Cyprus Ministry of Communication & Works
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Report of the ThinkBike workshop in Nicosia and Larnaca, Cyprus, 16 - 19 December 2013 Sponsored by: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Nicosia Cyprus Ministry of Communication & Works City of Nicosia City of Larnaca In co-operation with Dutch Cycling Embassy Think Bike workshop 1 Introduction The Dutch Cycling Embassy was commissioned by the Embassy of the Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nicosia to conduct a combined ThinkBike workshop in the cities of Nicosia and Larnaca on Cyprus from 16 to 19 December 2013. The idea of a ThinkBike workshop is that Dutch experts will discuss a local cycling-related problem with two teams of local experts and other stakeholders of cycling. The confrontation of local and Dutch approaches of the local problems at hand will generate new perceptions and potential solutions that haven't been seriously considered before. The programme typically includes a presentation about the cycling culture and related cycling-inclusive policy development in the Netherlands, an explanation of the local (in this case Cypriot) cycling policies and two parallel work sessions to discuss one local problem in each team. ThinkBike workshops are then concluded with a presentation of the generated proposals for the solution of the local problems to a wider audience. The workshop in Nicosia and Larnaca was special in so far as there was an overlap between the participants of the workshop in both cities. This is due to the fact that in Cyprus the planning and implementation of a Cycling Network, as well as legislation and ruling matters concerning cycling are set by government sectors and responsible Ministries, following the views of Local Authorities. The local problems discussed in Larnaca were very concrete, whereas the discussions about the cycling policies in Nicosia were more general. On behalf of the Dutch Cycling Embassy the workshop was conducted by Tom Godefrooij, senior advisor at the Dutch Cycling Embassy, and Arnold Bongers, cycling officer of the Municipality of 's-Hertogenbosch. Objectives of workshop Exchange ideas on the role of cycling and related policies Reflect on objectives of Nicosia and Larnaca cycling policies Explore applicability of Dutch concepts and designs in Nicosia and Larnaca in an existing situation Find an appropriate mix of interventions and policies (based on both Cyprus and Dutch experiences) to strengthen the position of cycling in Nicosia and Larnaca. Short overview of the workshop sessions On Monday 16th of December the ThinkBike workshop started off with an opening session at the Cultural Centre of Nicosia. The workshop participants were welcomed by mr. Michael Lambrinos of the Ministry of Communications and Works, mrs. Annita Demetriadou Papageorgi of the Cyprus Tourist Organisation and mrs. Ingrid Christodoulou-Bouwmeester of the Embassy of the Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nicosia. Then Tom Godefrooij gave an overview of the development of cycling policies in the Netherlands of the past decades, followed by a presentation by Arnold Bongers on how 's-Hertogenbosch succeeded to win the title 'Cycling City 2011'. Thereupon Athanasios Kolyvas explained the design of a 'first priority cycling network' in Nicosia, connecting 3 universities with the old city centre of Nicosia. The designs were made by the British consultancy Colin Buchanan with reference to British, Danish and Dutch design standards. Thereafter the workshop participants made a site visit to the first (recently implemented) part of this network in the vicinity of the University of Nicosia. 2 As the site visit had revealed that the main problem in Nicosia weren't primarily of a technical nature the afternoon was used to make a SWOT analysis (see 4.2). The work sessions on Tuesday 17th of December were in Larnaca. The day started off with in introduction of Larnaca's activities over the past years in the framework of the European Mobility Week. These activities resulted in a growing public support for cycling. Subsequently some concrete design proposals for cycling facilities in Larnaca were explained. After this introductory session the participants made a site visit in two stages. First the entire group of participants made a tour by bus to get an impression of the current quality of road network of Larnaca on the corridors that are envisaged to constitute the Larnaca cycling network. After that the group was split into two teams to explore two study areas by bicycle. One group observed the situation at Griva Digeni Avenue, the other group observed the situation at Phaneromeni Avenue. In the afternoon the two teams brainstormed and discussed specific problems and possible solutions on both corridors. This session was continued on Wednesday morning to result in a concrete and presentable proposal for both avenues. (See chapter 4.4) Wednesday afternoon was