The bicycle traffic system of Warsaw should create opportunities for efficient and safe cycling between trip start and end points throughout the entire city. The system should serve trans- portation as well as recreational and sports functions. Since destinations in the city’s central districts are common for motorists and cyclists, both networks—streets and bicycle paths—are largely overlaid. This creates many points of collision between bicycle and motor traffic. Thus, the authorities will strive to take account of the needs bicycle traffic, especially with respect to priority (at selected points) and “bicycle–friendly” traffic lights in the downtown area. At the same time, the municipal authorities will keep pedestrian safety requirements in mind. Bicycle transportation using private bicycles may be supplemented by a system of public bicycles (War- saw Municipal Bicycle). Such bicycles will be rented out through automated self–service park- ing facilities with the use of a Warsaw Municipal Card.
PRINCIPLES OF SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT
The Warsaw network of bicycle paths should be built in line with hierarchical principles. It should be broken down into main, local, and recreational routes and take the following criteria into ac- count:
Coherence – The bicycle system shall form a coherent entity linking all travel starting and
end points as well as connecting municipal bicycle routes with routes going out into the re- gion;
Directness – The bicycle system shall offer its users direct connections providing easy and
relatively fast movement around the city, competitive with respect to automobile traffic;
Convenience – The bicycle system shall be made meeting high design and construction
standards (geometry of solutions, including minimizing grades and differences in levels, pavement structures, etc.);
Safety – The bicycle system shall be designed so as to minimize the number of points of col-
lision with the motor traffic and to be independent of pedestrian traffic routes to as great an extent as possible, where hazards to pedestrian safety will be simultaneously minimized;
Attractiveness – The bicycle system will be legible, well–linked with the municipal func-
tions, and responsive to the user needs.
Development of bicycle routes will be accompanied by the following:
Widespread application of bicycle parking equipment, including at selected public mass transit stops,
Installation at selected points in Warsaw, especially in the downtown area, of elements of the public bicycle system—self–service parking facilities and customer service points, e.g. integrated with Public Transport Authority of Warsaw (ZTM) points, and
Providing the ability for bicycle transportation by public mass transit.
Strategy tasks relating to bicycle transportation are the result of agreements reached at the Warsaw Transportation Round Table discussions. The Strategy provides for implementation of the following four tasks:
Task #1 Institutional reinforcement of bicycle system development,
Task #2 Development of bicycle system infrastructure, including the public bicycle system, Task #3 Integration of the bicycle system, including the Warsaw Municipal Bicycle, with other
city transportation subsystems, and Task #4 Ensuring safe use of bicycles.
Task #1: Institutional reinforcement of bicycle system development
Development of Warsaw’s bicycle system coupled with a significant increase of the number of journeys by bicycle will constitute a priority task for the transportation system. This means a need to strengthen the role of Capital City of Warsaw Road and Transportation Bureau (BDiK), including support for staff, in order to facilitate coordination of actions fostering the develop- ment of bicycle transportation in the city as well as soliciting the opinion of the cyclist com- munity at various stages of road construction projects.
Actions will involve all stages of capital investment projects, including development of spatial development plans, issuing decisions on building and land development conditions [planning permission], developing preliminary concepts and drafting designs, developing detailed con- struction designs, and acceptance of completed projects.
It will also be necessary to:
Coordinate city spatial policy with transportation policy with respect to bicycle traffic, Initiate changes in technical requirements that would facilitate the design of solutions for bicycle traffic while ensuring compliance with traffic safety requirements,
Develop local technical requirements regarding bicycle infrastructure followed by their adop- tion as local law,
Prepare and support activities promoting the use of bicycles for journeys, including prepar- ing and implementing transportation education focusing on school children, and initiating activities aimed at setting good examples by encouraging municipal office staff and cus- tomers to ride bicycles, etc.,
Promote the Warsaw Municipal Bicycle as an individual means of public transportation, es- pecially in the strict center of the city, for both inhabitants and tourists, and
Eliminate barriers to bicycle traffic development.
This will require the establishing of a separate fund for financing the promotion of bicycle use.
Task #2: Development of bicycle system infrastructure, including the public bicycle system
In order to significantly increase the number of bicycle journeys, the current system of bicycle paths shall ultimately be supplemented by approximately 900 km of bicycle paths. Thus, it will achieve a network density indicator of 0.65km/1000 inhabitants. The system of bicycle paths will be expanded by:
Setting up bicycle paths within traffic lanes, separated from automobile traffic and de-
signed to limit to a minimum the hazard of collision between cyclists, between cyclists and mo- torists, and between cyclists and pedestrians,
Adapting streets for joint use by pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, where
through various technical means and traffic management (including speed limits for motor ve- hicles down to 30–40 km/h), bicycle lanes or lanes adjusted to accommodate joint bicycle and automobile traffic (known as invisible bicycle infrastructure) will be introduced,
Construction of bicycle paths separate from the road system, and
Creation of peaceful traffic zones with speed limits of 30 km/h and appropriate traffic calm-
ing measures in all areas where vehicle traffic must be present, particularly including residen- tial areas, areas with single family housing, and heritage sites.
