Altona is the westernmost urban borough of Hamburg situated at the right bank of the Elbe river. In Altona, Cities-4-People brought together local citizens with their local politicians and relevant stakeholders (such as Hamburg’s department of transport and innovation, traffic planner and bike coordinator, logistics and transport companies) to rethink mobility in the area. Similarly to the other participating cities of the project, this led to three prototype solutions: from creating shared mobility events and pedestrianizing streets, to expanding the current bike-infrastructure. Out of the three prototypes, Altona chose to move forward with scaling-up its cycling infrastructure. In particular, the city topped up the over 50 bike-racks that were put during the prototype phase, with additional racks for cargo-bikes.
To find the most useful locations for the cargo-bike racks, the city received the input from local stakeholders. Now, cargo-bike racks can be found in roads that are frequented by cyclists such as Grose Bergstrase, supermarkets, an inner-city IKEA and other central hubs.
To make the cargo bike-racks distinguishable, so that only people who have a cargo-bike use them, Altona sprayed a logo on the ground, as shown in the below picture.
While covid-19 had an obvious impact to mobility, the early results are promising, as cargo-bike racks have been reported to host more than 3 cargo-bikes a day, contrary to the initial lower estimates. Over the next period, when weather and the current pandemic improve, more people are expected to use the service, with the city willing to further expand them in such a case