Myth #3: Cycling is only a seasonal activity; it can’t be done year-round in the Nordic Region, especially in the winter.

Winters in the Nordic Region create many challenges for transport, not just for cycling. After all, winter driving in the Nordic Region would not be possible were it not for the high-quality maintenance that municipalities do on their roads during cold, snowy, and icy weather. It is no different for cycling: cycle paths and parking places that are well maintained in the winter months will continue to attract cyclists.

A study of winter cycling in Luleå, Sweden, concluded that cycling levels could be maintained in the winter if city planners developed specific design, policy, and management requirements for winter cycling.

Chapman, D. & Larsson, A. (2021). Practical urban planning for winter cycling; lessons from a Swedish pilot study. Journal of Transport & Health, Vol 21, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2021.101060

Moreover, the research authors found that e-bike usage and high-quality cycling infrastructure were both important to increasing the attractiveness of winter cycling. Another study evaluating cyclists’ perceptions of maintenance and operation throughout Norway showed how fewer people chose to cycle during winter months, but that perceptions of things like snow ploughing differed greatly depending on location within Norway.

Aasvik, O. & Bjørnskau, T. (2021). Cyclists’ perception of maintenance and operation of cycling infrastructure—Results from a Norwegian survey. Frontiers - Psychology, 12, 696317. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.696317

While the darkness and cold temperatures may deter some cyclists from continuing to ride in winter months, a study from Trondheim highlights safety concerns, reporting that people perceive winter cycling as riskier than cycling in the summer months.

Kummeneje, A-M., Olaussen Ryeng, E., & Rundmo, T. (2019). Seasonal variation in risk perception and travel behaviour among cyclists in a Norwegian urban area. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 124, 40-49. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2018.12.021

Even so, all-around bicycle modal share can benefit from increased cycling in autumn and winter months.

City of Oslo. (2024). Oslos sykkelsatsing har bidratt til mer og tryggere sykling [Oslo's cycling initiative has contributed to more and safer cycling]. City Council's Department for Environment and Transport. Accessible at: https://aktuelt.oslo.kommune.no/oslos-sykkelsatsing-har-bidratt-til-mer-og-tryggere-sykling

Plus, more cyclists instead of cars on the roads in the winter also helps to improve air quality.

Installing and especially maintaining high-quality cycling infrastructure can enable people to cycle throughout the year, even in frosty conditions. Thus, public authorities need to incorporate winter cycling infrastructure maintenance into their mobility budgets and their staffing and equipment resources. Establishing a regional action plan for clearing cycle infrastructure during snowy and icy conditions—including bicycle parking stations—can enable cyclists to carry on throughout the winter. Such plans require cross-municipal collaboration, technical expertise, and cross-departmental guidance to ensure clearance practices are environmentally sound and strategic for granting residents safe passage.

Invest in smart and sustainable winter cycling maintenance methods.
To encourage year-round cycling, municipalities need to invest political commitment and finances in keeping cycling infrastructure well-maintained—even in winter—treating cycle route networks as a high priority maintenance need. Public authorities could experiment with various types of snow and ice removal and choose the ones that are the most environmentally sustainable while keeping cycle infrastructure clear. Alongside keeping the paths clear, public authorities must plan for snow removal logistics, including where to put snow that is removed from the roads and cycle infrastructure and to keep it clear of bike parking facilities and other places frequented by cyclists.

Create incentives for people to cycle in winter.
Municipalities can create incentives to keep cycling levels high in the winter. Residents may need support to overcome barriers to winter cycling in the form of financial incentives, equipment, and bicycle servicing (e.g., access to lights and reflectors, discounts on winter cycling clothing such as gloves and hats, subsidies for studded tires, pop-up events for changing tires in autumn and spring). Such actions must be backed up by high quality maintenance of cycling infra­structure. Assuming this occurs, authorities can use public communications campaigns to encourage people to make more trips by bicycle than by car in the winter, and authorities can and should be creative with their actions.

