E-Bike City

Every person deserves to live a fulfilling life in a healthy and beautiful environment. Fast, convenient, and safe transportation is crucial for reaching places that matter. However, our limited urban space can no longer handle the growing traffic. Also, addressing the climate crisis requires a substantial redesign of our transport systems in less than 30 years. Electric and autonomous vehicles alone will not be enough to solve these challenges.

With 30% more people in Zurich by 2050, we must reorganize our current use of road space. Streets are currently designated for parked and moving cars, but we need to reallocate more space for more people to move around. This space can be used for people who travel by foot, on bicycle, e-bike, cargo bike, e-scooter, or other small modes (micromobility) that take up less space.This space can also accommodate bike parking, greenery, and additional shared mobility options, including Swiss Mobility vehicles, bikes, and scooters.

Increasing the price of car usage in the city has been successful in some cities like London or Singapore but has limited acceptance in most places. However, providing more road space for micromobility modes has shown a much greater potential to promote changes, as seen in cities like Amsterdam, Paris, and Copenhagen.

Those who cannot shift to a micromobility mode—and even those who do—will still have access to excellent public transport. The E-Bike City includes a public transport system equipped with sophisticated tools for flexible and responsive operations. For example, public transport will be able to handle higher demand on rainy days when many bike and e-bike users choose to take the bus or tram.

1. Half of every street will be converted to safe and comfortable infrastructure for micromobility users.
2. The other half provides basic access for motorized vehicles through a network of one-way streets.
3. Public transport can operate along existing corridors with similar or higher speeds than today. Its capacity responds to the demand.
4. The overall organization discourages motorized traffic through neighborhoods, creating safe and quiet spaces for local communities.

The map below shows different places in Zurich after an E-Bike City redesign. Would you like to see these changes on a street near you?

Rethinking the current transport systems maximizes efficiency and sustainability while increasing safety and reliability for everyone. The new street design will give the streets back to the people. The approach has been elaborated in the following 9 divisions.

Giving road space back to people creates efficient and accessible mobility options for everyone while making cities quieter, greener, and more sustainable.

Twenty-six researchers from  ETH Zurich  and  EPF Lausanne  are involved in the E-Bike City project. They have expertise in infrastructure management, transportation, environmental sciences, urban planning, and geoinformatics.