Myth #6: Cycling cannot make serious environmental impacts. Instead, we can achieve sustainability goals by trading in our fossil-fuel cars for electric vehicles.

Reality: Sustainability goals cannot be achieved unless we develop a built environment that facilitates active mobility.

Within the Nordic Region, road transport is responsible for just over 87% of transportation sector emissions, which has changed little since 1990 (see Box 2). When looking at total GHG emissions in the Nordic Region, 26% of total emissions are attributed to transportation and 23% to road transport specifically. This is a European-wide trend, with transport accounting for just under 30% of total emissions in the EU in 2022.

European Environment Agency. (2024). Climate: Key messages. Accessible at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/sustainability-of-europes-mobility-systems/climate

One key method for reducing GHG emissions in the transportation sector in recent years has been to replace fossil fuel cars with electric-powered vehicles or alternative fuels.

Kester, J., Noel, L., Zarazua de Rubens, G., & Sovacool, B.K. (2018). Policy mechanisms to accelerate electric vehicle adoption: A qualitative review from the Nordic region. Energy Reviews, 94, 719-731. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2018.05.067

However, the European Environment Agency reports that “the improved energy efficiency of new vehicles and the increased use of biofuels … have been more than offset by the increase in demand for passenger transport and an increase in the share of passenger car transport,” which has “led to higher GHG emissions from passenger cars in 2019 compared to 2000.”

European Environment Agency. (2024). Climate: Key messages. Accessible at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/sustainability-of-europes-mobility-systems/climate

As of 2022, the car accounted for around 80% of passenger kilometres travelled in each of the Nordic countries within the EU (Denmark, Sweden, and Finland). These figures are higher than the share for the EU-27 (73% of passenger-kilometres travelled in the EU are by car). And the total number of kilometres travelled by car in these countries has increased since 1995.

European Environment Agency. (2024). Passenger transport activity. Accessible at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/en/analysis/publications/sustainability-of-europes-mobility-systems/passenger-transport-activity?activeTab=9b9a7a22-9b94-4bd6-9d8b-699fc71921f8

While vehicle electrification can aid in decreasing transport emissions, the European Environment Agency is clear in its limitations:

Making cities more sustainable requires rethinking the built environment. The existing backbone of the living environment is often the street, specifically a street designed according to the dimensions of large motor vehicles. Research highlights the problems that electric vehicles pose to land use. One concern is the inevitable maintenance and potential expansion of impervious surfaces that come along with this space-occupying mode of transport associated with sprawling urban settlements.

Orsi, F. (2021). On the sustainability of electric vehicles: What about their impacts on land use? Sustainable Cities and Society 66, 102680. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102680

Fossil-fuel-free or electric vehicles both still require major public investments to build and maintain car infrastructure. Furthermore, road congestion remains the same, as do the negative health effects associated with sedentary lifestyles. Therefore, addressing road transport emissions and other holistic sustainability goals ultimately requires a transformation of the urban form, with sustainable urban mobility options—and particularly cycling—at the forefront. Cities and regions aiming to achieve sustainability must therefore consider how to reduce as many car trips as possible (even those made with electric cars) while maximizing the share of trips made by walking, cycling, and public transit. 

Researchers at Chalmers University in Sweden recently conducted a study to evaluate the potential impact of substituting passenger car trips with e-bikes. Using the Västra Götaland county of Sweden (where Gothenburg sits) as a case study, the researchers ran a simulation study showing that, based on factors such as speed, trip duration, street gradients, and activities of trips, “e-bikes could replace 57.6% of car trips” in the county.

ozluoğlu, Ç., Liao, Y., & Sprei, F. (2024). Potential of e-bikes to replace passenger car trips and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Journal of Cycling and Micromobility Research, 2, 100043. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmr.2024.100043

Furthermore, they explored potential GHG emissions reductions in the area: “If the top 70% of feasible car users, ranked by shortest to longest daily travel distances, switch to e-bikes, emissions could be reduced by 10.1% compared to 2018 levels. If all feasible car users adopt e-bikes, a reduction of up to 22.8% in emissions could be achieved, representing the upper limit presented by our study.” The study provides encouraging findings for compact built environments where the researchers suggest that it is more possible for car trips to be replaced compared to sprawling environments.

