Active2Public Transport at the EuroVelo & Cycling Tourism Conference 2025

Cycling experts from across Europe gathered in Balatonfüred, a charming town on Lake Balaton along EuroVelo 14 and the Lake Balaton Cycle Trail, to discuss the latest developments in the EuroVelo network and cycling tourism. Among the many inspiring cycling-related topics in plenary speeches, roundtables, and workshops, one breakout session focused on the integration of bicycles and public transport.

This session, ’Add public transport and oil gently: the best recipe for cycling tourism’ featured speakers with expertise in cycling (Agathe Daudibon, EuroVelo and Cycling Tourism Director at the European Cyclists’ Federation, ECF), rail transport (Roberta Mezzapesa and Nicoletta Antonia from Trenitalia) and the intersection of active and public transport modes (András Munkácsy from the KTI Institute for Transport Sciences, Budapest). The session was chaired by Szilvia Mogyorósi, representing the Hungarian Railway Association (Hungrail).

In his presentation, co-authored with Annika Morath from the Danube Office Ulm/Neu-Ulm, András Munkácsy introduced the Active2Public Transport project as a transnational initiative to better connect cycling, hiking, and public transport. He explained that the consortium is developing an online toolbox, preparing action plans, and already implementing pilot actions in the Danube region.

His talk highlighted findings from the Danube Cycling Tourist Survey 2024, which explored how people choose destinations for cycling holidays, what channels they use to gather information about itineraries and travel options, how they integrate public transport into their journeys, and how they evaluate their most recent cycling holiday in Europe. The survey, conducted together with ECF, gathered 5,053 complete responses. Results show that around 70% of respondents have already taken a cycling holiday, and 67% used public transport (most often trains) on their last trip.

While overall satisfaction with their cycling holidays was very high (4.6 out of 5), respondents rated public transport-related aspects lower: 3.3 for the overall experience with stations and 3.5 for transporting bikes on board. Expanding bicycle transport capacity and creating more cycling-friendly public transport connections are key to improving conditions, alongside high-quality, extensive cycling infrastructure, which remains the top priority.

👉 Read the full survey results here: Active2Public Transport study – 5,000 cyclists confirm the need for better public transport connections

Photos: © Taigiszer Mónika/AMFK