01/02/2012
PRESTO Guides and Fact sheets are available in Ukrainian

Some times ago in 2011 ECF and the Kyiv Cyclists' Association have signed a cooperation agreement for translation of the PRESTO policy guides and fact sheets into Ukrainian and their dissemination in Ukraine. Today the Kyiv Cyclists' Association is proud to announce the launch of the Ukrainian Centre for Cycling Expertise. Technical staff from municipalities and cycling advocates will find some PRESTO material translated into Ukrainian on the on-line platform at http://velotransport.info/?cat=43.

Material translated into Ukrainian is also available on the PRESTO website. These are:

• Policy guide General framework
• Policy guide Infrastructure
• Fact sheet Cycle lanes
• Fact sheet Cycle tracks
• Fact sheet Bicycle maps

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30/09/2011
Bremen inaugurates first bicycle barometer

A 25% cycling mode share makes Bremen a “champion” cycling city and the cycling capital in Germany for cities of over 500,000. The newly installed bicycle barometer is another step the city is taking to raise further awareness to cycling and to highlight the importance of cycling as a daily transport mode.

Following the official opening of the bicycle street “Wachmannstrasse” in early September, on 21 September 2011 the first bicycle barometer in Bremen was inaugurated by Dr Joachim Lohse, Senator for Environment. It marks a further step Bremen is taking to improve the infrastructure for non-motorised traffic and to further increase the cycling share in the city. The bicycle barometer, located on the Wilhelm Kaisen Bridge, is the first of eight bicycle counters the city is planning to install in the next months (the Wilhelm Kaisen counter will be the only one with a digital display).

The counter collects data for differenttime frames (hour, day, month, year) through loops under the pavement. The data are automatically displayed and later analysed to determine the development of cycling in the city. The information is also transmitted to the traffic management centre.

But there is more to the bicycle barometer than just counting cyclists: it raises awareness of the number of cyclists in Bremen and motivates those who do not cycle yet to try it out. The city is eager to demonstrate to cyclists the importance of their means of transport, combined with a thank you for their contribution to the environmental protection.

Bremen installed this bicycle barometer within the framework of the IEE STEER project PRESTO; it is the first city in Germany to do so, following other European cycling cities such as Odense, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Örebro and Apeldoorn, who already have such counters in place.

Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Source: Press release city of Bremen http://www.senatspressestelle.bremen.de/sixcms/detail.php?id=44657

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16/08/2011

PRESTO e-learning courses on-line in September
In the PRESTO project, expertise, knowledge and know-how on cycling policy is being gathered and transferred between the consortium-partners. However, all this information may be very useful to stakeholders outside the consortium as well. That is why the consortium has developed 7 on-line courses dealing with very practical aspects of the implementation of cycling policies. The PRESTO project has 3 main pillars: infrastructure, promotion and electric bicycles. For each of the first 2 pillars, 3 e-learning courses were developed, i.e. for infrastructure: intersection & roundabouts, infrastructure for starter cities and bicycle parking, for promotion: bike to work campaigns, bike to school campaigns and bicycle maps. Moreover, 1 e-learning course was made on how to introduce and promote the use of electric bicycles in local communities.

The courses will run from September to December 2011. Anybody who is interested can participate provided he or she first sends an E-mail to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The courses have been developed with a view to assisting people who are implementing cycling policies in “starter cities” with a low cycling modal share. Participants take the courses at their own pace since they consist of self-learning modules with remote connection to the trainer. The number of places per course is limited. You will find more information here http://www.presto-cycling.eu/en/training-material/e-learning.

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14/06/2011

No bici No party with the “Geniale” initiative
On the 17^th of May, in cooperation with 13 students from the Morin High School and FIAB the City of Venice carried out the “Geniale” (Genious) initiative. At 9 different access points to the City, cyclists entering the city were counted from 7:30 to 9:30 am while questionnaires were carried out and chocolates given to reward cyclists until 10:30 am. All in all, 3604 cyclists were counted entering the city. 300 questionnaires, aimed at knowing more about the cyclists habits and opinions on cycling in the city are now being analysed and will provide valuable data to the city Bicycle Office.

The initiative was appreciated by cyclists who seemed surprised to see the city reward them for their choice of transport mode though a few pedestrians felt that they too should receive chocolates for the fact that they too travel through the city with zero emissions!

How many green miles can 347 children earn in one month?

On the 24th of May, the City of Venice organised the Green Mile project final event in the San Giuliano Park in Venice; a celebration for the 347 elementary school students who participated in the project. The Green Mile project is points based. Classes were in competition with each other for a month and points were awarded daily according to the form of transport used to come to school by individual students. Children who came to school by bicycle or on foot get the highest points, those that travelled by public transport, the next highest and the private car the lowest.

