If the EU wants to meet its 2050 climate neutrality target, it needs to decarbonize its cities.
Cities generate roughly three-quarters of the bloc’s greenhouse gas emissions, and effectively tackling the problem means getting city-dwellers to ditch private cars in favor of green transport alternatives — like cycling. But funding gaps and infrastructure limits risk stalling urban ambitions.
Across Europe, municipalities are trying to encourage the green shift with bike-sharing schemes, making it easier for people to pedal to their destinations and cut down on emissions. But a new report commissioned by Cycling Industries Europe and EIT Urban Mobility — an EU-affiliated entity that promotes the clean mobility transition — highlights the obstacles preventing these programs from expanding at speed to meet the bloc’s climate goals.
According to the report, to which POLITICO had exclusive access ahead of its publication, Europeans can currently access a combined fleet of over 430,000 bikes through bike-sharing services in nearly 150 cities. And the schemes are remarkably popular: In 2024, Europeans used shared bikes to cycle 1 billion kilometers.