used to discuss the general barriers for making progress in creating bicycle friendly cities on Cyprus. Thursday the workshop participant did a second site visit in the surrounding of Frederick University. The group took a look at the streets are planned to be a part of the first priority cycling network, to be implemented soon. (See also chapter XXX) After that a session was scheduled to come to more general conclusions about the promotion of cycling on Cyprus. This session was attended by mrs. ...., head of the Department of .... The afternoon was used to prepare the final presentation for the closing session hosted by the Embassy of the Royal Kingdom of the Netherlands. This closing session was attended by amongst others the Minister of Communications and Works of Cyprus. Content of this report In chapter 2 we will give a short introduction on the cycling culture in the Netherlands and related policies. Chapter 3 will present a summary of the current state of affairs with regard to cycling in Nicosia and Larnaca. Chapter 4 will present the findings and recommendations of the working sessions of this workshop. 3 2 Cycling in The Netherlands Short introduction From the perspective of other countries all Dutch cities are cycling cities (although according to Dutch standards some cities like The Hague and Rotterdam are looked upon as mediocre). They all have qualities that make bicycling so prevalent, and consequently they all enjoy the related co-benefits with regard to health, liveability, environment and the local economy. 27% of all trips are made by bicycle and 40% of all trips shorter than 5 km are by bicycle. 2 cities (Zwolle en Groningen) have reached the 50% mark in trip share for the bicycle. The Netherlands is the only country in the World with more bicycles (18 million) than inhabitants (16.5 million). Of course the moderate (mostly mild) weather and the flat surface contribute to the bike-ability of the Netherlands. Cycling in the Netherlands is a quite common mainstream mode of transport, used by all ages and both by men and women (women actually bicycle more often than men). Boys and girls between 12 and 16 bicycle 6.5 km per day on average. The bicycle is used for all purposes (25% of all commuter trips are by bicycle and around 70% of the trips to school). Cycling has an excellent image in the Netherlands and is so common that nobody considers himself a cyclist any more than anyone considers himself a tooth brusher: everyone does it. The Netherlands has the lowest use of bicycle helmets in the World: less than 0.5% of the cyclists wear helmets and we are often asked: why? First of all we prefer to promote active safety (prevention of accidents) rather than passive safety (softening the outcome of accidents). Thereupon we know that obligatory bicycle helmets or even the promotion of helmet use has a discouraging effect on bicycle use. After all the Netherlands is despite (or thanks to) the low helmet use the safest cycling country in the world with less than 10 fatalities per billion bicycled kilometres (Denmark being second with around 20 fatalities per billion bicycled kilometres). Resuming: the alleged advantages of helmet use are largely outweighed by the disadvantages of the cycling discouraging effect of helmet promotion. Philosophy Dutch cycling policies Dutch bicycle policy has two cornerstones: 1. Dutch traffic and transport planners take cycling seriously as a fully fledged mode of transport; 2. Dutch urban transport policies are aiming at the optimal mix of transport modes to meet the need for travel of individuals on the one hand and the best overall result for society on the other hand. Dutch municipalities try to utilize the strengths of each mode of transport, including cycling; that is promoting the most appropriate mode of transport for the type of trip being made. When it comes to the promotion of bicycle use then it is important to bear in mind the following notions: 4 1. People bicycle because it is practical and convenient for them, and fun to do so. They don’t bicycle because of all kinds of societal goals like the environment, however important these may be for decision makers! Therefore it cannot be stressed enough what are the benefits of cycling for the actual bicycle user: it is fun, practical, enjoyable, cheap, healthy and in the open air. 2. Perceived safety is for successful promotion of bicycle use at least as important as the factual safety. If people feel endangered, they won’t bicycle (and thus they won’t enjoy the fun of cycling either). People appear to have an outspoken preference for the option of undisturbed cycling without the need of being alert all the time for (the dangers of) motor traffic. Hence the Dutch emphasis on segregated cycling facilities along busy arterials and the disentanglement of car traffic and bicycle traffic. Dutch design principles Functional road design based on road classification according to the principles of sustainable road safety.