Effective 'Bicycle Chain' After Hengelo Also to Be Implemented in Amersfoort

The 'bicycle chain' that leads to better traffic flow in Hengelo (The Netherlands) will also appear in Amersfoort mid-November. In the Hengelo variant, special signs encourage cyclists to form groups. Smart cameras then ensure faster green light. In a survey, cyclists responded positively.

The cycle path in Hengelo features smart cameras that spot passing cyclists at an early stage. As soon as three or more cyclists in a group arrive, the traffic light jumps to green faster, leading to better traffic flow. For cars, too, the traffic light jumps to red less often as a result. The location is a busy traffic point, partly due to the proximity of the A1 motorway and the IKEA.

'Via signs, we have announced that if you form a group, you get priority. This is also done effectively,' says Wim Dijkstra, strategic mobility advisor for the province of Overijssel. 'The result is that a significantly better flow is generated for cyclists. The waiting time for cars increases only slightly, as the light does not have to jump to green for every single cyclist.'

The pilot in Hengelo, developed by Sweco and funded by the province of Overijssel, started in May 2022 and is still active. The evaluations lasted four months, showed positive results and are grounds for the next trial.

The municipality of Amersfoort will now also roll out a 'bicycle chain'. What form it will take is not yet known. 'We are currently preparing a bicycle chain pilot at the intersection Holkerweg - Ringweg Koppel,' the municipality says. 'If these preparations go well, we expect the pilot to start in mid-November.'

Shorter waiting time

Ronald Jorna of MOVECO advise was involved in the pilot in Hengelo on behalf of the Province of Overijssel and elaborates on the results. 'A survey completed by participating cyclists showed that 65% would like to see the bike chain implemented throughout the city. 40% had the experience of getting to their destination faster and likewise 40% were willing to cycle together with others for better traffic flow. Measured more objectively, the waiting time for cyclists turned out to be significantly shorter, while the impact on car traffic was still limited.'

Not suitable everywhere

Dijkstra adds: 'We are going to decide for Hengelo whether it can become a permanent solution and be scaled up in several places.' After all, a bicycle chain is not suitable for all locations with intersections, he says. At certain locations you want to give priority to both cyclists and cars. Then an intersection with separate height differences is often more suitable. At other locations, priority for one type of road user is more appropriate.' 

According to Dijkstra, a trend can be seen here: 'I’m convinced that the closer you approach the city centre, the more priority there should be for cyclists. In fact, policies in urban environments aim to create more car-free city centres, which also benefits the climate. This ensures that you need to make cycling more important in the city centre and discourage car use.'  

'So in those places, it is good to give cyclists more green with detection cameras like in this project. There is no need to form groups of cyclists then. After all, cars are allowed to wait there a bit longer,' says Dijkstra.

Jorna adds: 'Thereby, the bicycle chain can be implemented in different ways. For instance, a camera can also focus on letting one cyclist go ahead instead of groups.' 

A different approach to ‘faster green’ has been taken in Zwolle, where bicycle couriers from a parcel delivery company use an app that allows them to get green lights faster. 'This makes them more competitive against delivery vans. That in turn is more environmentally friendly for the city,' said Jorna.

BITS and Interreg project

The bicycle chain is one of 30 smart cycling pilot projects carried out over the past few years in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the UK as part of Bicycle ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems), collectively called BITS. BITS is an Interreg project, supported by the North Sea programme of the European Union's European Regional Development Fund. 

In it, the North Sea countries share knowledge and best practices on smart cycling: cycling using data and transport systems. Half of the programme's costs were covered by funding from Interreg North Sea. The Dutch RVO implements Interreg on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. 

Basic infrastructure comes first

'Mobility is more than just infrastructure,' says Dijkstra. 'Just as cars are becoming more technical and smarter, there are also opportunities for bicycles. With intelligent transport systems, you can achieve better traffic flow. That's why we started the BITS project.'

Cycling data is thus becoming more important for making cycling policy, such as for investing in new bike paths and parking facilities, making intersections safer or improving traffic flow. Jorna adds: 'At the same time, we also notice that there are still very few standards. Data collection via sensors in cars is already taken for granted, but in the world of cycling this is still new. Standards are therefore still needed to accelerate the roll-out of ITS in-cycling mobility.'

Jorna gives some examples of other successful ITS projects outside Hengelo. 'Cameras were installed above a junction to analyse how many near misses occurred. Using data analysis, the biggest risks became clear, and the intersection could be made safer. In England, underprivileged people who do not own a bike were given a bike with built-in GPS to borrow. The device indicated how often they cycled, to which destination, where they stopped for a long time, and so on. 'That is useful for developing bicycle parking facilities, but also for detecting obstacles,' Jorna said.

Yet, ITS is no holy grail, warns the mobility consultant. 'It is not a silver bullet. You need a basic infrastructure first. After that, you can use ITS as a tool to improve cycling mobility. It is a digital layer on top of the other things.'

Meanwhile, there is a sequel to BITS: MegaBITS. It runs from 1 May 2023 to 30 April 2026.