Since the explosion of sales of electric bicycles, the improvement of bicycle infrastructure such as bicycle lanes, bicycle parking areas and charging facilities has been frequently mentioned by European and American people, and the government has also spared no effort to allocate funds for the construction. Not only for the sake of safety, but also for the connectivity of bicycle networks to accelerate the replacement of cars and energy, Belgium has spent 32.5 million euros to build a bicycle expressway, which was opened in April last year.
The green agreement launched by the European Union allocated nearly 2 billion euros from 2014-2020 for the construction and renovation of bicycle lanes and sidewalks, and the renovation of the connecting roads between cities to make them more suitable for cycling.
On February 17, this year, Ireland also announced that it had allocated millions of euros for bicycles and “greenway” projects to match the “greenway plan” invested by the European Union in several billions of euros. About 63 million euros were earmarked for the construction of footpaths and bicycle lanes. The government said that it would allocate more than 1 million euros for the national walking and bicycle projects every day.
Although so much money has been invested, the bicycle lane built is still often complained by others. Some people put forward that the bicycle lane built is very narrow, especially the bicycle lane beside the urban road, which is close to the motor vehicle, but the width is not enough for two bicycles to drive side by side. In addition, countries have invested billions of euros to build roads, but the death toll of bicycle related accidents has not decreased in the past decade.
The sloppy design, narrow space and scattered bicycle network are criticized by people and hinder bicycle travel.
The European Commission also proposes to carry out a comprehensive reform of urban infrastructure, develop a sustainable urban transport plan SUMP centered on the “active transport” model, and give priority to expanding and improving the infrastructure of bicycles, pedestrians, electric bicycles, scooters and public transport. Maintain “continuity and accessibility of bicycle lanes”, and finally formulate rules to improve the safety of micro motor vehicles.
“This is the first time in history that the European Commission has listed the investment in these modes as the pillar of urban transport”, the federation said that the European Union has for the first time raised walking and cycling as a policy priority within the EU.
With the support of increased funds, this will help EU cities get rid of the use of fossil fuel vehicles, alleviate traffic congestion and noise pollution, and achieve the decarbonization goal set in the European Green Agreement. The European Commission said that by transferring people and goods from fossil fuel driven vehicles and trucks to the “multimodal transport network” of clean energy, these measures can reduce transport emissions by up to 90%.
