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ReportCore resource
BATS Impact Report: Results and Lessons from Year-Round Active Mobility Pilots
Jacek Oskarbski, Konrad Biszko, Daniel Kaszubowski · 2026 · Baltic Sea Region
The BATS Impact Report (Deliverable D2.2), prepared by Gdańsk University of Technology, examines the observed outcomes, implementation experiences and operational lessons from Year-Round Active Mobility (YRAM) experiments in seven Baltic Sea Region pilot areas: Hamburg-Altona (Germany), Gdynia (Poland), Umeå (Sweden), Porvoo (Finland), Kalundborg (Denmark), Klaipėda (Lithuania) and Kiili/Harju County (Estonia). The report evaluates interventions across four thematic areas: infrastructure, traffic management, winter maintenance and citizen activation. Practical examples include physically protected cycling infrastructure and illuminated underpasses in Hamburg-Altona; weather-adaptive traffic signal control and school travel campaigns in Gdynia; citizen-based winter maintenance monitoring, projected markings and winter e-bike initiatives in Umeå; coordinated winter maintenance and user feedback systems in Porvoo; cycling route visibility improvements and commuter engagement in Kalundborg; projected guidance for shared bus-cycle environments in Klaipėda; and school-based winter cycling promotion and winter maintenance bottleneck mapping in Kiili and Harju County. For each pilot area, the report describes intervention objectives, monitoring methods, observed results, implementation barriers, enabling factors and recommendations for replication. The cross-city synthesis highlights the importance of reliable winter maintenance, route visibility, understandable information about travel conditions and citizen activation measures linked to practical support. A central finding is that year-round active mobility depends on the combined performance of infrastructure, maintenance, traffic management and user-oriented services. Communication campaigns alone cannot compensate for unusable or unsafe routes, while technical solutions require appropriate maintenance arrangements, institutional coordination and monitoring. Because the experiments differed substantially in scale, baseline conditions, monitoring methods and data availability, the report does not provide a statistically comparable ranking of intervention effectiveness. Instead, it offers operational evidence and transferable implementation lessons to help municipalities select, adapt and evaluate interventions suited to their local conditions.
- Maintenance & Operations
- Data & Monitoring
- Behaviour & Mobility Management
- Policy, Strategy & Governance
ReportCore resource
Year-Round Active Mobility: Insights into Mobility Management Approaches
Ida Lundström, Josefine Wigström, Naomi Zerai, Zein Anani, Camilla Sandberg, Dennis Martínez-Moro, Juliette Ténart · 2026 · Baltic Sea Region
Year-Round Active Mobility: Insights into Mobility Management Approaches is a collection of eight thematic insight sheets developed by Umeå Municipality and Bax Innovation within the BATS project. The publication explores practical approaches to making walking and cycling safer, more accessible and more attractive throughout the year, particularly during periods of snow, ice, darkness and challenging weather conditions. The insight sheets cover winter maintenance, citizen participation in monitoring maintenance quality, intelligent transport systems, projected traffic signage, perceived security in dark environments, campaigns in educational institutions and services supporting year-round cycling. Concrete examples from BATS partner cities include Winter Scouts and Winter Agents programmes in Umeå and Porvoo, where residents help monitor winter maintenance conditions; weather-adaptive traffic signal control in Gdynia; Gobo light projections in Umeå and Hamburg-Altona to improve visibility and guidance; and solar-powered lighting solutions for cycling routes in Kalundborg. Other examples include winter e-bike lending, winter tyre services, secure bicycle storage and school-based campaigns encouraging active mobility. Each thematic sheet combines an introduction to the approach with practical implementation examples, considerations and lessons learned. The sheets are designed to be used independently or together as planning and workshop materials. The publication serves as a practical reference and source of transferable ideas for municipalities, transport planners and mobility practitioners. It illustrates how different cities have tested solutions to seasonal mobility challenges, while recognising that the examples do not necessarily provide conclusive evidence of long-term effectiveness or represent entirely new innovations.
