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Press release | 09.12.2020

Cycling during the Corona crisis more popular than ever

World's largest cycling campaign City Cycling closes year with record results

Frankfurt am Main, 9 December 2020. A total of 545,988 participants from 1,482 municipalities got on their bikes for Climate Alliance's international "City Cycling" campaign, setting new records. Between May and October, they covered more than 115 million kilometres, thus avoiding the almost 17,000 tonnes of CO2 that would have been emitted if they had taken a car.

As the Corona crisis made public transport less attractive and individual mobility gained importance, bicycles in particular enjoyed increased popularity. Many people had to restructure their routines in the course of the pandemic and dis-covered the bicycle for themselves. "It is not only in City Cycling that we have seen a strong increase in participants this year. Local authorities, too, are reporting a significant rise in cycling," explains André Muno of Climate Alliance.

Muno hopes that this newfound enthusiasm for cycling will remain after the pandemic. Some cities have already responded to changing transport behaviour with innovative and pragmatic approaches such as pop-up cycle paths. "I hope that this solution-oriented approach will continue. After all, a sustainable rise in cycling can only be ensured with well-developed cycling infrastructure," says Muno.

Climate Alliance will award the most successful municipalities in the City Cycling campaign prizes on 1 February 2021. Due to the Corona pandemic, the award ceremony will be held online.

City cycling is an international campaign of Climate Alliance and is supported by partners Ortlieb, ABUS, Busch + Müller, Stevens Bikes, MYBIKE, Paul Lange & Co, WSM and Schwalbe.

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Contacts

CITY CYCLING
Climate Alliance’s international CITY CYCLING campaign invites members of municipal parliaments to get on their bikes, become climate action role models and promote cycling. They team up with citizens to cycle as many kilometres as possible for their municipality on 21 consecutive days between May and September. The campaign aims to sensitise people to cycling in everyday life and to boost awareness for bicycle traffic planning in municipal parliaments. With the RADar! digital reporting  platform and the MOVEBIS research project, CITY CYCLING contains two elements with which local authorities can improve cycling infrastructure with the help of their citizens. city-cycling.org

THE CLIMATE ALLIANCE
For 30 years, Climate Alliance member municipalities have been acting in partnership with indigenous rainforest peoples for the benefit of the global climate. With over 1,800 members spread across 27 European countries, Climate Alliance is the world’s largest city network dedicated to climate action and the only one to set tangible targets: each member city, town and district has committed itself to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by ten percent every five years. Recognising the impact our lifestyles can have on the world's most vulnerable people and places, Climate Alliance pairs local action with global responsibility. climatealliance.org