Unsafe bike paths, car-centric habits, inconvenience: there are many reasons why the bike isn’t popular in Luxembourg. In 2021, it accounted for only 2% of daily trips. Regardless of the distances travelled, citizens rarely rely on bikes; for short distances under 1km, residents either walk (50%) or take the car (35%), while only around 5% grab their bike. This proportion only diminishes as the distance grows, with users taking their cars for two thirds of trips between 1 and 5km.

Aside from missing environmental targets, the issue--as the PNM 2035 identifies--will be that Luxembourg, which is already plagued by traffic jams, soon will not be able to accommodate more cars, resulting in the country’s mobility’s collapse.

Bausch (déi Gréng) is betting on better cycling paths, a more connected network, and safer bike stations around bigger public transport platforms to encourage more people to incorporate cycling in their mobility habits. Always considering this mode of transport in future construction plans should also encourage a shift in mentality.

But is the PNM 2035 a realistic and doable strategy?

Philippe Herkrath from the cycling association Provélo--which has been defending cyclists’ rights since 1985--weighs in on the future of mobility as envisioned by the national plan.

Tracy Heindrichs: The government has the ambition of raising the daily use of bikes from 2% to 11%. This is an increase of 274,000 trips a day by 2035. Is this a sufficient and realistic target?

Philippe Herkrath: In principle, it could be possible. I know that in some foreign countries, they were able to make a lot of progress in a short amount of time. Sevilla, for instance, in the last decade made a big jump. On the one hand, you have to make an attractive offer for cyclists--like safe cycling lanes--and provide solid legislation, and on the other hand also dare to set up certain restrictions for cars. Some of the measures in the PNM 2035 would force drivers to rethink their mobility.

I think that a horizon of 13 years to reach 11% is doable so long as the government don’t let the situation drag on. Of course, the project has to be taken seriously on the national and communal level.

The plan promises a safer, high quality cycling path network. Do you believe that is doable when you look at the past? , for instance, the development of a cycling path around the Gare was halted indefinitely…

I think that’s one of the issues. In 2015, the first cycling path legislation was set up under François Bausch. This also foresaw a relatively ambitious development of the network. During our discussions with the roads and bridges administration, we see there is a lot of work in many places and that they really try to advance as quickly as possible. But in practice, there are issues with environmental and construction permits that slow down progress. It’s clear that it’s also a risk for this ambitious plan.

If it continues at the same pace as the last seven years, with a maximum 30-40km [of cycling paths] developed a year, it’ll be difficult to create all the infrastructure written in the plan by 2035. [The plan aims for a 10km mesh grid of cycling lanes all over the grand duchy, editor’s note]. We at Provélo hope that the pace at which the paths are constructed will pick up as it goes along.

What could already be done right now to make cycling more attractive? Some activists for instance criticise the use of paint to mark cycling lanes, saying it isn’t enough.

We in part share the views of some activists, but each case has to be studied. In other places, such as the Netherlands, they rely partly on paint to signify cycling infrastructures, so it can work.

But as the PNM highlights, an accent has to be put on agglomerations. That’s where most of the conflicts with the other types of traffic exist. They are more difficult to solve because there is less space. So it’s important that the ministry now pushes the functional classification of the network faster in those areas and that communes play along and find the courage to put in place modal filters in neighbourhoods.

This is a change that could happen relatively quickly, but of course it’s not easy to impose a modal filter everywhere because in some spaces, car infrastructure is necessary.

What has the ministry already done that is positive for cyclists?

I think what has already been done in the last few years, and what has been underlined again in this PNM, is that the bicycle should be considered automatically in construction plans, and that cyclists can be given a safe space--be it on the road or on a shared path with pedestrian.

That has already started a bit in the last years, as well in larger communes such as Luxembourg City.

There are a lot of small changes that used to be a no-go, like touching parking spots, but now even in the City of Luxembourg, it’s not as categorical. So, some parking spots can be sacrificed. It’s a first step and proof of the shift in awareness on all levels. If we continue this way and continue to get more and more cars, the system will collapse at some point.

Even if a whole network for bicycles is built, it has to be used too. As the plan shows, people are used to relying a lot on the car, even for short distances. What could be done to change the mentality of citizens on mobility?

That’s one of the issues. Better and more coherent infrastructures will lead people to consider the option of using the bicycle but of course, a mentality shift has to take place. I think Luxembourg has been relatively car-centric, even if the bicycle is used by a lot of people in their free time.

That’s maybe where they will have to focus and use a carrot-and-stick approach where people are tempted by good infrastructure, while car restrictions dissuade them from using the car. Then motivate them through several incentives, like subsidies. Above all, the awareness around mobility has to change.

And another very important aspect is to start in schools, that there is a system in schools to accustom children from a young age to cycling. Right now, children often can’t cycle because there is no space for them to practice safely. They are also taught that at 16 or 18 they’ll automatically transition to using a car or motorcycle to ‘win their independence’ from parents. Instead, they should be taught that they already have the tool to their freedom and that they should keep using it in adulthood.

The mentality shift would be easier with children than with an adult that has used their car every day for the past 30 years.

In short, what are your thoughts on the PNM 2035?

I would say, at a first glance, that it’s in any case very positive that the bicycle is highlighted in the mobility plan. How it will continue, and how these things will be put in practice, is of course something where we are still cautious. We hope that it will happen, and we will try to keep up the pressure as well as possible. But I think it’s hard to say now what it will look in the future.

In this week’s episode of Delano’s podcast Newsmakers, Teodor Georgiev speaks to Emmanuel Plattard, an avid bike rider who turned his passion into a startup called “The Happy Cyclist”--the first mobile repair service for bicycles in Luxembourg. Tune in on Thursday 26 May on , and .