Coordinate winter cycling maintenance plans within and across municipalities.
Within each municipality, some roadways and cycle paths are owned and maintained by local authorities while others are under regional or national responsibility. This means there must be close coordination of winter maintenance to define responsibilities and ensure as much of the cycling infrastructure network is cleared. Regional authorities could play a coordinating role to ensure that cycle networks across municipalities in the region are well-maintained, but such coordination also needs to have clear action items and support at national and local levels in order to move from suggestion to action. Furthermore, some larger municipalities delegate maintenance responsibilities to different city districts within the municipality. While these divisions help to ensure needs are addressed at highly localised level, coordination efforts are needed all the more to enable residents to move across district boundaries with consistent, safe conditions.   

Enable sustainable transport options as the next-best alternative.
Some days, winter conditions make it highly challenging for people to cycle. After all, someone may choose not to cycle in the winter for a variety of reasons: lacking the right clothing to endure the ride, feeling unsafe in the dark or unsafe cycling with other road users in slick conditions, lacking the proper bicycle equipment, or lacking confidence handling a bike during extreme precipitation. This is why public authorities also need to invest in top-class public transport to enable people to make sustainable choices rather than swapping out their bicycle for a car in winter months.  

•  Since 2013, the City of Stockholm has developed an effective “salt-sweeping” method to maintain their cycle infrastructure during the winter, implemented by vehicles customised for the cycle lanes.

See https://cykla.stockholm/underhall-av-cykelbanor/

Starting on designated primary cycle paths, machines spread a safe brine onto 260 km of cycle paths. The brine uses less salt and reduces the risks of slush and refreezing on the pathways. Pedestrian paths are also cleared using the same machines.

Learn more about the salt-sweeping method here: https://www.vti.se/forskning/cykling/drift-och-konstruktion-av-cykelbanor/handbok-for-sopsaltning-av-cykelvagar

In addition, the city employs several maintenance workers to keep the cycle lanes and paths clear year-round (cykeljouren).

City of Stockholm. (n.d.). Underhåll av cykelbanor [Maintenance of cycle lanes]. Accessible at: https://cykla.stockholm/underhall-av-cykelbanor/#:~:text=Cykeljouren%20best%C3%A5r%20av%20ett%20antal%20cykelv%C3%A4rdar%20som%20har,ska%20ocks%C3%A5%20kunna%20avhj%C3%A4lpa%20problem%20p%C3%A5%20intilliggande%20g%C3%A5ngbanor

These workers are outfitted with a cargo bike equipped with various tools, thereby enabling them to clear debris, fill small potholes, and remove smaller amounts of ice and snow.

•  By studying the return on investment of cycling maintenance, the City of Oslo found that improved winter maintenance led to a 38% increase in cycling traffic compared to the previous winter. While maintenance costs increased, totalling 13.4 million NOK, the health benefits from the additional cycling alone were estimated to be around 305 million NOK, proving that the additional effort to maintain cycle networks in the winter created a major benefit for Oslo’s entire society.

See https://www.oslo.kommune.no/getfile.php/13259861-1583246305/Tjenester%20og%20tilbud/Gate%2C%20transport%20og%20parkering/Sykkel/Sykkelstrategier%20og%20dokumenter/Vinterdrift/Erfaringer%20med%20%C3%B8kt%20vinterdriftsstandard%20av%20sykkelveinettet%20i%20Oslo.pdf

Several years later, in 2020, the city initiated a subsidy scheme to support residents in testing winter cycling. Residents could be reimbursed for studded tires and winter bicycling services up to 1500 NOK. The before and after study showed that, when people try for themselves, they find winter cycling much easier than they anticipated. Over 90% of those who cycled with studded tires stated that they planned to continue cycling the following winter.

City of Oslo. Piggdekkstilskudd: Evaluering av Oslo kommunes piggdekktilskudd vinteren 2020/2021. [Studded-tire subsidy scheme: Evaluation of the City of Oslo’s studded-tire subsidy scheme, winter 2020/2021]. Accessible at: https://www.oslo.kommune.no/getfile.php/13411027-1725866722/Tjenester%20og%20tilbud/Gate%2C%20transport%20og%20parkering/Sykkel/Sykkelstrategier%20og%20dokumenter/Evalueringer/Evaluering%20av%20piggdekktilskudd%202020%E2%80%932021.pdf