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    In the city, the bicycle represents an alternative to increasingly unsustainable individual car transport. The benefits of cycling are not only its environmental friendliness, but also its low space requirements and the improvement of living conditions for the city's residents.

    Accordingly, an expansion of the network of cycling routes is needed, creating the conditions for daily transport to work or school, as well as outside the built-up area for recreational and tourism purposes.

    Cycling is a popular means of transport in frequent use in European capitals. In many cities cycling accounts for a significant share of total transport (e.g. in Vienna walking and cycling account for 30%), while in Bratislava this share is estimated to be only 1%.

    It is a priority of the city to increase the share of cycling within its territory so that we can safely and comfortably use bicycles on a daily basis for transport and recreation and, last but not least, to improve the state of the environment.

    Map of cycling

    • View the cycling map by Cyklokoalícia

      Go to website

    Bicycle Counters

    Good planning requires collecting and understanding data. Bicycle counters provide valuable data. We currently have five bicycle counting devices in Bratislava and plan to install more soon. The figures so far suggest a significant increase in the number of people using bicycles as a means of transport.

    What types of bicycle counters do we have and where are they located?

    In 2015, we installed induction counters:

    • In Devínská Nová Ves near the Cycling Bridge of Freedom
      • this mainly shows us the number of recreational cyclists
    • On Viedenská Road (Open Data Bratislava ↗︎)
      • this counts the number of Bratislava commuters it also counts the number of cyclists on the Eurovelo 6 route

    In 2020, we installed the latest generation of bicycle counters with an LED screen to let residents know how many cyclists are passing through their area at these locations:

    • on the Old Bridge
    • on the Nábrežie armádneho generála Ludvíka Svoboda /Dvořákovo námestie
    • on Devínská Road – traffic is recorded by a mobile counter - this is used as needed whenever we need to carry out a longer-term traffic survey

    What information do the counters collect?

    • They analyse different types of transport – not only bicycles but also data on pedestrians, cars, trucks and other vehicles.
    • They are more versatile than previous counters as they are fitted with different sensors – e.g. dust sensors.

    The basic principle The detection of cyclists is based on a machine-learning model, which is the way the counters function. The model can subsequently be extended with other detection options for cars, trucks and other vehicles. Detection is performed directly on the device using high-performance special hardware.

    The data collected by the detection algorithm is then centralised and shared via an API for further processing

    Network of cycle routes

    Bratislava has designed a complete network of city's main cycling routes. Its backbone consist of cycle arterials and cycle ring roads, with additional local cycle tracks in city districts (called cycle connectors). Additionally, there might include additional routes built for local access to companies.

    Cycle ring roads

    They connect the cycle arterials in different points from the city center. The lower number means closer distance to the city center. First cycle ring road (O1) leads around the historic city center and it is a starting point of the most important cycle arterials.

    Cycle arterials

    They connect the city center with the city districts. They are led by the most direct, but also safe and smooth route. The most important arterials starting at the 1st ring road are marked as R11 - R19, others with higher numbers from R21 depending on the distance from the center.

    Connectors

    Secondary routes that densify the network of ring roads and radial routes. Their numbering depends on the nearby ring road and radial route, and they create local connections within city districts or between other nearby destinations.

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