Hamburg aims for 4 out of 5 trips to be carried out without private car in 2030

The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg has set ambitious targets to decrease CO₂ emissions in the transport sector. By 2030, 80% of all trips should be done walking, cycling, using public transport and any other forms of sustainable mobility. Only 20% of trips should be carried out by private car (in 2017 this accounted for 36% of trips).

To come up to this ambitious goal, Hamburg is applying a range of projects placed in the frame of its cycling strategy, the Alliance for Cycling. The strategy currently works with 28 partners and sets out annual work plans and budgets to arrive at the 2030 modal split.

In 2020, Hamburg invested EUR 87 million and in 2021 EUR 91 million for cycling infrastructure, services and communication. A key element of the strategy is the Veloroute network: 14 main cycling routes span out as a trunk network heading for the total length of 280km, of which 190km are already in place today.

The cycling network is expanded at other network hierarchy levels as well, but the cycling strategy goes beyond track constructions: the plan is to increase Bike+Ride facilities, add bicycle parking, enlarge the capacity of its bike sharing system, produce a digital layer for infrastructure to ease maintenance and monitoring traffic figures and to run major cycling marketing campaigns every third year.

The work for pushing cycling connects to other sustainable urban mobility means as well. In 2022, the Alliance for Cycling got updated to include pedestrian traffic, and the city’s transport networks constantly get updated for combining cycling with public transport services to provide greater accessibility without car use.

Hamburg just recently joined the network of Cities & Regions for Cyclists by the European Cyclists’ Federation. The network hosts local and regional administrations that actively promote cycling for transport and leisure.