The majority of Germans believe that cycling helps to reduce greenhouse gases (77%) and traffic (75%). This is the conclusion of a recent study on cycling by the opinion research institute Ipsos. Worldwide, 4 out of 5 people are convinced that cycling helps to reduce traffic. Slightly more of those surveyed (86%) say it helps to reduce emissions. And yet surprisingly few people stated that the bike is their personal favourite mode of transport even on short journeys.
Cars are usually preferred to cycling
Worldwide, only 14% of people in the cycling study stated that they prefer cycling as a means of transport for short distances (up to 2 km). However, this global figure does not reflect the usage behaviour of people in the individual countries. In Germany, 21% say that they use their bike for short journeys - but 31% prefer to use their car. In the Netherlands, 45% of respondents cycle short distances, in China it is one in three. In Spain, the UK and the USA, cycling performed poorly in the study: only 6% of respondents in each country said they travelled short distances by bike.
Connection between infrastructure and cycle use
The results of this study on cycling show that cycling use depends primarily on how safe everyone feels on a bike. Over half (52%) of respondents worldwide stated that cycling was not safe where they lived. Of the Germans, 42% said that they criticised the safety of cyclists in their place of residence. In Spain, as many as 3 out of 5 respondents (60%) said the same, and more than half of the people taking part in the survey in the UK also agreed. In the Netherlands, on the other hand, only 14% say that cycling in their neighbourhood is dangerous - in China, one in three say the same.
Transport planning: cycling should be prioritised
The conclusion: The majority of respondents worldwide (64%) believe that cycling should be prioritised over cars in new infrastructure projects. According to this cycling study, a good one in two people in Germany (53%) are also convinced that improvements to cycling infrastructure in their own neighbourhood should be prioritised in the coming years.
To summarise, this means that the majority of the population is aware of the positive effects of cycling (e.g. traffic and emission reduction) and would also like to contribute to this. However, the perceived safety situation at home is still an obstacle. In short: those who can cycle safely are more likely to do so.
Method of the study Cycling
The results come from the Ipsos Global Advisor study "Cycling across the world", which was conducted on the occasion of World Bicycle Day on 3 June 2022. Over 20,000 people from 28 countries between the ages of 16 and 99 were surveyed.
Lukas Niebuhr
Working student
