Introduction: When the SpiCycles project was launched in 2006, cycling was not the “hot” mode of transport that it has become today. As project partners, we wanted to gather experience related to specific areas of cycling policy. We were keen to explore how key elements such as communication and awareness raising, and the building of local partnerships, might increase the modal share of cycling.

We had big expectations at the beginning of the project regarding cycling planning, but could not have predicted the explosion in the popularity of public bicycle systems that has taken place during Spicycles.

In the course of the project, cycling became increasingly relevant to city policy makers and transport planners, as well as to citizens. This interest was heightened by the looming economic crisis: petrol prices rose dramatically, and economic recession became a reality. Public discussion of issues such as those raised in Al Gore’s documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” began to change people’s way of thinking, and from being regarded as “old-fashioned”, cycling was increasingly perceived as a relevant and contemporary mode of transport.

• Read the full article: SpiCycles - Cycling on the rise: Public Bicycles and Other European Experiences (PDF, 3.5M)