Press releases

The new Bicycle-Friendly City Survey conducted by the Allgemeiner Deutscher Fahrrad-Club (ADFC) began in early September and will run through November 30, 2026. As the largest survey of its kind in Germany, it offers cyclists and local governments the opportunity to evaluate how bicycle-friendly their communities are.

The city of Aachen is therefore calling on residents to participate in the survey and share their experiences. The results will show how cyclists perceive local conditions and how the cycling environment has changed compared to previous surveys. 

Aachen Showed Improvement
in 2024 A look at the 2024 Bicycle-Friendly City Survey reveals a positive trend: 821 people participated in Aachen in 2024. The overall rating improved to a score of 3.8. In 2022, the score was still 4.0, and in 2020, it was 4.2. In the category of cities with 200,000 to 500,000 residents, Aachen ranked 7th out of 25 nationwide and 3rd out of 10 in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Among other things, participants rated the “recent initiatives to promote cycling” particularly positively. With a score of 2.4, the city of Aachen ranks 1.3 points higher than the national average for cities in the same size category.

Even in the case of individual topics that received lower ratings, past surveys show improvements. For example, the width of bike lanes and the routing of bike paths through construction zones were rated more favorably than in previous surveys.

Aachen also received special recognition in the form of the “Miteinander im Verkehr” (Sharing the Road) special award. With this award, the ADFC recognized, among other things, measures to improve traffic safety, campaigns promoting mutual consideration, and citizen participation.

First-Ever Survey Specifically for Children and Teens
There’s an important new development this year for children and teens: For the first time, the ADFC is offering a separate Bicycle Climate Survey specifically for young people ages 10 to 20. The survey focuses specifically on their perspectives on cycling in everyday life. For example, the survey asks how they experience their daily commutes, whether they feel safe on their bikes, what works well—and what might be preventing them from cycling at all or more frequently.

Children and teenagers often have different routes, experiences, and needs than adults—for example, on their way to school, to see friends, or during their free time. This perspective is particularly valuable for the future development of cycling: The survey not only reveals how young people assess current conditions but can also provide insights into the barriers that stand in the way of increased bicycle use. The City of Aachen would therefore like to encourage young people in particular to share their perspectives—regardless of whether they already bike regularly, only occasionally, or hardly at all. According to the ADFC, the questionnaire takes about ten minutes to complete.

How has Aachen evolved since then?
The 2026 Cycling Climate Survey is designed to show how the cycling climate in Aachen has evolved since the last survey. The more people who participate, the more meaningful the results will be, and the easier it will be to identify positive developments as well as areas where further action is needed.

You can participate until November 30, 2026. Adults, children, and teens can all participate through the ADFC website: https://fkt.adfc.de/

Those interested can find the results of the 2024 Bicycle-Friendly City Survey—including an interactive map of the results—on the following website: https://fkt.adfc.de/ueber-den-fkt/vergangene-fahrradklima-test-durchgaenge/ergebnisse-2024.