Cycle path chaos in Vienna: Citizen urgently proposes new solution!

Cycle path chaos in Vienna: Citizen urgently proposes new solution!

A citizen made aware of a dangerous cycle path situation in Vienna and got a stone rolling. Between the U4 station Schönbrunn and Hietzing, parallel to the Auer-Welsbach-Park, there is a narrow bike path that is used by cyclists as well as by pedestrians and e-scooter drivers. This mixed use leads to daily dangerous situations, such as the meinzirk.at impressively describes. The citizen suggests moving the bike path up to the opposite side of the left Wienzeile, where significantly more space is available.

Another resident, Manfred, described the intersection on the corner of Grünbergstrasse/Linke Wienzeile at the Schönbrunn subway station as particularly dangerous. Cyclists and passers -by share the sidewalk here, which significantly affects the overview and thus security. He also expresses his criticism of the use of e-mopeds on bike paths and demands a clear separation of these vehicles from the cyclists to increase their safety.

urgent changes required

The district head has already contacted the Vienna mobility agency, and Georg "Schorsch" Brockmeyer from the agency confirmed that this cycle path situation was no longer up to date. The city of Vienna is currently pursuing a comprehensive cycle path offensive with over 55 projects that are to be implemented by 2025 and contain more than 20 kilometers of new cycling infrastructure. Politically, possible changes in the law are also considered in order to no longer classify e-mopeds as bicycles and thus banish bike paths.

Mobility City Councilor Ulli Sima calls for clear regulations at the federal level for the use of bike paths to ensure traffic safety. This is also evident from the information on bicyclewien.at . There is an urgent need to make legal differentiation between bicycles and motorized vehicles such as e-mopeds, since they are often considered fully motorized vehicles and should therefore not drive a) on cycle paths.

new regulations in conversation

The city of Vienna plans to introduce a bike path usage ban for motor vehicles such as e-mopeds. For example, regulations such as a weight restriction on a maximum of 60 kg for cycle path vehicles and a maximum design restriction of a maximum of 20 km/h could be issued. Current measurements show worrying values: About 15 % of e-mopeds exceed speeds of 34 km/h. The average empty weight of e-mopeds is 70 to 80 kg, which significantly increases the dangers in the event of an accident. The information from wienzufuss.at particularly revealing.

These challenges are not easy to master, especially since the current legal framework in Austria does not allow differentiation between vehicle types. Germany has already done its homework here and shows what sensible solutions could look like. The city of Vienna plans to present its demands and proposals at the next state transport officer conference in June and to demand important changes for safe cycling in Vienna.