What if half of all streets belonged to cyclists? With the “E-Bike City” lighthouse project, ETH researchers from the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering are fundamentally rethinking urban mobility. The aim is to look at the city from the perspective of e-bikers and users of other micro-mobile vehicles such as bicycles and e-scooters in combination with public transport, rather than from the perspective of car drivers.

Specifically, the alternative design of an e-bike city envisions cutting most of Zurich’s streets in half: into a single lane for cars and a double lane for micro-mobile vehicles. What consequences would this have for accessibility within the city and for connections within the agglomeration? How would it change our daily lives?

Could it really reduce greenhouse gas emissions from urban transport to zero? What impact would it have on emergency services and parcel delivery? Could it even be financed? In short, would it be acceptable to the public? And are there alternatives? How did Bern, for example, manage to become a bicycle-friendly city?

These and other questions will be discussed with experts from research, politics, the cycling lobby, the car industry, logistics, and with the audience.

Participants:

• Martin Raubal, Professor of Geoinformation Engineering at D-BAUG / ETH Zurich.
• Ursula Wyss, former Director of Civil Engineering, Transport and Green Spaces in Bern, who launched the “Velo-Offensive” in 2013.
• Markus Bacher, CEO PubliBike
• Andreas Burgener, Director auto-schweiz, Association of Official Automobile Importers in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein
• Thomas Wälchli, Swiss Post CH, Cluster Lead City Logistics

Moderation: Martin Läubli, Science Editor, Tages-Anzeiger

Further information: https://ebikecity.baug.ethz.ch

In cooperation with Tages-Anzeiger.