Helsinki

With the ambitious goal of being the world’s best metropolis of sustainable transport, the Finnish capital, much like Paris, had set its sights set on a bicycle modal share target of 15% by 2020. At a current 11% with nearly equal gender split among bicycle users, Helsinki is well on its way to becoming a northern leader in bicycle-friendliness.

With over 1300 kilometres of bicycle infrastructure and 20 kilometres of cycle highways (another 140 kilometres planned!), the City is targeting important corridors in the central core for a bicycle-oriented facelift like Hämeentie, a major boulevard to be reconstructed by 2020.

Having dropped out of the Top 20 in 2013, Helsinki has been clawing its way back up the ranks since 2017, jumping up 8 places this year from 18th place. Since 2016, the local bike share program has grown 7-fold with nearly 3,500 bikes in service, while 74% of residents report to feeling safe cycling in the city. In the last few years, the local administration has also been getting involved in innovative bicycle pilot projects, with a local cargo bike sharing project for residents and companies in the Jätkäsaari district and an intermodal project to bring bikes on trains for free which became permanent in 2018 after a year of testing.

As a winter city with heavy snow, the City has also begun to re-evaluate their snow clearing practices since 2017. All of these changes have also been documented through the City’s bi-annual Bicycle Account since 2015, a marker of dedication to benchmarking and future planning.