In implementing this strategy, efforts will be made to ensure broader use of traffic organi- zation measures fostering bicycle traffic development. The joint use of pavement cross–sec- tion by both motor vehicle and bicycle traffic will become a primary element of the implementation of the city’s strategy. Thus, automobile traffic in downtown Warsaw will be restricted, including by the functional downgrading of streets and the lowering of their tech- nical parameters. Furthermore, bicycle traffic will be allowed on streets closed to automo- bile traffic. Expanding bicycle traffic by introducing a public bicycle system (e.g. connections linking universities, student dormitories, transfer hubs) will constitute an additional way to tone down traffic.
Task #3: Integration of the bicycle system, including the Warsaw Municipal Bicycle, with other city transportation subsystems
Efficient use of the bicycle path system, including access paths to public transportation stations and stops, will be strongly linked with the availability of ways to transport bicycles and provide secure bicycle parking. For this purpose, besides providing greater capacity for bicycle trans- portation by mass public transit, authorities will strive to provide secure parking at hubs where cyclists will be able to transfer from bicycles to other sub–systems (city transportation) as well as at bicycle trip destinations, particularly in the vicinity of:
Subway stations and railroad stops located within Warsaw’s borders, Warsaw City Hall facilities,
Warsaw’s colleges, and
Other important buildings and facilities such as museums, parks, etc. Meeting the needs of the cyclists must include
the initiation by the Warsaw authorities of col- laboration among local government authorities managing Warsaw’s suburban gminas [bor- oughs] as well as railroad operators as to bicy- cle transportation terms and the establishing of bicycle parking facilities near railroad sta- tions and stops located outside Warsaw, but along its commuter lines. An example of bicy- cle transportation integration involves the cre- ation of a bicycle lane along Emilii Plater Street connecting the facilities of the Warsaw Univer- sity of Technology with the city center and rail- road stations in the Jerozolimskie Avenue area. Installation of Warsaw Municipal Bicycle system parking facilities in the immediate vicinity of city transportation hubs as well as subway and commuter train stations will form an additional component of the bicycle traffic integration with mass transit.
Task #4: Ensuring safe use of bicycles
Apart from the availability of infrastructure, the creation of conditions ensuring intensive use of
Monitoring the technical condition of the bicycle path network,
Maintaining the throughput and technical parameters of bicycle paths, Monitoring bicycle paths in terms of the personal safety of users, Monitoring bicycle parking facilities to ensure safe parking,
Stringent supervision over bicycle traffic to ensure pedestrian safety, especially on sidewalks and crossings, and
Increasing the number of national and municipal police patrols on bicycles.
Table No. 4. Tasks Defined in the Strategy for Specific Transportation Subsystems
SUBSYSTEM TASK
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION Actions aimed at establishing an institution responsible for the man- agement and coordination of public transportation in the Warsaw ag- glomeration area
Modernization and development of the tramway system The ongoing development of the subway system Improving railroad transportation efficiency Transportation system integration
Improvement in the efficiency of urban and suburban but transporta- tion
Rolling stock replacement Line routing rationalization
ROAD TRANSPORTATION Guaranteeing the high technical standards of streets and facilities Creating a complete system of ring roads
Increasing the level of hierarchization of the road network
Improving transportation system use by implementing traffic manage- ment systems
Facilitating the crossing of the Vistula River—construction of new bridge routes
Improving the accessibility of Warsaw through external links Introducing restrictions on individual traffic in Warsaw’s downtown zone as well as other selected areas of the city
SUBSYSTEM TASK
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION Creating a complete system of ring roads
Increasing the level of hierarchization of the road network
Improving transportation system use by implementing traffic manage- ment systems
Facilitating the crossing of the Vistula River—construction of new bridge routes
ROAD TRANSPORTATION Improving the accessibility of Warsaw through external links Introducing restrictions on individual traffic in Warsaw’s downtown zone as well as other selected areas of the city
Improving control of access to higher–grade street routes Applying order to the parking system
Implementing a system of fees (introducing fiscal mechanisms) for the use of road infrastructure
Undertaking actions mitigating the impact of the operating of the road system on surroundings
TRAFFIC SAFETY Establishing an entity responsible for traffic safety on roads
Creation of a Warsaw Road Traffic Safety Database as well as a system for monitoring and assessing the effects of implemented projects Isolating funds for actions aimed at limiting traffic hazards
Developing and implementing a speed management system in the city
Actions aimed at use of automobile safety equipment (seatbelts and child safety seats)
Introducing road traffic safety audits as well as audits of transporta- tion solutions with respect to the needs of the disabled when assess- ing modernization and new street designs
Establishing an assistance center for accident victims and their fami- lies
SUBSYSTEM TASK
BICYCLE TRANSPORTATION Institutional reinforcement of the development of the bicycle system Development of the bicycle system, including the public bicycle sys- tem
Integration of the bicycle system, including the Warsaw Municipal Bi- cycle, with other city transportation subsystems
Guaranteeing safe use of the bicycle