Bikes coast into Swiss constitution

Almost three-quarters of Swiss voters have approved a proposal to enshrine cycling, and cycling infrastructure, in the country’s constitution.

Four decades after walkers in Switzerland earned the privilege of a constitutional place – voters approved an article on the principles of maintaining footpaths and hiking trails in 1979 – cyclists are now set for equal treatment.

Some 73.6% of voters said "yes" on Sunday to giving federal authorities more responsibility in coordinating and developing cycle paths nationwide. Turnout was 37.1%, below average, according to Federal Chancellery figures.

All 26 cantons voted in favour, with Vaud coming out as most supportive (86.3% said yes), and Obwalden least keen (57.2%). The results surpassed the predictions of opinion polls carried out in the lead-up to the vote.

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SOLOTHURN, Switzerland – While other markets showed drops in sales in 2016, the Swiss market proved to be solid. With 325,000 (+ 0.5%) virtually nearly the same number of bicycles were sold as in 2015. 75,665 of them (23.3%) were electric bikes.

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E-MTBs fast growing

When looking behind that number, striking is that the popularity of e-MTBs is fast growing which comes at the expense of city/trekking models. E-MTB sales exploded with 36% to 20,761 units sold in 2016. The sales number of e-bikes in city/trekking outfit stood at 54,904; up 7% compared to 2015. In that year this e-bike category was up still with a big 16%. For the first time in years sales of speed pedelecs dropped in 2016; with 6.5%. But with 16,189 units sold speed e-bikes hold a 22% share in the total e-bike market which is the highest share worldwide. Currently the total number of e-bikes in Switzerland stands at over 400,000.

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