ADFC bike club survey Cyclists give Bonn poor marks
BONN · The ADFC has investigated the needs of cyclists in the cities with a bicycle-friendly scheme. While Bonn and Königswinter get rather bad marks, things look better in other cities in the region.
The city of Bonn only achieves a "sufficient" rating in terms of bicycle friendliness (grade 4.2). In the bicycle climate test conducted by the bicycle club ADFC, the interviewees complained in particular of frequent bicycle thefts, poor transport possibilities for two-wheeled vehicles in buses or trains and hardly any measures to promote bicycles.
The opening of many one-way streets for cyclists, the offer of public rental bikes as well as the fact that all age groups of the population use bicycles were rated positive for Bonn. For the study, which was carried out by the Allgemeine Deutsche Fahrradclub together with the Ministry of Transport, 1664 cyclists were interviewed in Bonn.
Criticism of narrow cycle paths
There was also criticism of the narrow cycle paths and obstructions caused by building sites. The cyclists in Bonn were particularly annoyed about cars parked on cycle paths and the lack of city control on this point. Cyclists don't feel safe in Bonn either: In this question the city only gets a grade of 4.5.
Among 25 cities in the survey with a size between 200,000 and 500,000 inhabitants, Bonn only ranks 18th. In many categories such as cycling comfort, cycling network or safety, respondents stated that the situation had worsened in recent years.
Poor development in Königswinter
Siegburg is just as badly off as Bonn. The 263 cyclists surveyed in the district town criticised the poor accessibility to the city centre by bicycle and the lack of suitable parking facilities. In the overall ranking, Siegburg only ranks 248 out of 311 cities between 20,000 and 50,000 inhabitants.
Sankt Augustin is only marginally better when it comes to bicycle friendliness: Grade 4.1 and rank 71 of 106 cities of similar size. Cyclists complained about bumpy and uneven cycle paths. From the cyclists' point of view, Königswinter has been a particularly bad development since 2016. The most striking shortcomings: frequent detours for cyclists, the centre is difficult for them to reach, many cycle paths bumpy - score 4.5 and place 299 of 311 cities of this population.
Better results in Meckenheim
The city of Meckenheim is much better. The interviewees complained of many bicycle thefts. In Meckenheim, the city's wide cycle paths and the cyclists' pronounced sense of safety as well as the city's encouraging advertising for cycling were rated positively. Among cities of comparable size, Meckenheim came third (grade 3.0).
One of the losers in the survey was Cologne. The city came in 14th and thus last place in the category of over 500,000 inhabitants. The ADFC criticized in general that in large cities for years only the car had been planned. Cyclists and pedestrians had been pushed into the side area.
For its survey, the ADFC had evaluated 170,000 questionnaires filled out by cyclists from all over Germany. They covered topics such as safety, infrastructure and how to deal with parking offenders on cycle paths.
(Original text: Kai Pfundt; Translation: Mareike Graepel)
