Cycling policy document for Municipality of Koper – short summary
Cycling policy document for the Municipality of Koper is part of the project Bicy. The lack of a broader vision for the development of cycling is the reason for a more systematic work in this area in the future.
The time horizon is a 10 years document. In the meantime, the provided measures envisaged to establish a framework for a more ambitious development, which Koper could become one of the examples of good practice in the field of cycling in Slovenia and abroad.
Procedure for the preparation and content of the document based on a SWOT analysis of cycling in municipality, which was prepared within the project Bicy and BYPAD method.
With a vision to become a part of everyday cycling activity of the population, were designed objectives and measures for cycling policy of the municipality.
Most bike routes in the region runs along the existing roads. Municipality of Koper is located in a strategic position, both geographically as a tourist point of view. Favorable climate, easy accessibility, multiculturalism and rich tourist tradition and could allow the successful development of cycling. The municipality has so far focused most of his efforts in establishing bike paths Parenzana - The path of health and friendship, which takes place between Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.
Cycling is a very poorly covered in the design, planning policy and systematic problem solving mobility. The lag in the development of modern transport and communication infrastructure is caused by limited funding and lengthy administrative procedures and planning legislation.
BYPAD method for evaluation and quality assurance cycle policies found that certain areas in the municipality are well arranged, but it lacks a systematic approach to planning. Overall rating on a scale of 0 to 4 is 2.2.
The key achievements in the Municipality of Koper is a regulated recreational cycling route along the route of disused railway line between Trieste and Poreč called Parenzana – Porečanka; and also
the 5 marked thematically bike routes and the introduction of a bike-sharing system.
As the key challenges in the field of cycling have been identified inactive lifestyle and attachment to the car, daily cycling mostly for recreation, and poor integration of cycling in the municipal vision and policy.
The key potentials are climatic features enabling year-round cycling, good cycling infrastructure offer in the municipality as well as initiatives for integration with neighboring countries to create a common tourist destination.
The document designed the vision that in the coming years in the Municipality of Koper great advances are possible. Due to favorable climate cycling could become a way to perform daily routes for most of the population. With a change of attitude to cycling, residents will travel faster, more comfortable, with a greater feeling of security and satisfaction, with fewer problems of congestion and parking, noise and air pollution, and especially cheaper.
Cycling policy objectives are:
1. Better conditions for cycling
2. Safer cycling
3. More cyclists
4. Identifying the needs of cyclists
5. Effective planning for cycling
The document identified measures and actions that are aimed at the needs of users, management and coordination, policy documents, facilities and personnel, infrastructure and security, information and education, promotion and partnership and complementary activities.
Needs of users: introduction of web portal for citizens’ initiatives, measurement of cycling satisfaction, survey of the travel behavior of residents, counters cyclists.
Management and coordination: cycling coordinator at the municipal/regional level, cycling platform.
Policy documents: the introductionand adoption ofcycling policyat the municipal level, the introduction of action plans in the field of cycling, cycling as part of the spatial and transport policy of the municipality, technical guidelines for cycling infrastructure, the introduction of parking standards for new buildings.
Facilities and personnel: review of spending on cycling in recent years, ensuring regular funds for the development of this field.
Infrastructure and security: conclusion of the cycling network, parking facilities for cyclists at key points, review of black spots for cyclists.
Information and education: the cyclingcoursesfor different target groups, information onnew developments in the community through various channels, map of bike routes in the municipality.
Promotion and partnership: match three employees, promotional campaigns for primary and secondary schools, common promotion of three coastal municipalities along the Parenzana route.
Complementary activities: Calming motor traffic
Monitoring and Evaluation
In the Municipality of Koper currently there is not regulated systematic collection of data on travel behavior of residents and visitors. Therefore, the annual monitoring changes in cycling are not easy. To monitor the effects of various measures would be appropriate to introduce certain activities (as mentioned before; measurement of cycling satisfaction, survey of the travel behavior of residents..)
However, special attention should be paid to monitoring and evaluation of implementation of cycling policy. As mentioned, the time horizon of the document is 10 years, it means by 2022. An annex to the document was prepared also an action plan with measures for the period 2012-2015.
The Action Plan is a more short-term document and therefore suitable for faster changes that happens. In 2014 or 2015, it is sensible to re-run the analysis of the situation and to determine effectiveness of the implementation. Already implemented measures must be removed and replaced with new ones. The measures found not to be effective, needs to be upgrade and to determine the reasons for their failure. The result of these procedures must be the new action plan (for example, for the period 2015-2018).
Described inspection shall be conducted within the framework of Cycling platform or other associations in the field of cycling, but in cooperation with the Municipality of Koper and all key stakeholders in the field of cycling.
Cycling Action Plan for the Municipality of Koper – short summary
The Cycling Action Plan document for the Municipality of Koper, for the 2012-2015 period, is an integral part of the municipality’s cycling policy. Due to the lack of a broader vision for the development of cycling it tries to lay the foundation for a more systematic work in this area, in the future.
The document has a 3 year time horizon. It contains a set of actions provided in the cycling policy, which would be appropriate for implementation, in the given period. The selected measures are so called "soft measures", i.e measures for promotion, education and information in the field of cycling. Based on experience, these measures have a positive relation between costs and benefits and their implementation is particularly sensible when considering limited resources for this field.
Measures:
• Cycling coordinator at the municipal / inter-municipal level
• Cycling Platform
• Introduction of parking standards for new buildings
• Overview of black spots for cyclists
• Map of bike routes in the municipality
• Cycling to work competition in teams
• Integration of all municipalities by the Parenzana and joint promotion
This project is implemented through the CENTRAL EUROPE Programme co-financed by the ERDF.
Regionalni razvojni center koper, Župančičeva 18, 6000 Koper
Tel.: +386 5 6637 580; Fax: +386 5 6637 581; ;
ID: SI28049705; Matična: 5868696000, TRR: 10100-0039157634