Vienna offers free cycling courses to 20,000 kids

City Councillor Ulli Sima explained that the initiative aims to build an attitude towards sustainable mobility

Yesterday, authorities in Vienna announced that they will offer 20,000 elementary school kids free cycling lessons. Registration for the courses is now open and there are 1,000 different spots that will take in groups of kids.

The lessons will be reserved for kids in 3^rd and 4^th grade. The first lessons will be given as soon as 20 April and the campaign will last until 4 November. The first course will be held on 23 April and after that, they will continue every Friday for 16 weeks.

The campaign is organized by Vienna’s City Councillor for Mobility, Ulli Sima, with the support Vienna Mobility Agency and ‘klimaaktiv mobil’, a climate initiative with the Austrian Ministry of Climate Protection.

It takes a village to raise a child

As the saying goes, it takes a whole village to raise a child, and when it comes to the future of sustainable mobility, Vienna is bundling up the resources of various government institutions and the private sector. Furthermore, the city takes advantage of all the cycling infrastructure, that has been put up in recent years.

The free cycling courses will be funded by klimaaktiv, which means the support of the Austrian federal government, while the city’s mobility authorities will take part in organising all the necessary digital infrastructure and on-the-ground preparations. People can register for courses online, via a platform that also has special offers for the teachers who want to take their whole class to a course.

Furthermore, the instructors themselves will come from ‘FahrSicherRad’, ‘Schulterblick’ and ‘EasyDrivers’ – cycling schools that offer year-round programmes.

The courses will take place at the Kaisermühlen bike park and in a specially designed bike practice area at the Naschmarkt car park. Moreover, according to a statement by the city, they will set up another area in Ottakring in the fall semester.

Councillor Sima explained that this initiative would no doubt have a positive impact on the mobility habits of citizens. As she put it: “If the adults of tomorrow like to travel in an environmentally friendly way today, that is an effective contribution to climate protection."