Helsinki’s cycling investment improves safety despite unchanged share of travel

Helsinki has invested about 218 million euros in cycling since 2013, improving conditions and reducing injuries, Yle reports. However, cycling still accounts for about 10 per cent of journeys, the same relative share as before.

Cyclists interviewed by Yle praised the city’s cycling routes, known as baanas, although much of the planned network is not yet complete. Concerns included delivery riders who ignore traffic rules and uneven surfaces around construction sites.

Verna Tainio, 29, who is from Oulu and is considering moving to Helsinki, said cycling in the capital was clear and that people generally followed traffic rules well.

Helsinki’s cycling network has been developed partly using examples from Denmark and the Netherlands. Cycling, particularly in the city centre, has become faster and smoother. The Kaisantunneli tunnel beneath Helsinki Central Station, for example, has shortened the cycling route between the eastern and western baanas by about one kilometre, said Oskari Kaupinmäki, a team manager in the city’s Urban Environment Division.

Kimmo Helistö, 65, said cycling was the fastest, healthiest and most ecological way to travel in a city such as Helsinki. He recalled that when he became an enthusiastic cyclist in the mid-1980s, cyclists mostly used car lanes and many motorists did not understand that they should give them space.

Today, Helistö said, cyclists have more dedicated routes and cars no longer seem to push into their path as often. His main concern now is food delivery riders, who he said respected traffic rules even less than he did.

More routes planned

Dedicated cycling lanes have been built especially along busy roads such as Mannerheimintie and Hämeentie. The baanas are designed to provide smooth, safe and attractive connections between different parts of the city.

About 33 kilometres of baanas have been completed. The target network in the inner city is currently about 71 kilometres long. When the full plan is completed, the baana network will total about 140 kilometres, although some sections will overlap with the inner-city cycling network. The inner-city network will also total about 140 kilometres.

“The cycling arrangements are in fairly good shape. This baana is absolutely excellent,” Helistö said.

As the cycling environment has improved, cycling-related injuries have also declined. Between 1992 and 2024, cycling volumes more than doubled, while the number of crashes resulting in personal injury fell significantly.

Helsinki recorded as many as about 200 cycling crashes resulting in personal injury in the 1990s. Since 2019, the annual figure has been below 100.

Veera Helenius, 32, said Helsinki’s cycling network was in a class of its own and encouraged people to travel by bicycle. She added that the traffic arrangements worked well as long as people followed them, although some cyclists occasionally travelled in the wrong direction or overtook unpredictably.

Only about 51 per cent of the planned cycling network in Helsinki’s inner city has been completed, while about 23 per cent of the target baana network is ready. The city aims to complete the most important parts of the planned cycling network by 2030.

The city also plans to improve roads where bicycles share the carriageway with motor traffic. Kaupinmäki said these roads should allow only motor traffic entering or leaving the area and should be designed to intuitively encourage drivers to travel more slowly.