Cycle path chaos in Vienna: citizen urgently suggests new solution!

Cycle path chaos in Vienna: citizen urgently suggests new solution!

A citizen drew attention to a dangerous cycle path situation in Vienna and got the ball rolling. Between the Schönbrunn and Hietzing U4 stations, parallel to Auer-Welsbach-Park, there is a narrow cycle path that is used by cyclists as well as pedestrians and e-scooter riders. This mixed use leads to daily dangerous situations like this Reporting from meinkreis.at impressively describes. The citizen suggests moving the cycle path into the city to the opposite side of the Linke Wienzeile, where there is significantly more space available.

Another resident, Manfred, described the intersection on the corner of Grünbergstrasse and Linke Wienzeile near the Schönbrunn subway station as particularly dangerous. Cyclists and pedestrians share the sidewalk here, which significantly impairs visibility and therefore safety. He also expresses his criticism of the use of e-mopeds on cycle paths and calls for these vehicles to be clearly separated from cyclists in order to increase their safety.

Urgent changes required

The district administration has already contacted the Vienna Mobility Agency, and Georg “Schorsch” Brockmeyer from the agency confirmed that this cycle path situation is 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 include more than 20 kilometers of new cycle infrastructure. Politically, possible changes to the law are also being considered in order to no longer classify e-mopeds as bicycles and thus ban them from cycle paths.

Mobility City Councilor Ulli Sima is calling for clear regulations at the federal level for the use of cycle paths in order to ensure traffic safety. This is also clear from the information fahrradwien.at out. There is an urgent need to make a legal differentiation between bicycles and motorized vehicles such as e-mopeds, as these are often considered fully motorized vehicles and therefore a) should not ride on cycle paths.

New regulations under discussion

The city of Vienna is planning to introduce a ban on the use of cycle paths for motor vehicles such as e-mopeds. Regulations such as a maximum weight limit of 60 kg for cycle path vehicles and a design speed limit of a maximum of 20 km/h could possibly be issued. Current measurements show worrying values: around 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 risk of accidents. This is the information from wienzufuss.at particularly insightful.

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