Cycling to university – is it easy to do in Tartu?

According to Tartu's bicycle traffic vision for 2024, people will mainly cycle or walk to get about their daily business in the city.

European urban planners mostly take Copenhagen as a model for cycling infrastructure, often following the five principles originating from the Netherlands: cycle paths should be as straight as possible and clearly marked, and the ride should be safe, comfortable and, where possible, uninterrupted. The objective of minimal interruptions applies both to the cycle path network and the period of using bicycles: if cycling continues in winter, the needs for the different modes of transport are better balanced throughout the year.

Enjoyable and efficient

Associate Professor of Educational Technology Emanuele Bardone from the University of Tartu Centre for Educational Technology is one of the people in Tartu who rides a bike all year round.

"The bicycle is the main, if not the only, means of transport I use. This, of course, means that I have to keep it in good running order. The chain gets a pretty rough treatment by the ice, salt and rain, so once or twice a year, I go to the repair shop to have it changed," says Bardone.

Bardone, from Italy, was a cycling athlete when he was younger, and admits that, back in the day, the lifestyle of a cyclist was almost like a religion to him – to paraphrase a famous book, his daily mantra was 'eat, ride, love'. Not so much anymore, but he is still a passionate rider.

Bardone, who lived in a city about the same size as Tartu in his homeland, used the bicycle to get everywhere around the city. When he moved to Estonia, it seemed natural to continue in the same way. Moreover, after some experimenting, he found that he was just as fast on a bike in the city as in a car.

"I think cycling is the most enjoyable and also the most efficient mode of transport. If you are in a hurry, you can get from A to B quickly, but if you have time to spare, you can enjoy the urban nature and the weather," he says, humorously adding: "if the weather is good, of course."

Bardone rides from Tammelinn to Jakobi street in the city centre mostly along the same route, but in winter, he has to change the route because snow is not properly cleared everywhere.

Meditation, not sport

Sille Vadi, Coordinator at the Institute of Cultural Research, also works in the city centre, in the von Bock building, but lives in Raadi.

"It is quite easy to get from there to the city centre by bike, but after crossing the river, it is a hassle to weave between pedestrians and cars. Understandably, it is difficult to make cycle paths where they were not originally planned. That is why they are often built where they can be built, rather than where they are needed," she muses.

Vadi's daily means of commuting are quite varied. When she needs to transport stuff or get around during the day, she drives to work. She chooses to walk or cycle when she has fewer things to carry and more time and is not planning a bike ride in the evening. In fact, Vadi cycles a couple of hundred kilometres just for fun every week. She calls it meditation, not sport. "For me, mind and body are not separate. Physical fitness is largely a bonus of mental training," she says.

It is for the evening rides that Vadi has a road bike. "Contrary to most people's opinion, I find the riding position on a road bike very comfortable. The narrow saddle and lack of suspension do not bother me, and the bike is light and fast," she says.

Unfortunately, the abundance of kerbs in the city centre does not favour riding with fine tyres. Moreover, she does not want to ride with cycling shoes for safety reasons, but clip pedals are uncomfortable with normal shoes. A bike-share bike may not be available at the right station when you most need it, and, as the one-and-a-half-week break at the end of May showed, the system can be down due to technical issues.

Bike-share system suits students

Ann Kaarde, a first-year medical student, often takes the bike-share bike from Supilinn to her main study building, Biomeedikum. She also has her own bike, but the electric city bike makes it much easier to get up the hill.

"Another advantage of renting a bike is that I can leave it at any bike station and not worry about getting home in the rain, for example. When it rains, I prefer the bus or car. The temporary suspension of the bike-share system would otherwise have affected me quite a lot, but luckily, it coincided with studying for exams when I was mostly at home," says Kaarde.

There are several new and convenient cycle paths on her route to school, away from busy streets, so cycling is mostly smooth and safe. However, Kaarde admits that even though Tartu's cycling network is certainly better organised than in Tallinn, there is still room for improvement – for example, the traffic scheme and road markings in Maarjamõisa could be better.

"I usually cycle to school, or walk, if I have more time some mornings. In May, I took part in the step-count challenge with the Estonian Medical Students' Association and walked more than usual," says Kaarde.

She enjoys both cycling and walking because they are good for health and the environment.

