What can a cycling network for the whole of Austria look like that guarantees connections to all settlement areas? The study “Austria-wide cycling network Vision” provides an answer to this question and also provides a data-based argumentation for future planning. On behalf of the Ministry of Climate Protection, cycling competence members con.sens mobilitätsdesign and the Department of Geoinformatics at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg have developed this visionary target network for the whole of Austria. Its length is around 25,000 km.

Focus of vision on regional main routes

The aim of the project was to create an optimal cycle destination network to connect settlement centers. The Vision cycle destination network focuses on regional main routes in the interurban area. Fast cycle connections are not the focus, as their planning requires different methodological approaches. Although built-up areas are part of the target network, the macro-scale method reaches its limits here due to the numerous local particularities. In regions where cycling network concepts developed by specialist planners or municipal and regional target networks already exist, these network concepts are considered to be of higher quality. Such plans take better account of local characteristics than the macro-scale method of the study. Nevertheless, the comparison with the new Vision cycling target network can stimulate potential optimizations. Where available, existing regional cycle destination networks were taken into account as additional input data for network development.

Overview of the entire Vision cycle destination network. (Detailed views at the end of the article in the download)

Innovative methodical approach

A method was developed for the project that represents a combination of data-driven and rule-based automation with post-processing informed by planning. Central to this were the identification of starting and destination points, the calculation of optimal connections using routing and the bundling of routes into a clear network. The target network developed with the help of this method consists of route corridors with an accuracy of +/- 150 m and does not claim to determine spatially precisely defined cycle routes. A network with a total length of 25,065 km was created, which was subsequently divided into three expansion stages. The investment requirements were then estimated.

Prioritization of the cycle network in three expansion stages

The 25,065 km long target cycle network was divided into three expansion stages depending on the cycling potential, as the following diagrams show.

Target network with expansion stages, section of northern Upper Austria with central Linz area

Target network with expansion stages, section of the greater Graz area and north of it the Mur valley with Leoben

For the prioritization of the routes, a parameter was developed that represents differences in cycling potential. However, it is not possible to draw any conclusions about the cycling potential in absolute figures. The entire target network reaches almost all settlement centers:

1. 6.3 million people can already be connected by expansion stage 1.
2. A further 1.3 million will be connected by expansion stage 2
3. Expansion stage 3 will give 0.3 million Austrians access to the cycle network.

Only around 77,000 people in remote settlement centers and around one million people outside of settlement centers would remain unconnected to the Vision cycling network.

Graphic: Population connected to the network

In addition to the three expansion stages, a special category called “public transport shuttle” was created with a length of 403 km. This category includes individual routes with difficult topography, e.g. Alpine passes, where the construction of cycling facilities is not practical, but where a connection by means of bicycle transport on public transport makes sense.

Network length by federal state

The length of the target network varies greatly between the federal states. These differences are due not only to the size of the area covered by the federal states, but also to the cycling potential based on settlement density.

Graphic: Route length by federal state and expansion stage

Lower Austria has the largest share, while Vienna has the smallest. However, Vienna has a high proportion of routes in expansion stage 1. There are also numerous expansion stage 1 connections along the valleys in mountainous areas. In flatter regions, such as Lower Austria and Burgenland, the proportion of expansion stages 2 and 3 is higher due to the settlement structure.

14 percent part of the safe cycle network

The “safe cycling network” is a data set updated annually by Austriatech and is based on the GIP graph integration platform. This network includes routes on which cycling is considered safe according to the “8 to 80” approach at the current status of the data set. This keyword means that existing cycling infrastructure is suitable for road users of all ages, in the sense of “8 to 80 years”. The “safe cycle network” is not congruent with the target network of the study, but 14% of the target network vision can be assigned to the “safe cycle network” according to Austriatech.

This leaves around 21,000 km of the target cycle network Vision that are not yet covered by the existing “safe cycle network”:

Investment costs of five billion euros

The construction costs for the implementation of the entire Vision target network are estimated in the study at a total of 5.3 billion euros. This includes

• 1.1 billion euros (20 %) for expansion stage 1
• 2.0 billion euros (38%) for expansion stage 2
• 2.2 billion euros (42%) for expansion stage 3

The calculation is based on estimates for construction measures depending on the road category. For sections with a new cycle path, surcharges for bridges and tunnels were added to the cost rate based on empirical values:

This investment requirement is broken down by individual federal state:

Graphic: Construction costs per federal state and expansion stage [€ million]

Comparison with the baseline study “Investment requirements for cycling”

The study published by the Austrian Energy Agency in 2022 calculated an investment requirement of €3.7 billion for a regional network. However, this calculation was based on different framework conditions, such as the exclusive consideration of towns with at least 5,000 inhabitants, which did not result in a nationwide network. The current method provides a more detailed and comprehensive result, as it takes almost all settlement cores into account.

The study “Investment requirements for cycling” by cycling competence members Planoptimo and Verracon revealed a total requirement of seven billion euros, including awareness raising, research and bike rental. Read more here in our article.

Download

You can read more about the methodology and results in the official final report here. In addition, the geodata for further analysis and planning can be downloaded here free of charge.

(All graphics shown are taken from the study. Header image: Peter Provaznik/Die Radvokaten)