The 17 classes were invited to participate in a morning of fun regarding cycling and sustainable mobility in general. With the support of the local police, first aid service (the Green cross) and FIAB, the City of Venice provided a multitude of activities. These included a bike ride around the park set up with street signage that the children had to respect, an obstacle course by bike, activities on how to be a good pedestrian, the “policeman is your friend” stand, a first aid demonstration and a game called “ less CO₂” where the children had to try and carry out a series of shopping chores and other activities as pedestrians, cyclists and car drivers so that they experienced first hand who could get things done more quickly!

After lunch under the trees, in 33°C heat, Mr CO₂ gave each of the classes their diploma which stated the amount of CO₂ they had saved by carrying out their home-school trips with the most sustainable means possible for a month. The students in the class which saved the most CO₂ were awarded with a bicycle each. Other prizes were awarded by FIAB to the class which had saved the most space outside their school ( substituting private cars with other means of transport) and to the class which made the greatest change in their home school journey behaviour before and after the project.

In total, the children saved 10,900 kilos of CO₂ in the month in which they participated in the project. Teachers and children have told us that many of the good habits discovered in that month are being repeated.

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23/05/2011

Walloon cities get support from PRESTO experts
“It has been a great experience!” says Dirk Dufour from Ligtermoet&Partners, Presto Belgian partner in Leuven, who was involved with Tim Asperges in a large bicycle plan project for 13 cities and municipalities in the Walloon Region (Belgium). The “Plan Wallonie cyclable” was approved in December 2010 and it aims at improving cycling conditions and increasing the use of bicycles in the region by 2020. “The Walloon project is now nearing its end for us, and I’m sure there will be a noticeable take-off effect for cycling policy in at least some of the municipalities” continues Dirk, who has been working with Liège and Ottignies, while Tim has been confronted with specific challenges in a few very rural municipalities. Out of the 13 cycle policy plans that they have helped prepare, between six and eight will be selected to receive financial support from the Region up until 2014 to ensure implementation. More information is available on the Walloon Region webpage for cycling projects: www.mobilite.wallonie.be

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06/04/2011

Presto project holds 4th Work-shop in Venice
In just their 4^th on-site training workshop (March 30-31) in Venice (Italy), the Presto project is already making local councils and planners alike rethink their approach to establishing bicycle-friendly cities. Hosted by the municipality of Mestre, from inland Venice, Italy, the workshop gathered 30 participants from the local authority’s mobility and traffic departments, from the PRESTO cities and consortium partners, and a representative from the Austrian Energy Agency. The event opened with a “hands-on” component, with participants taking the tour of the existing cycling network which currently enables its cyclists to represent an impressive 19% of the transport mix.

• Alex Sully (Transport Initiatives, UK) on different bicycle parking solutions,
• Michael Aherne (National Transport Authority, Ireland) tabling a discussion on cycling friendly junctions and roundabouts
• Raymond Fismer (ADFC, Germany) leading a LifeCycle workshop on targeted campaigns to promote cycling among multi-age target groups.

Training material will available on the PRESTO website. A selection of images from the event can be found on the city of Venice’s website.

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02/02/2011

PRESTO has been endorsed by the European Commission's Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign as an Official Partner
The PRESTO project consortium is proud to announce that PRESTO has been chosen by the Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign to be an Official Partner in 2011. Today we have signed and submitted a declaration of partnership where the PRESTO consortium declares its willingness to contribute to the objectives of the Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign by way of promoting cycling as an everyday transport mode in European cities. We expect to promote PRESTO during the forthcoming EU Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW) event in Brussels from 11 to 15 March, to publish our project story on a dedicated web page on the SEE Campaign website and to participate in the Sustainable Energy Europe Awards Competition 2011.

The Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign contributes to the achievement of EU energy policy goals and targets in the field of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, and clean transport and alternative fuels.

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06/01/2011

Velo-city 2011 Seville - more than 60.000 cycling trips per day prove that change can happen – and fast!
The successful establishment of a complete system of cycling infrastructures by the City Government of Seville in just three years has led the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF) to select the city of Seville in hosting the 2011 edition of Velo-City. As a consequence Velo-City 2011 will take place in Seville, from March 23-25. Seville, the fourth largest city of Spain and the artistic, cultural, and financial capital of the autonomous province of Andalusia has thus become an extraordinary point of reference on a worldwide scale for cities without a tradition of cycling as a means of urban transport, showing that a rapid and efficient trans formation of mobility behavior is possible. Press release

Please find attached the first of a series of press releases about the event, the program and the players. For a selection of images go to

http://www.velo-city2011.com/eng/recursos_img_recursos.php or http://sevillacyclechic.blogspot.com/

PRESTO will have a booth in the Expo area. Meet the project managers, take a copy of our project leaflets, learn how you can benefit from PRESTO, leave your business card and we will get back to you with further information from the PRESTO cities.

