Hanover: Second best cycling city in Germany – Frankfurt leads!

Hanover: Second best cycling city in Germany – Frankfurt leads!

Hanover has established itself as one of the most bike-friendly cities in Germany. According to the current bicycle climate test by the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC), the capital of Lower Saxony takes second place. With a solid average score of 3.52, it is just behind Frankfurt am Main, which is considered the most bike-friendly city with a score of 3.49. What is interesting is that Bremen also holds third place with 3.54, despite a decline. These rankings not only show cyclists' satisfaction with local conditions, but are also an important indicator for transport planners and political decision-makers to promote improvements. In total, more than 200,000 cyclists in Germany were surveyed between September and December 2024 to get a comprehensive picture of the cycling situation. t-online.de reports that…

But what about the safety of cyclists? The results speak for themselves: 70 percent of those surveyed feel they are at risk in road traffic. However, compared to the previous year, the proportion of cyclists who feel unsafe has decreased from 70 to 61 percent. This represents a positive trend, although criticism of a lack of consideration for other road users and various obstacles still remains. Even if the accessibility of city centers is praised by cyclists, there is still a need for action, as the survey shows. fahrradklima-test.adfc.de points out that this survey is one of the largest of its kind in the world and has already been carried out for the eleventh time.

Regional insights and improvements

Around 23,000 people in Lower Saxony took part in the survey. It is particularly noteworthy that Oldenburg takes third place with a score of 3.58 for cities with a population between 100,000 and 200,000. Nordhorn performed well among cities with 50,000 to 100,000 residents, coming in second place with a rating of 2.83. A smaller ray of hope comes from Wettringen in North Rhine-Westphalia, which was awarded the top score of 1.55 in the category of the smallest municipalities (under 20,000 inhabitants).

However, there are also good things to report. 10 out of 15 major cities with more than 500,000 inhabitants have improved significantly. This also includes Nuremberg, which has caught up, which is particularly evident in the introduction of bicycle-friendly traffic lights and new cycle paths. tagesschau.de emphasizes that satisfaction in cycling does not only depend on the infrastructure, but also on the perception of safety in road traffic.

Overall, the bicycle climate test shows that it is time to further improve the conditions for cyclists. The differentiated feedback from the participants offers valuable information for a now essential and sustainable transport policy that meets the needs of all road users.