City of Ghent
Making cycling the new normal
The city of Ghent has broken down the barriers to cycling and moved it into the mainstream with a range of initiatives designed to get people out of their cars and onto their bikes. This has included creating a car-free city centre and extensive development of the cycling network. Promotional activity including a subsidised student bike hire facility and a range of innovative marketing and information initiatives have helped reinforce cycling’s dominance in the city: nearly a fifth of all journeys to work and school in the city are now made on two wheels.
Liftshare (UK)
A friendlier, greener and cheaper way to travel
Norfolk-based Liftshare is helping fill empty car seats on the roads while offering a friendlier, greener and cheaper way to travel. By helping employers set up car sharing schemes and providing a free online national car sharing network, the organisation enables 100,000 journeys to be taken off the road every day, which it estimates will save about 110,000 tonnes of CO2 this year.
Travel Awards runners-up 2012
Cycle Cambridge (Cambridgeshire County Council)
Future-proofing for economic growth
Cambridgeshire County Council is helping prepare the historic university city for future economic growth through a new holistic approach to prioritising cycling, combining large extensions to the cycling network with innovative promotional activities. With cycling’s 22% mode share in Cambridge the highest in the UK, the council’s activities are helping local businesses, encouraging healthier lifestyles and making the city more liveable.
Cycle Exeter (Devon County Council)
Creating a cycling culture from scratch
Devon County Council’s tireless efforts to create a cycling culture in Exeter from scratch have laid the groundwork for it to become a true cycling city. As well as building nearly 50km of new and improved cycle lanes since 2005, the council has had particular success in inspiring youngsters to get on their bikes. Cycling’s overall mode share is now three times the national average and with a stunning cycling trail connecting Exeter to communities along the river Exe near completion, cycling to work is becoming the obvious choice.
Octopus Plan (Belgium)
Software for sustainable travel to school
Voetgangersbeweging’s Octopus Plan to promote walking and cycling to schools combines new software with community involvement. Staff, parents, the police and local authorities alike provide information for online tools that analyse potential barriers to sustainable travel and how they can be removed. Since 2006 over half of all Flemish schools have joined the Octopus Plan and around 35% of Flemish municipalities have signed the Octopus charter. Octopus-branded street furniture often forms part of the solution - few visitors driving through Flanders could fail to notice it.
TaxiTub (France)
Cutting carbon, connecting rural communities
By offering a virtual network of taxis that can be pre-booked by users in rural Brittany, Taxi Tub is helping reduce CO2 emissions, ease traffic congestion and save users money. Fully integrated into the existing bus network, this innovative scheme makes effective use of existing vehicles to expand mobility options and enable car sharing in an area where an equivalent half-hourly bus service would be prohibitively expensive to run. In turn, the scheme offers people living in remote areas a more affordable way of staying connected.
