Recently, Wim Dijkstra, MegaBITS Strategic Advisor, talked about the MegaBITS project on Cities in motion, the POLIS network magazine on sustainable mobility. This interview gave Wim a great chance to explain the importance of integrating Smart Cycling into Europe’s sustainable mobility framework and the MegaBITS project's role in achieving this goal to a wide audience of cities and regions.
The MegaBITS Project is grateful to have been featured on Cities in motion by POLIS Network, a great platform on sustainable mobility for urban and regional authorities across Europe.
The article acknowledges the efforts made by the private sector and governance to promote cycling, including bike improvements and infrastructure development. It also highlights the necessity for bicycles to become a pillar of Europe’s sustainable mobility mix. Behavioral change is needed to achieve this, with technology innovations identified as key solutions. Smart cycling is one such innovation, and the Province of Overijssel believes it should be integrated into the definition of Smart Mobility.
In 2019, the Province of Overijssel pioneered smart cycling by launching the Interreg North Sea Region project BITS (the precursor to MegaBITS) with the goal to raise awareness about smart cycling. This effort now continues with the MegaBITS project (2023-2026).
The article further describes the aims of the MegaBITS project, the BITS Directory and the European's project NAPCORE. Finally, Wim describes on what the smart cycling ecosystem should focus and underlines the importance of partnerships to maintain Smart Cycling in the follow-up of the European Declaration of Cycling.
Read the full article on Cities in motion magazine here.