Sweaty but happy

Randel Kreitsberg, Research Fellow of Ecotoxicology, lives in Elva and works in Tartu city centre. He mainly commutes by train, also by car on busier days, but around twenty times during the warmer months, he gets to work on his bicycle. He thinks he would cycle to work even more, but fieldwork and holidays take up much of the summer.

"It feels great to cycle to Tartu for work: you can hear the birds in the morning, the ride wakes you up, and you arrive at work full of energy. It takes me an hour and ten minutes to cover 28 kilometres, which is only a little longer than by car or train. As a bonus, I can get my workout done just by coming to work and going home, so I can spend time with my family in the evening," he says.

After a long and vigorous pedalling, one naturally needs to shower. This can be easily done at Kreitsberg's workplace in Oecologicum (and several other university buildings). What is not so good for Kreitsberg is that the bicycle parking lot on Liivi street is largely not covered, leaving his faithful companion at the mercy of the weather and the birds of Toomemägi for the whole day.

Kreitsberg finds the cycle path network linking Tartu with the centres of neighbouring rural municipalities generally pretty good. However, the road between Tartu and Elva, for example, still has a three- to four-kilometre stretch where cyclists must share the road with cars.

"The older I get, the more I start to fear traffic. Although many truck drivers have started to leave plenty of space when passing cyclists, I have seen my fair share of reckless and even aggressive drivers. And vice versa: I have seen cyclists whose behaviour just makes you sigh," Kreitsberg admits.

Need for clearer cycling paths

He would also like to see clearer planning of the cycling network in the city. Every cycle path tends to be different, says Kreitsberg: some are shared with pedestrians, some are separated from the road, some are marked on the side of the road, some take up a section of the road and the pavement at the same time, some are painted red, some are not.

"Markings are often worn, and respect for each other depends on individual gut feeling and historical memory. I often notice that drivers assume that I do not bother to get off my bike on pedestrian crossings, or that I do not obey the signs, so they politely stop even though they have the right of way," says Kreitsberg.

According to Sille Vadi, the lack of a cycling culture is most noticeable around the city centre. "We just do not have the habit of cycling, but I do not think it should stay that way. Seven months of lousy skiing weather is not an argument – there are countries further north where one can quite successfully cycle most of the year," she says, referring to Finland and Norway.

Vadi also has a good word for the multi-use pathways near the city. "It sometimes happens that the path is interrupted unexpectedly or ends altogether, but there are plenty of such pathways, even quite long ones."

Emanuele Bardone has noticed that, although drivers are generally polite, they may be quite aggressive towards cyclists on certain streets. For example, on Riia street, drivers tend not to have much respect for cyclists, so many cyclists prefer to ride on the pavement instead.

"I see more and more cyclists riding on the pavement around the city. I still think the pavement belongs to pedestrians. By the way, the only incident I have had while cycling in Tartu happened on the pavement. When you make cyclists and pedestrians share the pathway without any separation, you end up with a jungle," says Bardone.

Own space for all

More and more cycle paths are being built in Tartu to make traffic safer and more comfortable for everyone. However, according to Bardone, there should already be more of them, especially on both sides of the road, like between the railway station and Riia street.

According to Mihkel Vijar, chief specialist for pedestrian and bicycle paths at the Tartu City Government, the first stage of the core network of cycle paths is planned to be completed in the coming years. This includes several main streets, such as Riia street, where finding cycle-friendly solutions is a real challenge. The reconstruction of the Sõpruse bridge and the extension of Põhja puiestee and Muuseumi tee will also take cyclists and pedestrians into account.

"The most important principle in the development of the core network of cycle paths is that cyclists have their own space, separate from cars and pedestrians," said Vijar.

However, when planning traffic, the city government tries to keep in mind the variety of mobility options so that all residents and visitors of Tartu could find the most suitable solution. For example, the comprehensive plan foresees the creation of mobility hubs by all roads entering the city. In essence, this means that people coming to Tartu from the direction of Jõhvi, Tallinn, Viljandi or Võru could leave their car in a car park on the outskirts of the city and then use public transport or a rental bike or scooter to conveniently get to where they need in the city. Vijar says that negotiations have already begun to establish the first mobility hub of this kind in the Lõunakeskus area.

The first large-scale survey will be carried out at the university this autumn to identify university members' school- and work-related mobility needs, habits and concerns. The results will hopefully help to plan mobility-friendly activities that would save the environment and foster good urban space.