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17/12/2010

Lithuanian cities are eager to take up PRESTO’s recommendations for promotion of cycling
On 3 December, our Dissemination Manager Florinda Boschetti from ECF presented PRESTO fact sheets for promotion of cycling in a workshop held by the Ministry of Transport in Vilnius (Lithuania). The seminar was opened by Mr. Arun Štaras Deputy Minister for Transport and Communications who welcomed 70 attendees from scientific, public and private institutions and companies involved in cycling and sustainable transport planning, implementation, promotion and enforcement activities. “As a Bicycle Transportation Commissioner I hope that my commission will be active and effective, and lessons learned in this workshop will certainly be properly evaluated in preparation for immediate action to encourage cycling development plan " said Mr. Štaras. According to him, Lithuania currently has one of the lowest indicators of the use of bicycles throughout the EU. "Cyclists in Lithuania grew faster if the use of bicycle traffic would be facilitated. I am referring in particular to security, safety, ride comfort, shaping public opinion"- said Deputy Minister. More at www.transp.lt/lt/naujienos/10703

(click on the photos to enlarge)

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15/09/2010

Joint declaration between PRESTO and Lithuanian Ministry of Transport
The PRESTO consortium is proud to announce that joint declaration has been signed between leading project partner, Rupprecht Consult, and Ministry of Transport and Communications of Republic of Lithuania for translation of PRESTO policy guides and fact sheets into Lithuanian and dissemination through national website www.transp.lt.

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1/07/2010
Bremen Bicycle Festiva l in June.
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1/07/2010
The Mestre's BICIPLAN.
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1/07/2010
Bike sharing scheme takes off soon.
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28/06/2010
PRESTO at Velo-city Global 2010 in Copenhagen

PRESTO was presented at Velo-city Global 2010 in Copenhagen by Tim Asperges, former programme coordinator of Velo-city 2009 in Brussels and partner in PRESTO. Tim opened his session with a cartoon showing that in the last one hundred years cycling has become a mean of transportation for “smart” people and is no longer considered to be a poor transport as it used to be in the past. Those who chose the bicycle can now avoid traffic jams in cities and have much more time left for their family and for leisure. After this short introduction Tim moved on and presented project PRESTO, the five cities and their activities. But the focus was on the PRESTO “three level of cycling ” approach for “starter”, “climber” and “champion” cities. More than 60 participants in a crowded conference room addressed Tim with key questions how to implement cycling policies in their cities: Where can I start from to improve cycling in my city? Which are the most suitable cycling infrastructures for my city? How can I keep cyclists on their bikes if my city is already a cycling city? What is the difference between a bicycle and a pedelec? Such questions find their answer within PRESTO guides and fact sheets which contain which are available and can be downloaded for free here http://www.presto-cycling.eu/en/policy-guidelines-a-fact-sheets.

PRESTO had also a booth in the EXPO area where interested people could meet with the project coordinator (Rafael Urbanczyk) and the ECF project manager (Dr. Florinda Boschetti) and could further discuss how they can benefit from the PRESTO approach.

(click on a photo to enlarge)

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21/06/2010
PRESTO facts sheets in different languages are available on-line

The 25 implementation fact sheets has been published in different languages on-line and are now available for free download from the project website. Check out the English pages in the Guides and Fact sheets area at http://www.presto-cycling.eu/en/policy-guidelines-a-fact-sheets or in the language sections (click on the labels on the page right top corner).

(click on the photo to enlarge)

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10/06/2010
2nd PRESTO on-site training course in Grenoble

PRESTO on-site training course took place in Grenoble on June 9 and 10 and registered a success in terms of participation from stakeholders within the Grenoble Alpes Métropole area. The meeting was hosted in the new “Stade des Alpes” (football stadium) which was erected in February 2008 close to downtown in the middle of a superb green area hosting also the “Palais des Sport” and one administrative office building. On the first day the group took a three hours site visit by bike around the city accompanied by staff from the local bicycle office. The tour went through the extensive cycling network and stopped in different locations where brief information were given on road design for cyclists, intermodality, bicycle parking solutions. In the afternoon trainer Dirk Dufour gave a presentation on Cycling infrastructure: state of art in Europe. Find the PowerPoint presentation here: renoble-france/t<mce:script type=">raining">http://www.presto-cycling.eu/en/cities-and-activities/grenoble-france/training. The following day a shorter bike ride spotted shared spaces with cyclists and public transport. The training course ended with a presentation by a representative from the local public transport company who illustrated road design solutions at bus/tram stops to prevent accidents when cyclists are approaching.

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1/06/2010
The first National Day for the Bicycle 2010.
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25/02/2010
"Beauty and the Bike".
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11/11/2009
Presentation of PRESTO at the ZagrebForum.
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01/11/2009
PRESTO press conference in Tczew on October 29th.
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01/11/2009
Tczew held the pedelecs launch event on October 29th during the City Council.
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01/10/2009
Bremen seeks to improve accessibility by bicycle to large scale events in town.
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01/10/2009
Grenoble is planning its local activities to foster daily cycling.
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01/10/2009
Tczew has appointed Małgorzata Ciecholińska as Bicycle Office head.
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01/10/2009
PRESTO was presented at a press conference in Venice during the European Mobility Week.
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01/10/2009
Zagreb is getting ready as a cycling city.
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