There are numerous innovations from the circle of Cycle Competence members, ranging from hardware to research, planning, and construction projects. While con.sens mobilitätsdesign in Hamburg is involved in climate streets and Vello presents a new folding bike model, the first bike street is being planned in Vienna based on the Dutch model. Salzburg Research, on the other hand, is researching the prevention of collisions between cyclists and connected vehicles.

Revision of the Smart Rental Box by radverteiler

This plug-and-play solution for e-bike sharing was developed by Cycle Competence member quadratic for cargo bike rentals in municipalities. It is now in use in several federal states. A new version has now been developed, which, despite having less volume, offers more functions, primarily related to battery management for winter temperatures. The charging socket is activated so that the built-in box heater can preheat the battery to charging temperature, because the previous rental figures have shown that cargo bike sharing is also in demand in winter!

Radverteiler now also distributes the Smart Rental Box in cooperation with Cycle Competence member bike-energy, who offers the Smart Rental Boxes in its online shop and recommends the system to its customers. The two managing directors, Peter Schitter (bike-energy) and Martin Moser (radverteiler), aim for long-term cooperation to offer their customers the optimal charging and rental solution. For public clients, the rental box is 90% eligible for funding through the IÖB-Toolbox.

Climate Streets in Hamburg as a forward-thinking project

The city of Hamburg aims to adapt existing streets to climate change, with a focus on the frequency of heavy rain events. Five qualified architectural firms will develop planning ideas for five typical Hamburg street sections. Cycle Competence member con.sens mobilitätsdesign is involved in this forward-thinking project together with 3:0 landscape architecture and takes on the Schwenckestraße in the Eimsbüttel district.

Robert Luger and Florian Kratochwil were in Hamburg at the beginning of May for the project launch to inspect the site and exchange ideas with clients and colleagues.

Argentinierstraße in Vienna Becomes Dutch-Style Bicycle Street

The redesign of the important cycling connection Argentinierstraße also brings green climate change adaptation: Almost 100 green flowerbeds with 60 new trees and numerous tall shrubs are planned. However, the focus is on the design as a bicycle street, inspired by the Netherlands. Bicycles and reduced motor vehicle traffic will share the future red-colored roadway. On both sides of the road, a continuous 40 cm wide paved strip will provide more distance from parked cars. Adjoining streets will have ramps up to the Argentinierstraße, while the bicycle street itself will not have any raised road sections. A curb separates the pavement and parking spaces from the roadway with a small 3 cm edge. The one-way motor vehicle traffic will be reversed in the future to prevent through traffic.
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More space for cycling and walking in the Argentinierstraße. Last year, 85.5% of residents expressed their support for a bicycle street, which is now being implemented. (Image: ZoomVP/Mobilitätsagentur Wien)

Cycle Competence member Rosinak & Partner was commissioned by the city of Vienna for the detailed street planning. Sjors van Duren, a Dutch urban planner at the engineering and planning company Royal HaskoningDHV, advised the city of Vienna on the design of Argentinierstraße. Construction work will begin in autumn 2023 and is expected to be completed one year later.

Successful cycling networking meeting in Upper Austria

Under the motto “Preparing the way for cycling,” Cycle Competence member Klimabündnis Oberösterreich focused on cycling infrastructure at the 12th cycling networking meeting in Linz. Practical examples from many municipalities showed how promoting cycling and walking contributes to an increased quality of life for all citizens. Numerous speakers and producers, such as INNOVAMETALL, Ziegler, Raincombi, and Kaloveo from the circle of Cycle Competence members, were present.

VELLO E-Bike now also with manual gears

Cycle Competence member VELLO presents the latest models from its Viennese urban bike factory at the Eurobike trade fair in Frankfurt from June 21st to 25th: in addition to the new E-Cargo Bike VELLO SUB, the foldable E-Bike VELLO Bike+ GEARS with manual gears and regen will be introduced. The new model offers more flexibility with the same power and is equipped, like the classic Bike+ models, with a strong Zehus motor with K.E.R.S technology. The battery charges through kinetic energy recovery during downhill riding and backpedaling.
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Research results from the Bike2CAV project

A multidisciplinary consortium led by Cycle Competence member Salzburg Research and involving the interfaculty department for Geoinformatics – Z_GIS at the University of Salzburg explored possibilities for cooperative detection of collision risks for cyclists as well as non-distracting warning concepts in the Bike2CAV project (“Bicycle to Connected Automated Vehicle”). For the first time, a proof-of-concept prototype that warns of collision risks based on wireless communication between an automated vehicle, infrastructure, and the bicycle was implemented and tested in real-world urban and rural environments. The presentation of the project results took place on April 27th in an online presentation, which you can access here.