First Keynote Speaker presentation Veronique Van Acker CIVITAS & Ghent University, Belgium Topic: "Cycling in Ghent: Objective and subjective evaluation of CIVITAS policy measures"

1. CYCLING IN GHENT
Objective and subjective evaluation
of CIVITAS policy measures
Dr. Veronique Van Acker,
Ghent University, Department of Geography

2. Outline
1. CIVITAS and Ghent
2. Policy measures stimulating cycling in Ghent
3. “Objective” evaluation
bicycle counts
4. “Subjective” evaluation
survey on cycling in Ghent
5. Lessons learned

3. 1. CIVITAS and Ghent
CIVITAS ?!
• CITY – VITALITY – SUSTAINABILITY
• European programme supporting cities to introduce
ambitious transport measures and policies towards
sustainable urban mobility
• Cities as “living laboratories”
• Launched in 2002
• CIVITAS I (2002 – 2006)
• CIVITAS II (2005 – 2009)
• CIVITAS Plus (2008 – 2012)
• CIVITAS Plus II (2012 – 2016)

4. 1. CIVITAS and Ghent
5 CONSORTIA
25 CITIES
80 million EU-grants
 Mimosa
(Bologna, Funchal, Utrecht,
Gdansk, Tallinn)
 Archimedes
(Aalborg, Brighton, San Sebastian,
Iasi, Monza, Usti nad Labem)
 Elan
(Gent, Zagreb,Porto, Ljubljana,
Brno)
 Renaissance
(Perugia, Bath, Gorna-Oryahovitsa,
Szczecinek, Skopje)
 Modern
(Craiova, Brescia, Coimbra, Vitoria-
Gasteiz)

5. 1. CIVITAS and Ghent
 LEADING CITIES
• Gent
• Ljubljana (Slovenia)
• Zagreb (Croatia)
 LEARNING CITIES
• Porto (Portugal)
• Brno (Czech Republic)

6. 1. CIVITAS and Ghent
CITY
Surface (km²) 158
Population 239.905
Car ownership
(per 1.000 inhabitants)
370
% daily trips by mode of
transport
- car
- walk
- cycle
- bus/tram/train
46
6,9
19,9
23,2
 already a lot of cycling in the city centre,
mainly students and train commuters
Key characteristics of Ghent (2008)

7. 2. Policy measures stimulating cycling
However, some problems occur:
• no main contact/information point for cyclists
• no access to small-scaled services (e.g., bicycle repair)
 “The House of the Bike” and bicycle activities
future “House of the Bike” ?
commuters:
bicycle box
residents:
bicycle ‘bin’

8. 2. Policy measures stimulating cycling
However, some problems occur:
• cycling routes across the city show gaps or have unsafe
crossings/junctions
 design of a safe cycling corridor
Cycling lanes before and after redesign of the Kortrijksesteenweg

9. 2. Policy measures stimulating cycling
However, some problems occur:
• cycling routes across the city show gaps or have unsafe
crossings/junctions
 Visserij, the first “cycle street” in Belgium

10. 2. Policy measures stimulating cycling
However, some problems occur:
• bike theft is a huge problem
 introducing IT-based bicycle theft prevention

11. 2. Policy measures stimulating cycling
However, some problems occur:
• no route guidance system available specifically for
cyclists indicating the safest cycling route
 development of a route planner for bicycles

12. 2. Policy measures stimulating cycling
INDICATOR PERIODICITY METHOD
TARGET
LEVEL
Number of cyclists Before/after
Recording by
induction loop
Increase in
cycling by 5%
Quality cycling conditions and
bike services (subjective)
Before/after Questionnaire
Positive
attitude toward
cycling by min.
75% of
students,
citizens and
cyclists

13. 3. “Objective” evaluation
3.1 Bicycle counts – Kortrijksesteenweg
railway station
Gent Sint-Pieters
city centre
induction loop

14. 3. “Objective” evaluation
3.1 Bicycle counts – Kortrijksesteenweg
Before (09/09/2009 – 20/09/2009):
- to railway station: 1.881 cyclists
- to city centre: 2.537 cyclists
- total: 4.418 cyclists
After (26/05/2012 – 11/06/2012):
- to railway station: 1.341 cyclists
- to city centre: 1.271 cyclists
- total: 2.612 cyclists

15. 3. “Objective” evaluation
3.2 Bicycle counts – Visserij
Visserij, first cycle street
in Belgium

16. 3. “Objective” evaluation
3.2 Bicycle counts – Visserij
…cycle street … low-traffic …2nd bridge … 2002
2002 23/05/2002 75 100
2003 10/06/2003 112 49% 149
2004 estimate 155 38% 207
2005 14/06/2005 165 6% 220
2006 estimate 175 6% 233
2007 estimate 185 6% 100 247
2008 estimate 230 24% 124 307
2009 18/09/2009 255 11% 100 138 340
2010 7/09/2010 372 46% 100 146 201 496
2011 14/09/2011 392 5% 105 154 212 523
2012 27/03/2012 505 29% 136 198 273 673
Number of
cyclists
Evolution sinceAnnual
growth
Evolution of the number of cyclists in the Visserij based on
visual counts during morning rush hour (7.30 – 8.30)

17. 3. “Objective” evaluation
3.2 Bicycle counts – Visserij

18. 4. “Subjective” evaluation
• Survey on how people perceive cycling in Ghent
• Three target groups
• Students in higher education (online survey)
• Citizens (postal survey)
• Commuters (on-site survey)

19. 4. “Subjective” evaluation
Before
After

20. 4. “Subjective” evaluation
Before
After

21. 5. Lessons learned
• Improving quality and safety of cycling infrastructure
is a must (see, e.g., the implementation of the cycle
street)
• Longer incubation time to see impact
• Continuous promotion needed to different target
groups (incl. students in higher education !)
• Strong interrelationships with other measures
• Staying on track with the newest technologies, also
for data collection !

22. Questions ?
Suggestions ?