Swiss bicycle lobby content with cycle path pledge
Boosting cycle paths should get bikes away from cars and improve health
Keystone
Plans to boost cycle paths in Switzerland have convinced campaigners to shelve a people’s initiative demanding wholesale improvements for bicycle users.
This content was published on
1 minute
swissinfo.ch/mga
The initiative, with 105,000 signatures, was handed in to the Federal Chancellery a year ago. In addition to an expansion of the national cycle path network, the initiative also demanded enough parking space for bicycles, zones with 30-kilometre-per-hour (19mph) speed restrictions, a system of fast- and slow track lanes, fewer traffic lights, and an increased awareness of the needs of non-motorised two-wheelers in urban planning.
The initiative would have forced a vote on the issue, but the government put forward a counter-proposal to enshrine access to cycle paths in the Swiss constitution.
The initiative was formally withdrawn on Friday after parliament showed broad support for the plan to put cycle paths on the same footing as walking and hiking trails in the Swiss constitution. This paves the way for the cycling path network, which currently falls far behind the 24,000 kilometres (14,900 miles) of Swiss hiking trails, to be expanded.
“A network of safe cycle paths makes cycling more attractive – even more people will switch to bicycles or e-bikes,” Swiss Cycling Association president and vice-president of initiative committee, Evi Allemann, said in a statement.
Nature magazine: scientific breakthroughs in medicine and space travel in 2025
This content was published on
The science magazine Nature expects breakthroughs in mind-reading machines, new weight-loss drugs, and particle physics in 2025.
This content was published on
Swiss minister Karin Keller-Sutter wants to use Platform X to communicate with the population during her term as president in 2025.
Swiss Post delivers record number of parcels in pre-Christmas period
This content was published on
Swiss Post delivered a total of 22.3 million parcels between the Black Friday promotional week at the end of November and Christmas.
SWISS plane in Graz: employee still in intensive care
This content was published on
The cabin crew member of the SWISS Airbus A220 which made an emergency landing in Graz, Austria, on Monday is still in intensive care.
WWF sounds alarm: wildlife populations are plummeting
This content was published on
The WWF’s Living Planet Report 2024 found that the wild animal populations surveyed have shrunk by an average of 73% over the last 50 years.
Two decades after tsunami, Swiss tourists flock to Southeast Asia
This content was published on
Twenty years after a catastrophic tsunami in Southeast Asia, the region is again a top destination for Swiss, including at Christmas.
Swiss forests better equipped for storms 25 years after Lothar
This content was published on
Twenty-five years after Hurricane Lothar wreaked havoc in Switzerland, the country’s forests are now better prepared, experts say.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
People’s power for pedal power
This content was published on
Voters are likely to have the final say on a people’s initiative aimed at boosting the use of bicycles, following the collection of the necessary signatures. They were handed in to the federal authorities at the beginning of March. Apart from specific tourist information on specially labelled bicycle routes and a broad comparison between six…
This content was published on
The “For the promotion of bicycle, foot and hiking paths” initiative gained a total of 105,000 signatures from registered voters, organisers said on Tuesday. Signature collection was so successful that it ended early. Although the organisers could have continued collecting until September 3, 2016, the requirement of 100,000 signatures was met in the first six…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.