Los Angeles (dpa -Afx) – In densely populated cities, many ways to everyday activities are rather short – and are then more often covered by bike or on foot, as a study shows. In addition, every kilometer of new cycle path leads on average on a distance of around 13,400 kilometers more by bike, reports the research team in the specialist journal “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” (“PNAS”). More active mobility is in turn associated with considerable savings on health costs.
“At the city level, the population density has the greatest influence on the proportion of foot traffic and also has a positive effect on cycling, since goals with higher density come into achievable foot and bike distances,” write the study authors. Germany is therefore one of the countries in which this connection is particularly clear.
More cycle paths lead to more kilometers covered on foot
The gasoline prices are also significant: the higher they are, the more kilometers are covered on foot or by bike. Surprisingly, the evaluation showed that more cycle paths lead to more kilometers that were walked on foot. The researchers suspect that the “cycle path” factor is related to a wider range of street design measures, such as sidewalks and clear crossing areas.
The scientists led by Adam Millard Ball from the University of California in Los Angeles had examined movement data from cities in 121 countries. Around 41 percent of the global urban population live in the 11,587 cities examined. According to current estimates, around 57 percent of the 8.2 billion people around the world live in cities.
Cars and motorcycles still 74 percent
The data record of the Google Environmental Insights Explorer (eie), which is sometimes also used by German municipalities, was used. It evaluates the use of Google Maps, but also many other data sources. In the cities examined, the residents therefore cover an average of two percent of the distances on foot and 0.9 percent by bike. Public transport has around 23 percent, cars and motorcycles to around 74.2 percent.
According to the evaluation, bicycles are used significantly more in Northern and Central Europe than in most other parts of the world. In Amsterdam and Copenhagen, for example, about half of all paths are covered by bike or on foot. Even in the bicycle -friendly Netherlands, the range of bicycle use is very large: it ranges from 1.7 percent in Kerkrade up to 36.2 percent in Wageningen.
Billions of US dollar savings possible
In the Danish capital Copenhagen there are about 44.3 kilometers of bike paths per 100 kilometers of road. If every city of this level would reach this level of bicycle friendliness, the route traveled back would increase by around 358 billion kilometers worldwide and the route covered by bike by 305 billion kilometers. The then saved health costs put the scientists at $ 435 billion a year. And greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles would decrease by 4.9 to 11.9 percent.
The team around Millard-Ball concludes that a compression of the city can be an effective measure in order to achieve a higher proportion of pedestrians and cyclists in urban traffic. In addition, measures would be important that make active mobility more secure and more comfortable.
No CO2, fewer parking spaces, more physical activity
“Our data record underlines the role of bike paths and traces, but also other aspects of road design – sidewalks, safe transitions and traffic -calming measures such as increased intersections – are important for active traffic,” the study authors write. In the event of increased intersections, the intersection area is raised to the level of the sidewalks and also emphasized by structural measures.
“When walking and cycling, there are practically no CO2 emissions or harmful air pollutants, the space required for roads and parking spaces is minimal and people can integrate physical activities into their everyday life,” the team points out. The health advantages include improved mental health and a lower risk of cardiovascular diseases ./FM/DP/ZB