On March 5, a broad-based group of supporters launched the bicycle initiative, which is now set to generate 100,000 signatures within 18 months. The petition for a referendum aims to strengthen cycling in everyday life and leisure and, like walking, enshrine it in the Federal Constitution. Cantons and municipalities should create and operate an attractive and safe network by law; the federal government should provide technical, coordinating and, where necessary, financial support.

To this end, Article 88 of the Swiss Federal Constitution, which currently only regulates hiking, should be amended as follows:

§1
The Confederation shall lay down principles on footpath and hiking trail networks and on networks for everyday and leisure cycling.
old: The Confederation shall lay down principles on footpath and hiking trail networks.

§2
It shall promote and coordinate measures by the cantons and third parties to create and maintain attractive and safe networks and to communicate about them; in doing so, it shall respect the responsibilities of the cantons.
old: It may support and coordinate cantonal measures for the creation and maintenance of such networks.

§3
It shall take such networks into account in the performance of its duties. If it has to remove associated paths, it shall replace them.
old: In fulfilling its tasks, it takes account of footpath and hiking trail networks and replaces paths that it has to remove.

The initiative makes no specific reference to mountain biking, which generally falls under recreational cycling. However, the perspective of the initiators is clearly not in the mountain bike sector, as the composition of the supporting association shows. The WWF, for example, is represented in this association and has already opposed mountain bike projects on several occasions. Politically, the initiative is supported by a left-wing alliance.

The initiative is an opportunity for Switzerland to better anchor cycling as a whole politically and give it greater weight. Acceptance of the initiative would mean that more public funding would be available for the development and maintenance of cycle paths. And these cycle paths should hopefully also include single trails at some point in the near future.www.velo-initiative.ch