Coronavirus pandemic saw bicycle traffic decrease in Finnish cities
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Loading... - Cecile Sanchez
- 25 Apr 2022
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The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a dip in the volume of bicycle traffic in large cities in Finland, according to the Finnish Cyclists’ Federation.
The federation reported last week that its examination of data from 48 automatic traffic counters in six cities reveals that bicycle traffic decreased by 14 per cent between 2016 and 2021, with most of the decrease occurring in 2021.
The counters are located in Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Lahti, Pori, Oulu, Tampere and Vaasa.
The national goal was for bicycle traffic to increase by more than 10 per cent over the five-year period.
“Remote work, remote school, closures of events and hobbies have reduced the number of journeys made by bicycle,” commented Matti Koistinen, the chief operating officer at the Finnish Cyclists’ Federation.
Although he pointed out that the data may not reflect changes in recreational cycling, as the number of traffic counters is lower along recreational paths, it appears that the record-breaking bicycle sales witnessed in the past couple of years have not resulted in record-breaking traffic volumes on cycleways.
“From the viewpoint of public health and the effort to reduce traffic emissions, the problem is that the increase in recreational cycling, such as mountain biking and bicycle travel, is not to compensate for the decline in everyday cycling. People typically go cycling once or twice a week, but the trip to the workplace is made five times a week,” said Koistinen.
The Cyclists’ Federation estimated that the decline in mobility witnessed during the pandemic has been distributed unevenly between different modes of transport. While passenger volumes on public transport were about a third lower last year than before the pandemic, data from traffic counters along highways indicates that the volume of car traffic began to rise last year after dipping in 2020. Read More...
