| Artxibo OCR | Including EuroVelo in the TEN-T Briefing Paper
European Cyclists' Federation Adam Bodor. Director of EuroVelo. Cyclinq Tourism and Reaional Policy, [email protected] Ed Lancaster. Cyclina Tourism and Reaional Policy Officer, [email protected] 20 April 2012
This briefing paper provides an overview of the ECF's objective to include EuroVelo, the European cycle route network, in the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T).
H ECF gratefully acknowledges financial support from the European commission. Nevertheless the sole responsibility of this publication lies with the author. The European Union is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
Introduction
EuroVelo consists of 14 long-distance cycle routes with well over 45,000 km already in use.
Thousands of additional kilometers are planned and when completed, the network will total
over 70,000 km. More than 70% of the network is located on public roads and only 14%
consists of separated bicycle paths or lanes. The development of EuroVelo could
significantly contribute to achieving the goals of the Treaty of Lisbon, which has clear
reference to road transportation (Article 100) without any distinction between different road
users'.
The network includes existing and planned national and regional cycle routes. The
development and operation of the EuroVelo routes is carried out by national, regional and
local governments, commercial service providers and NGOs. Some countries have
integrated the EuroVelo network into their official transport network, allocated significant
financial resources for cycling infrastructure and provided coordination with their transport
development agency, relevant NGO's and local governments.
The EuroVelo network is managed and coordinated by the ECF on the European level, with
financial support from DG ENTR (in 201 1 and 2012) and private sponsors. During 201 1,
the ECF with the help of the DG ENTR made the first EuroVelo Overview Route Database,
Route Development Guidelines and prepared a EuroVelo Strategy for completing the
network by 2020.
You may find detailed information about the network from the EuroVelo website:
www.EuroVelo.org
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EuroVelo - contribution to
citizens' mobility
European citizens demand high levels of
mobility and road safety. They want to
travel unimpeded, using seamless
transportation networks and the European
treaties guarantee this free movement of
people across the continent. EuroVelo
aims to meet this need by linking up
existing regional and national cycle routes
and completing missing parts.
The EuroVelo routes provide key links
between and within urban areas, as well
as proving vital transport links in rural
areas. By developing them we can
improve local mobility by providing high-
quality infrastructure, additional
motivation for the users and technical
support for the developers. The
completion of EuroVelo would
considerably improve the mobility of
European citizens, in a sustainable,
energy-efficient and environmentally-
friendly manner.
The EuroVelo network is developing fast
and is well supported in some regions. It
is therefore considered that it is a
worthwhile recipient of European funds in
the field of transport, not least because
according to the European Commission's
White Paper on Transport, it is committed
to a 20% cut in carbon emissions from
transport by 2030 (compared with 2008),
and a 70% cut by 2050. Implementing
measures to increasing cycling's modal
share would make big steps towards
achieving this goal.
Including EuroVelo within the TEN-T and
developing the European cycle route
network is an opportunity for promoting
trans-border cycling infrastructure
networks, as well supporting soft mobility
and sustainable tourism. It also plays an
important role in intermodal cross-border
travel (e.g. widening the catchment area
of rail travel). Beside the mobility aspect,
cycle tourism is a booming business and
strongly supports rural and regional
economies. According to a study
commissioned by the European
Parliament", the total estimated economic
impact of the EuroVelo Network when
complete is 12.5 million holiday trips per
year and 33.3 million day excursions per
year, generating almost €5 billion direct
revenue annually.
Recognition
The ECF has developed a uniform cycle
signage system that was acknowledged by
the UNECE WP.l (Working Party on road
safety and signalization) in March 2009.
EuroVelo signposting can now be found in
the Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic,
France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Serbia,
Slovakia, Switzerland, the UK and is
currently under construction in Belgium,
Bulgaria, Finland, Estonia, Denmark,
Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland,
Romania.
The European Economic and Social
Committee asked the European
Commission to integrate the EuroVelo
cycle route network into TEN-T.
On Thursday 15th December 2011, the
European Parliament gave significant
support to EuroVelo in its response to the
White Paper on Transport: "EuroVelo, the
European long-distance cycle route
network, should be included in the TEN-T
network"1".
Proposal
The ECF highly appreciates the political
support of the EuroVelo project and asks
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the European Transport ministers to follow
the position of the European Parliament
and the European Economic and Social
Committee (EESC) and suggests to:
1. Integrate the EuroVelo network
into TEN-T (at the very least as part of the
proposed Comprehensive Network) and
consider it as an opportunity for
promoting European trans-border
transport infrastructure networks,
supporting soft mobility and sustainable
tourism.
2. Participate in the EuroVelo
coordination (which is executed via
National EuroVelo Coordination Centers)
and ask the Commission to provide
financial and technical assistance for the
coordination, know-how transfer and
communication on the European level.
3. Improve the intermodal
connections of the TEN-T developments
(in particular at railway and ferry hubs).
4. Integrate cycling infrastructure and
accessibility by bike in every relevant TEN-
T development, to remove barriers
(include bike paths in all new bridges for
example) and to avoid new obstacles (e.g.
plan subway or bridge crossings of new
motorways).
5. Provide adequate, dedicated
European financial resources from the
Connect Europe Facility (CEF), Structural,
Cohesion and Rural Development Funds.
Definition
Please note that the EuroVelo routes are
eligible for inclusion within the TEN-T.
Under Article 3.2 of the Community
Guidelines for the Development of the
Trans-European Transport Networklv it
states that "The transport infrastructure
shall comprise road, rail and inland
waterway networks, the seaports, and
inland waterway ports and other
interconnection points." Cycle paths fall
under the definition of roads.
Furthermore, the latest figures available
suggest that over 70% of EuroVelo routes
are located directly on public roads.
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The EuroVelo network
Helsinki
Stockholm
Moscow •
>enhagen
Vilnius
Amsterdai
Warsaw
London
Brussel?
Bratislava
Zagreb
Belgrade'
Sarajevo
Bucarest»
Pristina
Podgorica
Tirana
• Madrid
• Lisbon
Athens
• Kiev
Chisinau
Nicosia
• Valletta
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Further information
For further information on EuroVelo please visit the official website: www.EuroVelo.org; the
ECF's website: www.ecf.com or contact:
Adam Bodor-ECF Director of EuroVelo, Cycling Tourism and Regional Policy,
a. [email protected]
Ed Lancaster - ECF Cycling Tourism and Regional Policy Officer, [email protected]
Rue Franklin 28,
1000 Brussels, Belgium
Tel: +32 2 880 9987
Fax: +32 2 880 9275
The European Cyclists' Federation (ECF)
The European Cyclists' Federation (ECF) represents the interests of bicycle users, is based
in Brussels and has over 60 member organisations across 40 countries.
As well as advocating for better cycling policies and promoting cycling at the
international level, ECF has a range of programmes including EuroVelo, the global
networks "Scientists for cycling" and "Cities for Cyclists", and the Velo-city and Velo-city
Global conference series.
ECF is a main partner in several EU funded projects, such as PRESTO and CYCLE
Logistics.
Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
II The European cycle route network, EuroVelo can be viewed here: http://www.ecf.com/cvclina-tourism/
III Response to Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area - Towards a competitive and resource efficient
transport system (2011/2096(11+))
lv Decision No 1692/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 1996 on Community
guidelines for the development of the trans-European transport network
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