CRB - Fast lane for planning cycling infrastructure

Abstract

Canton Zürich has set ambitious targets to achieve their goals to complete the Canton Zürich cycling network of about 1921 km until 2043. This will require construction and modification of a total of 602 km of its cycling network. Some projects already lag behind: construction of the 12 km long Limmattal cycling highway from Zürich to Dietikon, expected to begin in 2024, has been delayed indefinitely. Furthermore, these projects require high investments (e.g., the Limmattal cycling highway is estimated to cost ca. 50 million CHF) in comparison to the Canton‘s annual budget allocated to cycling (about 20 million CHF). This presentation will visualise the cycling infrastructure planning process for the Canton of Zürich and identify the hindrances to being able to prioritise the cycling infrastructure to achieve the set targets until 2043, based on resource allocation, technical readiness, and consensus-building. The presentation will include an analysis of 1) Canton Zürich‘s cycling infrastructure investments since the first Cycling plan in 2010, 2) the planning process‘ capability to foster technical readiness, e.g., by designing all 602 km, and 3) factors related to consensus building for cycling infrastructure, e.g., communicating cost effectiveness and societal objectives related to the investments, like contributions to net-zero goals. Finally, the presentation will close with suggestions of planning support tools to make the planning process more effective and efficient including an outlook of future research.