SABRINA - Safer Bicycle Routes in Danube Area

When in doubt, pedal it out.

The year 2021 continues with the challenges in the form of the Covid-19 pandemic. When doubts come, we have two solutions; we either pedal them out or we rely on a strong team of project partners all pushing in the same direction: towards safer bicycle routes in the Danube Area and hopefully beyond. 

In the past six months, we actively supported and participated in different road and cycling safety initiatives and campaigns, celebrated International Women’s Day, started with the route inspections on the field, collected best practices in cycling infrastructure safety, and performed stakeholder consultations that highlighted challenges and solutions in cycling infrastructure safety. Virtually we have travelled to Romania and Czechia, from where we are presenting two members of our project team. 

For a quick snapshot of the project, we have prepared a promotional brochure where you can find the most important information about the SABRINA project. Our social media networks are growing and becoming the channels where you can find the most up-to-date news about the project, information about events, and other interesting news from the road and cycling safety community. Check also our project webpage, subscribe to the newsletter, and of course, follow us on social media.

We wish you a great and relaxing summer. We hope you will have a chance to spend it with your friends and family cycling and enjoying the outdoors. Stay safe and remember: SABRINA will make sure there will be no fears about safety on two wheels!

All the best,
SABRINA Project Team

WELCOME TO ROMANIA! - SABRINA PROJECT PARTNER: GREEN REVOLUTION ASSOCIATION

In each edition of the newsletter, we are presenting selected project partners. With members of our team, we talk about their work, role in the SABRINA project, cycling infrastruc-ture situation in their countries, and other interesting topics. We have recently talked with Raluca Fiser, the Founder and President of the Green Revolution Association from Romania. She presented different cycling projects, talked about the potentials for cycling tourism and the future of cycling in Romania, and touched base about the role of women in the transport sector. The interview is available HERE.

WELCOME TO CZECHIA! - SABRINA PROJECT PARTNER: PARTNERSHIP FOR URBAN MOBILITY

Out of 14 countries included in the Danube Transnational Program, 9 of them are part of the SABRINA project. A member of the consortium from Czechia is Partnership for Urban Mobility (PUM). Read the interview with Jitka Vrtalová, PUM’s Marketing Manager HERE. We have talked about the cycling boom in Czechia, the role of PUM in different European projects, and the investments in cycling. PUM was also one of the main supporters and advocates of the new amendment to the Road Traffic Act in Czechia, setting up the rule of 1.5 m of distance when overtaking the cyclists on the road. More about that HERE. 

SAFETY INSPECTIONS OF BICYCLE ROUTES IN CROATIA

Inspection and safety ratings of the Danube Area bicycle routes are one of the main activities of the SABRINA project. We are focusing on EuroVelo (EV) bicycle routes crossing countries involved in the SABRINA project. Considering the travel restrictions this was the project activity that was the most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, we used the lockdown times wisely and thoroughly prepared for the fieldwork. More than 400 km of EV bicycle routes have been already filmed in Croatia. More about our fieldwork HERE. 

COLLECTION OF BEST PRACTICES FROM THE CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE SAFETY WORLD

In the SABRINA project team, we focus on road infrastructure safety for cyclists as one of the most vulnerable road users. There are a lot of very good but also bad examples out there, showing us how cycling infrastructure should or should not be built. Therefore, in many cases, there is no need to re-invent the wheel. We just need to learn from the experience of other countries and transfer them to our own environments. To collect and collate different examples and practices relevant to cycling infrastructure and safety improvements measures, all SABRINA project partners were collecting the information and materials in the past months. The information about what you can expect in the upcoming report is available HERE. 

STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS HIGHLIGHTED CURRENT CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS IN CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE SAFETY

In addition to the analysis of collected best practice data and desk research, stakeholder consultations took place on local, national, EU, and international levels in the first months of 2021. The consultations were carried out in all SABRINA project countries and are considered as an important tool for gathering additional insight and for raising awareness about the importance of safe cycling infrastructure. Details are available HERE. 

BIKING TO WORK HAS MANY BENEFITS

In many countries, the understanding of bicycles has changed since the Covid-19 pandeic. Besides recreational purposes, bicycles are more and more used also for daily commutes. With members of the team, we joined the 9th edition of the Winter Bike to Work Day in mid-February and continued to bike also in the spring, when the third Saturday in May was dedicated to Bike to Work Day. We dug out an interesting story from the past and checked the mobility trends nowadays. Do you think members of our team bike to work? Check it out HERE. 

EQUALITY BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN NEEDED ALSO ON THE ROADS

One of the very important roles of the Danube Transnational Programme projects is their contribution to the programme's horizontal principles. One of those principles is equality between men and women. In the SABRINA project, we pay special attention to that, for example by acknowledging safe cycling infrastructure increases the number of women and girls that take advantage of cycling. For this year's International Women's Day we got together with the ladies from our team to inspire, empower and celebrate. We talked about what we love about our jobs and cycling as well as what could and should be different in the mobility space. More HERE. 
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