Study Area III
Utrecht, The Netherlands
Utrecht is the fourth most populous municipality in the Netherlands with about 360,000 inhabitants and is expected to reach 400,000 inhabitants in 2028. Utrecht is, like other Dutch cities, a cycling oriented city. Of all trips made from, to and within Utrecht, 28% is made by bicycle. Of the trips made within Utrecht, the share of bicycle trips is even 49%. In 2021 the city presented the Mobilityplan 2040, which stated the ambition to further increase the use of cycling, by improving and extending cycling infrastructure. The plan also presents plans for stimulating the development of shared mobility facilities, including shared micro-mobilities, in order to reduce car ownership and use.
Utrecht offers a range of shared mobility services. In 2020, Utrecht had the highest proportion of available vehicles for car-sharing in the Netherlands, with 1,461 vehicles per 100,000 inhabitants. As other cities, Utrecht offers public transport rental bicycles (OV-fiets) in railway stations, to facilitate first and last mile connections. The city has about 1,750 public transport bikes available, mostly offered in the Central Railway Station. These are heavily used, in line with the 16% use of bicycles for last mile connections at the national level. In the beginning of 2021, micro-mobility services were launched in Utrecht by TIER, including 125 e-bikes, 300 e-mopeds and 100 e-cargo-bikes. These bikes and mopeds can be picked up and left at virtual docking stations throughout the city. Later that year the number was expanded to 500 e-bikes and 300 shared e-mopeds. In 2022, mopeds were taken out of operation and additional e-bikes were added. Currently there are about 1000 shared e-bikes offered by TIER. In addition, Cargoroo offers about 150 shared cargo bikes throughout the city.