Last 28th November 2022, the BeNeLux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg) and North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) launched a joint bicycle roadmap containing new initiatives aimed at promoting the use of bicycles and serving as a model for the European Union. This roadmap is the result of the 2020 BeNeLux cycling declaration, a ministerial declaration on cycling that was recently joined by other EU countries.
Among the priorities, the document pays attention to the sharing and development of cycling data for politics. More cycling figures are needed to know the state of cycling in cities and countries, to improve and implement new cycling policies and infrastructure and to position cycling within the multimodal transport system. Concerning new initiatives within the Benelux region, the roadmap explicitly mentions the BITS project as a positive and useful example.
Furthermore, the roadmap draws up three possible future actions that would contribute to make this data accessible for private companies and policy makers:
- Organizing an exchange of views with stakeholders on interesting cycling data initiatives that are taking place in the Benelux countries and North Rhine-Westphalia (e.g. the BITS project).
- Working on a Benelux and North Rhine-Westphalia cost-benefit analysis on cycling, which would give a clear overview of the current situation and would provide for a solid basis for policy and project proposals.
- Taking the lead in the standardization of travel data (floating bike data).