Budapest Bicycling:
Which Way Forward?
Greg Spencer, REC
[email protected]
ELTIS Training Session
April 14-15, 2008
Szentendre
Information on the move www.eltis.org
Points in this Presentation
•
•
•
•
Background of Cycling in Hungary
Utilitarian Cycling in Budapest Today
Critical Mass in Budapest
Why Paris is a Good Example for
Budapest
• Conclusion
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
Background
• Bicycle widely used in
Hungary during planned
economy (and
elsewhere in Socialist
bloc) because it was
inexpensive but …
• lingering stigma today
of bike of ‘proletarian’
transport
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
Background continued
• Skyrocketing car traffic -- 30.4%
increase in Budapest 1990-2001
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
Background continued
• Influence of car lobby in
Budapest politics
– 2005 proposal for city-wide
parking fees struck down
by media, angry motorists
– Slager Radio talk-show
host Gabor Bochkor, Sept.
2005. “You know what I’d
do with a bicyclist? Lock
him in a garage and start
the motor of my car.”
Rakoczi ut
– City Hall breaks promise of bike lanes on Rakoczi ut because
there’s ‘no room’
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
State of play in Budapest: Cycling Levels
•
•
1-2% modal share, on par with Prague, Warsaw
Less cycling during weekdays than weekends
Bicycle traffic counts — 1999
Location
Season
All day traffic count, both directions
Weekday
Weekend
Szentendrei Street, north city limits
Summer
Not counted
2,344
Vitorla Street-Római Street intersection
Summer
Not counted
1,206
Vaci Street, north connection to rail bridge
Summer
1,030
2,354
Ujpest city gate
Spring
920
1,158
Buda upper quay at Margit Bridge
Summer
950
2,760
Dozsa Gyorgy Street-Vagany Street intersection
Spring
77
394
Szilagyi Erzsebet Boulevaard-Retek Street-Krisztina
Ring Road intersection
Summer
824
1,130
Buda upper quay at the Chain Bridge on the quay bike
path
Summer
1,170
2,024
Veres Peter Street-Jokai Street intersection
Summer
512
648
Hungaria Ring Road-Stefania Street
Summer
1,006
980
Csomori Street-Rakos Creek
Summer
222
364
Kossuth Square-Alkotmany Street
Spring
220
184
Szeremi Street-Hengermalom Street intersection
Spring
770
1,018
April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
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State of play in Budapest: Infrastructure
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
State of play in Budapest: Infrastructure
•
•
First path
(10 km BudapestSzentendre) built in
1987 for recreational
purposes
Currently, 140-150 km
of cycling paths, but
2/3 just painted lines
on sidewalks
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
State of play in Budapest: Infrastructure
• Paths mainly
on one side of
street only
• No coherent
network
(~500 km
needed to
cover full city)
• Paths lead
to nowhere
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
State of play in Budapest: City Spending
• Late 1990-2001: EUR 400,000/year -less than 1/10th of 1% of city budget -for construction of ~10km paths/year
• 2002: Spending frozen
• New policy: Bicycle projects can only be
carried out if piggybacked onto larger
road building projects
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
Critical Mass: Maybe largest in World
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
Critical Mass continued
• Twice annual ride with police escort
(Car-Free Day in Fall, Earth Day in Spring)
• Attendance climbing steadily
–
–
–
–
–
Fall 2004: 4,500
Spring 2005: 10,000
Fall 2006: 20,000
Spring 2006: 32,000
Fall 2006: Called off due
to unrelated street riots
– Spring 2007: 50,000
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
Critical Mass continued
• Mayor Gabor Demszky’s response
day after Earth Day 2005 Critical Mass:
‘It’s not worth spending a more
serious amount on bike paths,
because 140 km of paths have
already been built and just a
few people use them.’
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
The Parisian
example
• Despite hosting the
Tour de France and
having invented the
velocipede, the
French, at least in
Paris, don’t have a
tradition of using
bicycles as
transport
• Until recent years,
Paris had almost
no urban cyclists
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
The Parisian example continued
• In 1995, Paris Mayor Jean Tibéri began promoting bicycling
as a way to give his new administration personality.
• That winter, a month-long transport strike made bicycles one
of the only ways to travel in Paris.
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
The Parisian example continued
• Bicycling as transport has
been a priority for two
consecutive mayoral
administrations
• Mayor Delanoë openly
confronts car problem:
“I will fight, with all the
means at my disposal,
against the harmful, everincreasing and
unacceptable hegemony of
the automobile.”
Mayor Betrand Delanoë
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
The Parisian example continued
• From 1995 to 2004,
the city built 290.7 km
cycling lanes, half of
which are separated
from both foot and
vehicle traffic
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
The Parisian example continued
• Mayor’s Office spent
EUR 4 million/year on
cycling, including
infrastructure building
and maintenance and
other promotional
measures (2005 data)
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
The Parisian example continued
• Other bike-friendly measures
– ‘Paris Breathes’ event, which closes streets to motor
traffic in several areas during weekends
– ‘The Plage’, in which the banks of the Seine are
reserved for pedestrians, skaters and cyclists during
summer
– Below-30 km/hr zones, where motor traffic is slowed
and through traffic restricted
– Real estate developers required to provide certain
amount of ‘two-wheeler’ parking accommodation
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
The Parisian example continued
• Examples of street-side
‘two-wheeler’ parking
facilities
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
The Parisian example continued
• Other bike-friendly
measures
– Bicycle promotions
on city website and in
print media
– Velib – bike rental
scheme introduced in
2007, with plans for
~1,500 stations and
20,000+ bicycles
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
The Parisian example continued
• Results: 58% increase in bike traffic from 1997-2004
Figure 3: Growth of cyclist numbers in Paris
1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
Cycling levels,
1997 base year = 1
0.4
0.2
0
1997 1998
1999 2000
2001 2002
2003
2004
Source: Paris Mayor’s Office
April 14, 2008
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Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
The Parisian Example continued
• Modal share near 2%, with hopes of
doubling this with full roll-out of Velib
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
Conclusions
• Bike use will increase if there’s demand
and city makes right investments
• In tight urban spaces, can’t build proper
cycling infrastructure without taking space
from cars
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org
Thank you for your attention!
Greg Spencer
e-mail: [email protected]
web: www.rec.org
tel.: (36-26) 504-000; ext.208
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April 14, 2008
Greg Spencer, REC
www.eltis.org