The bicycle market confirms important numbers and goes from record to record.
According to the most recent estimates by Confindustria Ancma (Association of Cycle-Motorcycle Accessories), the 22 million units sold in Europe are being counted for the first time. The growth has been driven in particular by continued strong demand for e-bikes, sales of which have reached 19.7 billion euros. Production of bicycle parts and accessories also increased to a value of 3.6 billion euros.
Ongoing total investment in the business sector (end of 2021) reached more than €1.75 billion, up 17 per cent from €1.5 billion in the previous year. Direct manufacturing jobs increased from more than 77,500 to nearly 87,000, bringing Europe’s total direct/indirect employment to about 170,000. In addition, of the more than 1,000 SMEs in Europe, numerical growth is estimated at 5 to 10 per cent.
According to a study by Money.co.uk, the most bike-friendly city in the world is Copenhagen. Estonia’s Tallinn follows while the Netherlands’ Amsterdam rounds out the podium. Israel’s Tel Aviv does well, taking fifth place. Excellent result for Australia with three cities (Perth, Adelaide and Canberra) in the Top Ten. Despite being excluded from the top positions in the ranking, Italy is also making important strides with Ferrara, Reggio Emilia and Modena leading the way.
However, infrastructure is still insufficient, with the number of bike routes far behind European standards. The recent dossier by Clean Cities, FIAB, Kyoto Club, and Legambiente showed that Italian cities need about 16,000 more kilometres of bicycle routes to catch up with their main European partners, reaching a total of 21,000 km in 2030. To do this, the investment would have to be at least 3.2 billion euros, or 500 million euros per year. Figures that seem significant, especially at this historical moment, but in reality would represent only 3.5 % of what has already been allocated to the auto industry and related infrastructure.
Infrastructure investment is essential because bicycling is great but it can also be dangerous sometimes. And cyclists are weak road users who need to be defended and protected. This is why Viasat, which makes safety its mission, designed Sherlock. The device is characterized, as being able to monitor the bike at any time, to be essential against theft. But also a tool that allows, through the Operations Center, to activate help in case of a crash or illness.
To learn more go to Sherlock 2.0 page >
