Healthy and environmentally friendly cycle networks: a comparison between Cycle Highway and Ecovia

[Excerpt] The EU Ministers for Transport have acknowledged cycling as a climate-friendly transport mode that needs to be integrated into multimodal policy. Besides, infrastructure needs to be provided to strengthen international, national, regional, and local cycling networks. Hence, Cycle Highways (CH) (Figure 1a) could contribute to the connection of different regional urban centres as a commute alternative for people that travel more than 5km to and from work or educational institutions every day (Dias & Ribeiro, 2020). Some countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and the United Kingdom already rely on this type of cycling infrastructure to promote a healthier and environmentally friendly mode of transport, as people can switch from cars to bicycles to travel longer distances in a safe and secure environment. Only in Denmark, the implementation of 45 CH routes would have the potential to reduce the number of days of sickness by 40,000 days a year, ensuring a year reduction in CO2 emissions of 1,500 tons, as well as reducing the number of car trips by one million (Super Cykelstier Office, 2017)