Business administration student makes bicycle friendliness the topic of her final thesis

Measures could increase safety and cycling comfort

How cycle-friendly is Bremerhaven? And what do other cities do differently - and perhaps even better? This is what business administration student Helen Deepe focussed on in her bachelor's thesis. She analysed the cycling situation in Kiel and Bremerhaven and spoke to experts. The result is a catalogue of ideas on how transport planning could make the switch to bikes more attractive. She was supported by the Building Department of Bremerhaven City Council and the Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad Club (ADFC).

Helen Deepe's favourite mode of transport is her bike. However, she repeatedly experiences dangerous situations when drivers overlook her when turning, park on the cycle path or suddenly come towards her in her lane due to an overtaking or evasive manoeuvre. This gave her the idea to focus on Bremerhaven's cycle traffic structure in her final thesis. ‘I realised right from the start that I wanted to write about something that I really liked. I quickly came up with the topic of cycling. I asked myself how bicycle-friendly Bremerhaven is compared to other large cities and what measures could be taken to strengthen cycling,’ says Deepe. To do this, she looked at the cycling situation in Kiel, a city that is working towards becoming a ‘cycling city’. 

In a cycling city, cyclists make up an equal or higher proportion than motorists. The switch from motorised private transport to eco-mobility, especially cycling, is encouraged, for example through an adapted infrastructure. ‘Bremerhaven is a car city, especially because of the harbour and the fact that many people commute to work from the surrounding area. But like many other cities, it is working on transport planning that is cycle-friendly,’ says Deepe. When looking for a suitable German city to compare with Bremerhaven, Helen Deepe chose Kiel despite the difference in size. ‘Unlike many other cities, Kiel has a similar north-south structure to Bremerhaven, which can lead to difficulties in transport planning because it doesn't allow for a classic route network. There is also room for improvement in Kiel, but at the same time the city is well on the way to becoming a cycling city. That's why I think it's a good place to compare Bremerhaven's level of support.’

For her bachelor's thesis, the business administration graduate accepted a position as a working student in Bremerhaven's building department, which gave her an insight into the city's transport planning. She also held discussions with eight experts who deal with transport in Bremerhaven or Kiel on a professional or voluntary basis, including employees from public authorities and the tourism industry. From this, she developed a catalogue of ideas containing short and long-term measures. Deepe has identified three of them as particularly important: The cycle traffic concept should be updated over the next three years, all roads proposed in the cycle traffic concept should be created as cycle lanes over the next ten years and a campaign should be launched within the next three years to draw attention to cycle lane blockages and spacing requirements through posters in the Bremerhaven area. According to the experts, one important idea in transport planning is to implement more infrastructure for bikes and less for cars.

Even though Helen Deepe would also like to see less car traffic, she does not want to ban it completely: ‘Cycling is not the best mode of transport in every situation. Cyclists, public transport and pedestrians need to be considered together.’ For example, additional parking facilities at bus stops would be helpful to make it easier to switch from cycling to public transport. Safe cycle paths along everyday routes are also important. ‘For more people to switch to cycling, a transport structure would have to be created in which cyclists feel safe. Unfortunately, this is only the case in a few places in Bremerhaven at the moment,’ says Helen Deepe. The cycle lane on the Kennedy Bridge has already led to an improvement. It could be continued with further similar changes. 

The findings that Helen Deepe has gathered during her work should not just end up in a drawer. The city and the ADFC have expressed interest. ‘Experts will have to decide whether the measures I have developed can be implemented,’ says the graduate, who will soon be starting a degree in urban planning in Detmold and will continue to work for the building department. There she can continue to work on climate-friendly transport planning: She is currently supporting the mobility officer with the organisation of this year's European Mobility Week in September.