Brief description of the study area
A protected bike lane was gradually implemented on Müllerstraße in the Wedding locality of Berlin's Mitte district over several years. The bike lane along the 3.7-kilometre-long main road was completed in June 2023. Müllerstraße is a central traffic axis with high traffic density and an important connection to Berlin's city center. For a long time, there was only isolated independent infrastructure available for cyclists in the form of a non-continuous bike path on the curb; in large sections, cyclists had to use the carriageway. From July 2022 to June 2023, the last gaps were closed on the 1.5-kilometre section between Seestraße and Fennstraße. A bike lane protected by bollards was built in both directions of travel, at the expense of a parking lane for vehicles.
Report
Further information and a detailed description of the study area can be found in our report.
Results
- Bike traffic
The daily average for 2021 and 2022 is 2935 cyclists in summer. In 2023, the average is 3850 cyclists per day, which corresponds to an increase of a good 31 percent compared to the years 2021 and 2022.
- Motor vehicle traffic
For the study, the period from June to September 2021 was compared with the same period in 2023. The data shows that the average volume of motor vehicles decreased by a good 9 percent (southern area of Müllerstraße) and 17 percent (northern area) from 2021 to 2023. However, taking into account the general trend that motor vehicle traffic in Berlin decreased by 14% from 2019 to 2023, it cannot be assumed at this point in time that the establishment of the bike lane will have a significant impact on the volume of motor vehicles on Müllerstraße. This can be explained by the fact that no lane was taken from moving vehicle traffic, but a parking lane.