New cycle path law in Switzerland: MTB trails become mandatory for all cantons

Quick fact check: What exactly is the Cycle Route Act about?

The new "Cycle Route Act" was passed by the Swiss parliament in March 2022 and came into force on 1 January 2023. The details for mountain bikers have now been finalised. Contents:

The 26 cantons as well as the federal government are obliged to plan and realise cycle path networks (cycle paths). This applies to all categories of cycling, including mountain bikers. Planning principles and quality objectives are firmly anchored in the law: The route network must be "coherent, direct, safe, homogeneous and attractive". As Dominik Hug from the "Schweiz Mobil" organisation confirmed at a specialist conference last week, this means trails for mountain bikers. The Swiss magazine Ride published a recording of his detailed presentation on its website last Friday. According to this, each canton must now appoint a mountain bike commissioner who will present a detailed, binding trail plan by 2027.

What will change for bike holidaymakers from Germany?

Anyone planning a bike trip to Graubünden (Davos, Engadin, Laax, Lenzerheide etc.) will not notice much of the new developments. Graubünden, the largest of all Swiss cantons, began signposting a highly attractive trail network for bikers many years ago. Trail sharing has long been established here. Graubünden therefore now serves as a blueprint for all other cantons.

Valais has also opened up more and more to biking in recent years. Just like all of Switzerland's Alpine regions, which live mainly from tourism.

In contrast, the cantons in the flat north-west of Switzerland, such as the Appenzell region and the city of Zurich, have had to completely rethink their approach. Mountain bikers have so far been banned from all hiking trails and single trails here. However, this is exactly what got this law rolling in the first place, as the majority of the Swiss population lives in the urban centres of St. Gallen, Zurich, Bern and Lucerne. The strict bike bans around these cities have severely restricted local recreation.

In total, Switzerland has a hiking trail/single trail network of 2500 kilometres. Switzerland's mountain bike representatives are now hoping that the tried-and-tested Graubünden-style trail sharing system will become generally accepted. But even if the city of Zurich, for example, "only" manages to get round to individual authorised trail circuits in order to achieve attractive (!) visitor guidance, a lot would already have been achieved in these regions.

Why was this cycle path law introduced?

In order to reduce CO2 emissions from transport, but also to promote the health of the population, Switzerland is of the opinion that the infrastructure for alternative means of transport must be significantly expanded. Of course, this mainly involves the construction and maintenance of cycle paths for commuter traffic. But it is also about significantly expanding the recreational areas around the cities. After all, if you have an attractive trail network for the city gates, you don't necessarily have to travel to the Alpine regions to practise your sport. Incidentally, the law on "slow traffic", as it is called in Switzerland, applies not only to cycling and hiking trails, but also to waterways (e.g. kayaking).

Would such a law also be possible in Germany?

Very unlikely. German federalism, i.e. the self-determination of the individual federal states, has many advantages, but makes a law like the Swiss Cycle Route Act virtually impossible here. Switzerland is a direct democracy. This means that laws are not only passed by the two chambers of parliament. In certain matters, a favourable referendum is also required.

Interview with Heiko Mittelstädt, German Mountain Bike Initiative Consultancy (DIMB)

We asked Heiko Mittelstädt from the German Mountain Bike Initiative (DIMB) about his assessment of the new Swiss cycle path law and whether there is a glimmer of hope for similar laws in Germany.

BIKE: The new Swiss law sounds like a future trail paradise. How envious must we be here in Germany?

Heiko Mittelstädt: The law initially provides for the promotion of cycling, including through the designation of routes. This also includes routes for leisure traffic, whereby the signposting of mountain bike routes is explicitly mentioned in the law. The fact that the cantons are now legally obliged by the federal government to designate corresponding mountain bike routes can be seen as a breakthrough. The responsible foundation "Switzerland Mobile" has signalled in a presentation that mountain bike routes also include single trails. This is because even in Switzerland, there are very different cantonal regulations regarding which trails can be used by bike. In some cantons, single trails were previously neither legally permitted nor individually designated. Only forest roads were permitted.

Ultimately, however, it is only about the designation of mountain bike routes and not about changing the legal situation in the cantons, which can remain restrictive. However, as the "Switzerland Mobile" foundation considers single trails to be part of mountain biking, the restrictive cantons will have to reconsider their legal regulations to see whether they still meet the current requirements for leisure activities.

Is such a breakthrough only possible thanks to the Swiss referendums or would something like this also be conceivable here?

In §14 of the Federal Forest Act, we already have the basic authorisation to use all roads and paths in the forest by bike. Unfortunately, however, the federal legislator allows the federal states to regulate the details themselves, so that we have 16 different state regulations on which paths may be used in the forest. We would like to see standardisation here so that disproportionate regulations, such as the 2-metre rule in Baden-Württemberg, are no longer permitted. We have been working on this with various associations for years.

The WaSEG working group at the BMEL (editor's note: Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture) is dealing with the issue at ministry level and we from the DIMB were able to present our ideas there ourselves some time ago. Even if we don't have a referendum like in Switzerland, we hope that the parliamentary route we envisage will be successful. This is because the individual designation of single trails has so far been possible in our country, even in restrictive federal states, but has proved to be very time-consuming and impractical. In most federal states, all routes are initially permitted for cycling and only where there are demonstrable problems should steering measures be implemented. In our opinion, this should be the case everywhere.

How valuable is this breakthrough in the neighbouring country for your work in Germany? Can you present it to the authorities to make a better case?

A good argument is that mountain biking has made it into the law in Switzerland. We would like to congratulate our Swiss partner association IMBA Swiss for successfully representing their interests. For Germany, however, such a distinction between cycling and mountain biking is not necessarily helpful, as here mountain biking generally falls under the term cycling.

But one positive aspect in Switzerland is that there is a central authority in Switzerland, the "Slow Traffic" department, which also deals specifically with mountain biking and knows the necessary needs and requirements and therefore also recommends single trails as an essential prerequisite for mountain biking. When a central authority makes a recommendation like this, it has a different status than when we as the DIMB have been advocating the same thing for years.

In Germany, there are no such clear responsibilities; the various aspects of mountain biking, such as sport, transport, forestry law and nature conservation, are the responsibility of different ministries. This makes the representation of interests more difficult because our arguments have to be presented in many different places. A centralised and appropriately equipped institution on the part of the authorities could be helpful for us here. In any case, it would help us if as many mountain bikers as possible became members of our organisation and thus lend more weight to our work.