Germany, Cologne Mühlheim
By: Mülheimer Fahrrad Gruppe
web site: http:// http://www.muelheimer-freiheit.net/mfg

Paths and services for urban cyclists are enhanced.

Solution
The goal of MFG (Mülheimer Fahrrad Gruppe) is to increase bicycle traffic in the Mühlheim district of Cologne, where 143,000 people live. Believing that the bicycle is the ideal urban vehicle for short distances, the association wants more acceptance from both the city administration and the car drivers, and improved safety and comfort for cyclists. MFG collects reports of broken bike paths, abandoned bikes, etc, sends an email to city officials, and posts the problem on an online forum. It gets one or two phonecalls a week.The City of Cologne is responsible for taking away old bikes and servicing the paths, but is often slow in acting, especially in the outskirts like Mühlheim. MFG both works with the bicycle commissioner of city hall and, sorts out small problems itself. The roughly 10 members of MFG meet once a month to discuss administration and tasks. They spend most of their time inspecting bicycle ways.

Background
Cologne is crowded with cars and public transports, resulting in pollution, danger for children and congestion. One answer to this problem is bicycles. Although there are 550,000 bicycles are on the streets of Cologne, cyclists do not get much attention, as they are politically unimportant.

Current state of development
The scheme has been running since 2002, based on the concepts of other organisations interested in the environment and cycling: ADFC, VCD and BUND. In the small area it is responsible for, it works very well, but wants to expand to cover more of Cologne. The response from local people is good, and MFG contacts gets articles about their projects published in the local press. The members of the MFG work voluntarily, and devote a lot of time to it. Funds come from sponsorship, and advertising by local bicycle dealers on the MFG’s website.

The benefits

Society
By involving local people in taking care of the bike paths and infrastructures, the scheme engages people with their district, creates a sense of community and promotes bicycle use.

Environment
The MFG encourages the use of the bikes for commuting, making cycling in town safer and more pleasurable. In addition, taking care of the paths keeps the urban environment nice and clean. With its work, MFG shows how civil action can prevent vandalism.

Economy
The scheme is self-funding, based on the sponsorship and the advertisement on the website.
Through their work, members of MFG provide great support to the local municipality in managing the public space, saving public money.

The quality of the experience
Pleasure in taking care of the common environment and feeling responsible for it. Pride in improving the neighburhood.

Future development possibilities
Creating places where residents can discuss the problems of the community.

Authors
School of Design, University of Applied Sciences, Cologne, Germany

Cologne is really a ‘bike city’…
… Ben, as it often happens, uses his bike to go to his university.
One day he sees a dangerous hole in the bike lane.
So, he calls the MFG to tell it about this problem.
Someone at MFG takes care of it, calling the mayor’s bureau, to convince them to repair the street.
Sometimes it works, and the works begin…