated its “Plan of backbone cycle routes”. The plan gives a long-term vision on support of cycling and implementation of cycle routes. In the present, the prioritized stretches are those of international long-distance cycle routes - the European cycle route network EuroVelo. The objective is to separate the cycle routes and while avoiding car traffic to lead them along the most interesting places of the region. The regional government therefore finances realization of these corridors, using the regional cycle route network. Subsequently, the 3rd and 4th category cycle routes (of local character) will be financed.
On the basis of the data acquired from the Czech Statistic Office (population census 2001, SLDB 2001) we have evaluated the cities with a higher share of cycling in the modal split. The presentation has shown the list of “top ten cities” which will be continuously updated. The most successful are cities up to 40.000 inhabitants.
9. Cycling policy planners and makers
This matter is a crucial point. There are large reserves in the Czech Republic. The Region of Highlands (Vysočina) has its cycle coordinator. The other regional governments support cycling in the frame of their large work responsibilities which implies an insufficient time capacity for coordination of cycling measures. A coordinator and cooperation among departments and organisations are necessary for many reasons, for ex. cycle paths and good planning of a cycle route network (including inter-modal options and facilities) has to be in harmony with the overall land use and transport planning which is not fully in practice yet. An example can be given from the South Moravian region which harmonised its planning of integrated public transport system with inter-modal needs for cycling.
10. Cycle tourist route network
In the Czech Republic, the main cycle route network is formed by the 1st and 2nd category bicycle routes which are successively completed by the 3rd category cycle routes coordinated within the regional networks. The table brings the information on the state of sign-posted cycle routes in the Czech Republic which is regularly monitored in the database administered by Czech Hiking Club (as for the 1st of January 2006). The network consists of 851 kms of 1st category cycle routes (long-distance), 3 502,5 kms of 2nd category cycle routes (important routes connecting regions and regional backbones) and 2 455,5 kms of cycle routes of the 3rd category (see the example table 2).
In some regions the network is completed with local cycle routes of 4th category (local links towards places of interest and inter-municipal routes where the bicycle use is monitored (see the following table).
Example: Monitoring of use along the 4th category cycle routes in regions (South Bohemia)
| Route | Part | cycle | In-line | walk | other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KČT č. 12 | České Budějovice - Hluboká nad Vltavou (6.7.2005) | 1 235 | 313 | 102 | 1 | 1 651 |
| KČT č. 12 | Hluboká nad Vltavou - České Budějovice (7.7.2005) | 1 150 | 313 | 87 | 3 | 1 553 |
| KČT č. 1018 | U Krumlovského mostu - České Budějovice | 636 | 3 | 241 | 1 | 881 |
| KČT č. 33 | Nová Pec - Stožec (17.7.2005) | 442 | 23 | 127 | 10 | 602 |
| KČT č. 33 | Nová Pec - Stožec (18.7.2005) | 418 | 13 | 105 | 5 | 541 |
| KČT č. 33 | Nová Pec - Horní Planá (17.7.2005) | 532 | 10 | 125 | 11 | 678 |
| KČT č. 34 | Frymburk - Lipno nad Vltavou (3.7.2005) | 440 | 0 | 458 | 2 | 900 |
| KČT č. 34 | Lipno nad Vltavou - Frymburk (4.7.2005) | 373 | 3 | 368 | 0 | 744 |
In the Czech Republic, evaluation of regional cycle route networks is not an easy task. The regional road authorities do not have a competence to maintain cycle paths, but for ex. the Olomouc region maintains signposting of on-road cycle routes and while road construction works includes cycling measures. Therefore the data on construction and maintenance is not available from the same resources.
The total number of sign-posted kilometres is not low but the quality and safety has to be improved in many stretches. The main principle is to keep on-road cycle routes on the roads with low intensity of car traffic and separate the cycling infrastructure into off-road cycle routes along the roads with intensive car traffic. The process of construction of segregated cycle paths has its place in transport plans for a few years and follows-up the past establishment of cycling facili ties with new recommended models based on research of the best practices. As for the safety of cyclists, the regional governments have access to the statistic data in the national database (Police) upon which they can compare the actual state along the regional cycle routes and take appropriate measures.
 |
The cycle route network is dense –in what quality? |
Example 2: Regional cycle networks
| Region | Cycle routes of IVth category (km) |
|---|---|
| Central Bohemia and Prague | 3 294,5 |
| South Bohemia | 4 352 |
| Pilsen region | 3 010 |
| Karlovy Vary region | 834,5 |
| Ústi nad Labem region | 1 294 |
| Liberec region | 1 054 |
| Hradec Králové region | 1 377,5 |
| Pardubice region | 2 803,5 |
| Vysočina region | 2 157,5 |
| South Moravia region | 2 124,5 |
| Olomouc region | 1 593 |
| Moravia-Silesia | 2 128 |
| Zlín region | 1 213 |
11. Signposting and signage system for cyclists
Example: the Pardubice region. In 2004, the regional government has elaborated – the “Bicycle Master-plan for the Pardubice region”. The quality of existing cycle routes was monitored and put into a database, the cycle routes were categorised and cycle links with the adjacent regions were investigated, as well as a full regional network was completed into a planned dense network and even the main backbone European long-distance routes were included into the regional bicycle master-plan as one of priorities for future bicycle route constructions and the best itineraries were defined. The Bicycle Master-plan describes the existing routes and plans new cycle routes for construction and maintenance. The Pardubice region subsidises maintenance and signposting of the regional cycle paths and cycle tourist routes (400.000 CZK / 2006) which is coordinated on the national basis by the Czech Hiking Club. The Pardubice region has pre-financed signposting for cycle transport (commuting) and cycle tourism (2 mil.CZK).
12. Promotion of cycle tourist routes
Example: the Olomouc region and the project “Discover the Olomouc region by bicycle”. The project focuses on communication with inhabitants of the region, as well as on coming visitors and offers an interesting way of getting to know the region thorough organized bicycle tours. The year of 2006 became the pilot phase when the project idea and preparedness of micro-regions were tested. The group of project partners has found a set of itineraries and presented the region in an attractive way.
From the 1st of May till the 16th of September 2006, 13 cycling events in the frame of the project were organized. Each event was coordinated by the related micro-region and its local governments. The mayors, project partners and journalists participated in bicycle touring, promoting local cycle routes. The series of bicycle rides was accompanied by a cultural and sport program.
13. Coordination and support of local campaigns
This year, the sixth European Mobility Week will take place allover Europe (16th –22nd September) and the „European Car-free Day“ (22nd September). Both promotion and education events aim at support of environment-friendly modes of transport and help reduction of car transport in urban areas. In the last year, the both campaigns were focused on the main theme of climate change. 1322 cities altogether with 200 mil inhabitants got involved. In the Czech Republic, 45 cities participated.
