BICYCLE TRAFFIC IN THE CITIES

For many years in many Western Europe countries, cycling has been associated with not only recreation and tourism but has equally gained an important function as a means of transport used in everyday commuting to work, study and entertainment. The bicycle appears to be a very good alternative to motor vehicles that produce exhaust fumes and create congestion on road transport networks. Not only is the bicycle environmentally friendly and takes up little space in road transport networks, but also, the time of bicycle travel is often competitive in relation to travel made by private car or public transport. This article presents the characteristics of the bicycle infrastructure and services offered in selected cities in the world and Poland, as well as the issues of bicycle counters as sources of data on bicycle traffic volume, along with an exemplary analysis of this type of data.