The ‘Cycling Capital Certification’ was launched by Cycle Competence member Radland back in 2022 in order to systematically record the cycling-promoting activities of Lower Austria’s cities. The second evaluation round took place in 2024 with 37 cities. Here, for the first time, we provide comparative figures on the cities’ budget developments and summarise the implemented construction measures. Data analyses from the Graph Integration Platform (GIP) were included in the evaluation.

The scoring system for cycling capitals

The ‘Cycling Capital Certification’ was launched in 2022 to rate the cycling-promoting activities of Lower Austria’s cities from 1 to 5 stars. In 2024, all district capitals, towns and municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants were once again certified, but for the first time towns and municipalities with 9,000 to 10,000 inhabitants were also able to participate. With 37 participating cities and municipalities, interest in certification was greater than ever before.

The bike-friendliness of the participating cities and municipalities was assessed according to a standardised points system. The core of the certification was a comprehensive questionnaire that took into account aspects of infrastructure, planning, organisation and public relations. In addition, data analyses of the Graph Integration Platform (GIP) on cycling infrastructure and traffic-calmed streets were carried out and taken into account in the assessment. The survey of municipal representatives responsible for cycling was conducted between May and July 2024 by NÖ.Regional’s mobility management team. The data was analysed and evaluated in summer 2024.

Infrastructure in figures

The higher prioritisation of cycling is reflected in the cycling infrastructure measures implemented. In the survey in 2024, the municipalities and cities reported these implemented cycling infrastructure measures for the last two years.

Cycling promotion on the rise

The analysis of the available data shows almost consistently positive developments in the promotion of cycling in the last two years. For the first time, nine cities achieved a 4-star rating, while 15 other cities were able to increase their rating by one star compared to 2022.

Overview of the best categories in 2024 with their percentage improvement in points. You can view all the scores of the 37 cities here: https://radland.at/das-war-die-radhauptstadt-zertifizierung-2024/.

The cycling budgets of the participating cities have also increased significantly in the last two years. In 2022, around 22% of the participating cities stated that they invest more than 10 euros per capita per year in cycling. In 2024, this proportion rose to around 76%. Around one in three cities already invested more than 30 euros per capita per year in 2024.

Certification as a ceremony

The official conclusion of the ‘Cycling Capital Certification’ 2024 took place at an award ceremony in December, where the certificates and final reports were presented to the participating cities and municipalities. With an overall rating of 4 stars, the municipality of Wiener Neudorf was honoured as the 2024 state winner and thus the most bicycle-friendly municipality in Lower Austria.

The municipality of Mödling was honoured with the ‘Rising Star of the Year’ award, as the municipality has made the greatest progress towards cycling friendliness in the last two years. These efforts were continued in 2025 with the new smart hire garages for five e-cargo bikes – read more here in the article.

The funding map of the province of Lower Austria

Since November 2020, municipalities in Lower Austria have been able to apply for financial support for the construction of cycling facilities. Radland provides an overview of all cycle path funding on an online map: https://radland.at/radwegfoerderung/.

Further information on the cycling capitals can be found at: www.radhauptstadt.at