Figure 1. Total GHG emissions (without LULUCF) in the Nordic Region, 1990 v. 2021 (tonnes of CO₂e).
Data source: UNFCCC 

Figure 2. GHG emissions attributed to transportation sector in the Nordic Region, 1990 v. 2021 (tonnes of CO₂e).
Data source: UNFCCC

Figure 3. Percent of transportation emissions attributed to road transport v. other means of transport in the Nordic Region.
Data source: UNFCCC

Redefine sustainability in terms of the whole landscape, not just the mode of transport.
Transport solutions are not sustainable if they require cities and regions to invest in and maintain infrastructure that contradicts long-term social, economic, or environmental goals. Instead, the high emissions status of the transport sector requires planners and policymakers to reconsider land use and rethink policies that support or hinder the development of living environments as a whole. For example, investments that open streets to other public uses may also have payoffs for social and economic sustainability. Cycling is an important mode of transport not only for its energy efficiency, but also because building a city at the scale of the cyclist helps cities to achieve other cross-sectoral aims.  Approaches such as Avoid-Shift-Improve may be one way to consider how improving the efficiency of electric vehicles works only alongside reducing overall travel or shifting to more sustainable modes.

Berg Mårtensson, H., Larsen, K., & Höjer, M. (2023). Investigating potential effects of mobility and accessibility services using the avoid-shift-improve framework. Sustainable Cities and Society, 96, 104676. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2023.104676

Identify structural barriers that disable residents from challenging car-centric norms.
While some long-distance trips may not be able to be replaced by a bicycle or e-bike, the percent of trips made by car for short journeys is surprisingly high. In Denmark, the car is the mode of transport that accounts for 46% of all trips between 4 and 9.9 km, and 23% of all trips between 2 and 3.9 km.

Christiansen, H. & Baescu, O. (2022). The Danish National Travel Survey: Annual Statistical Report for Denmark for 2021. DTU Orbit. Department of Technology,

Management, and Economics. Accessed 5 June 2023 from https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/the-danish-national-travel-survey-annual-statistical-report-for-d

Though walking and cycling have higher shares for shorter journeys, still 8% of trips under 2 km are made by car (compared to 10% by bike). Other Nordic cities report similar challenges, with a high share of all car trips used for relatively short distances. As planners consider where to prioritise their modal shift attention, it may be useful to identify areas where people continue to use the car for trips within these bikeable and walkable thresholds and consider the potential urban design or infrastructure barriers that may be preventing residents from choosing the bicycle over the car for such trips.

Integrate active travel modes into climate commitments.
Walking and cycling can play a larger role in discussions for reducing emissions. This can happen by making active mobility a key action item in, for example, Nationally Determined Contributions.

See https://pathforwalkingcycling.com/wp-content/uploads/PATH-UNFCCC-policies-report-FINAL.pdf

•   The City of Oslo provides an example of how a city centre can be reimagined as a place predominantly organised around cyclists and pedestrians instead of cars. In an initiative started in 2016, the city has removed hundreds of parking spots and established new playgrounds, parks, and cycle paths to improve the urban environment. Due to high levels of accessibility by other means of transport, the City can reduce private vehicle access and parking in the centre while improving the conditions for pedestrians, without reducing overall accessibility.

https://www.oslo.kommune.no/byutvikling/bilfritt-byliv-2016-2023/

As part of the car-free strategy, the City initiated the so-called Living Streets (Levende Gater) project

https://www.oslo.kommune.no/slik-bygger-vi-oslo/levende-gater/

which supports residents in implementing local projects that improve neighbourhood life by reimagining street space for other public purposes.

•  The City of Stockholm’s summer streets initiative

https://upplev.stockholm/sommarplatser/hitta-din-sommarplats/

 makes use of the contrasting seasons in the centre by temporarily repurposing traffic spaces into urban living rooms. Between April and September, these streets are adorned with outdoor furniture, plants, and art, opening the space primarily to pedestrians and slow cyclists. In 2024, the City also tested the opening of a major thoroughfare near the city centre—Sveavägen. Three blocks were transformed into a car-free public space, providing greater accessibility to local residents participating in social activities, children’s games, and other art performances. The Sveavägen car-free weekends were part of a trial program to test the effects of traffic in the area and analyse potential measures for reducing traffic problems along the busy street, which acts as a primary vehicle, walking, cycling, and public transport corridor in the city.