Helsingborg.
Challenge
How can the city of Helsingborg establish a bicycle culture?
CURRENT SITUATION
Despite substantial investments in infrastructure and mobility management and considering the current climate crisis and high fuel costs, the people of Helsingborg are travelling by bicycle to a lesser extent than people in same-sized cities and in the region (Skåne) in general, as shown below:
| Share of trips made by bicycle in comparable cities and in the region Skåne (%): | |
| Helsingborg | 11 |
| Skåne | 15 |
| Malmö | 25 |
| Lund | 27 |
| Uppsala | 33 |
| Örebro | 26 |
The City of Helsingborg lacks knowledge of possible incentives for and barriers against increased cycling. What is stopping families with children from commuting by bicycle and children from cycling to school? What is limiting recreational cycling in Helsingborg?
Considering the significant investments in infrastructure, including dedicated bike lanes and bike parking facilities as well as different promotion campaigns by the city, the focus of this challenge is to understand the behavior of citizens and be able to develop a “bicycle culture” in Helsingborg, this could include ways to define or measure it.
Possible solutions could involve education, gamification and providing people with resources and support that make cycling more accessible and appealing to a wider range of citizens. The city has access to real-time traffic flow data, but data for cycling is only collected from approximately ten different spots in the city.
Possible presented solution can be applicable for standard bikes, e-bikes and/or cargo bikes, which are popular in Helsingborg.
DESIRED SITUATION
Solution
The Nudgd Smart Nudges Mobility Platform uses behavioural science and soft incentives to encourage active transportation, especially cycling. For this project, the platform was adapted to support and encourage active transportation for school transport among parents and staff, as an alternative to using personal cars.
Results
- The project won the EUROPEAN MOBILITY ACTION AWARD 2023
- For this project the Smart Nudges Mobility Platform was adapted to support and encourage active transportation for school transport among parents and staff, as an alternative to using personal cars.
- The pilot was ground-breaking, marking the first time a digital nudging platform has been utilised on such a grand scale to influence school mobility. The inclusion of all primary schools in Helsingborg, encompassing 18,000 pupils along with more than 1,000 staff illustrates the size of this project.
- 25 schools participated, reaching parents of 8,850 pupils and 980 staff members.
- 850 parents and staff used the platform, answered the survey and were identified as unique users.
- 39% stated that they already have changed to, or plan to change to, more sustainable mobility behaviours for school mobility.