- Planning & Design
- Maintenance & Operations
- Data & Monitoring
- Behaviour & Mobility Management
- Communication & Engagement
- Health, Safety & Wellbeing
ResearchReportCore resource
Sustainable Promotion of Cycling in Winter through Optimised Winter Road Maintenance (WinRad)
Christian Holldorb, Jan Riel, Tim Wiesler, Thorsten Cypra, Niklas März · 2024 · Germany
A comprehensive German research report examining how optimised winter maintenance can support year-round cycling. Based on field studies in Karlsruhe, Cologne and Munich, cyclist surveys, de-icing material experiments and cost-benefit assessments, it provides evidence-based recommendations for winter maintenance operations, cycling infrastructure design and service prioritisation. Short version to be dowloaded: https://fops.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/BASt-FK-04-2024-WinRad.pdf
- Planning & Design
- Maintenance & Operations
- Data & Monitoring
- Policy, Strategy & Governance
ReportStrategyMethodCore resource
Winter maintenance strategy and implementation study and tracking, Minneapolis
City of Minneapolis, Department of Public Works · 2024 · United States
The City of Minneapolis' 2024 Winter Walking and Biking Study evaluates winter maintenance policies, operational responsibilities, costs and opportunities to improve pedestrian accessibility and year-round cycling through 2030. It presents eight recommended actions for winter walking and five for winter cycling, including four sidewalk assistance pilots supported by a $595,000 budget allocation. The proposals address snow clearance, support for older residents and people with limited mobility, targeted maintenance services, improved cycling route maintenance and public information on snow-clearing operations. A particularly valuable feature is the city's publicly accessible Transportation Action Plan progress tracking system, which connects strategic objectives to individual actions, implementation schedules, status updates and documented milestones. This allows residents, practitioners and decision-makers to follow how winter mobility policies are translated into operational improvements. The online monitoring system documents continued implementation beyond the original study. For winter 2025–2026, Minneapolis funded four sidewalk snow and ice removal pilots, building on the previous season's experiments. Participation in the neighborhood snow patrol pilot increased from four neighborhoods in 2024–2025 to eight in 2025–2026. Other publicly reported measures include revised sidewalk enforcement fees, improved complaint-handling procedures and ongoing accessibility improvements. Link: https://go.minneapolismn.gov/final-plan/walking/strategy-4 Together, the study and its public implementation tracking offer a practical example of evidence-informed winter mobility governance, combining costed interventions, pilot programmes, measurable milestones and transparent reporting. The tracking system documents implementation progress, although it does not by itself establish the effects of these measures on walking and cycling activity or safety.
- Planning & Design
- Maintenance & Operations
- Policy, Strategy & Governance
GuidelineCore resource
YRAM Monitoring Guidance: A User Manual for Year-Round Active Mobility Monitoring
Jacek Oskarbski, Konrad Biszko, Daniel Kaszubowski · 2024 · Baltic Sea Region
The YRAM Monitoring Guidance is a comprehensive methodological manual developed within the BATS project to help local authorities monitor year-round active mobility and evaluate the effectiveness of walking and cycling interventions. It complements the BATS Diagnostics-Interventions Toolkit by providing a structured approach to defining performance indicators, identifying data requirements, collecting and managing information, analysing results and refining interventions over time. A central feature is its Key Performance Indicator (KPI) selection framework, which considers the relevance of indicators to local conditions, transport management, infrastructure and maintenance, as well as their sensitivity to weather and lighting. Two alternative indicator selection methods are presented, including an approach specifically organised around weather- and lighting-dependent indicators. This helps municipalities design monitoring systems that account for seasonal variation rather than evaluating active mobility measures only under favourable conditions. The manual describes a monitoring process covering intervention definition, KPI selection, data acquisition and management, indicator calculation, analysis, scheduling and iterative improvement. It provides recommendations for using existing municipal datasets, GIS information, transport models, surveys and other data sources, including approaches to identifying data gaps, combining datasets and selecting feasible alternatives when information is unavailable. Supporting materials include a structured indicator selection table, findings from surveys of partner cities, data collection recommendations and monitoring process diagrams. A local experiment in Gdynia, Poland, is used to illustrate the application of the guidance. The publication is particularly valuable for transport planners, mobility managers and public authorities seeking to establish evidence-based monitoring systems, compare intervention outcomes under different seasonal conditions and use evaluation results to support future year-round active mobility policies and investments.
- Data & Monitoring
- Policy, Strategy & Governance
GuidelineCore resource
Handbook for Sweep-Salting of Cycleways
Anna Niska, Göran Blomqvist, Tomas Stomberg · 2023 · Sweden
A practical handbook for implementing sweep-salting on cycleways, covering route planning, equipment, salt application, operational procedures and performance monitoring. It combines research findings with practical experience and provides checklists, templates and training materials for winter maintenance professionals.
- Maintenance & Operations
- Data & Monitoring
ResearchMethod
A Seasonal Study of the Spatial Quality of Cold Streets Based on Activity Portrait Indexes (APIs)
Yang Ye, Yi Huang, Sitong Yang, Wenshu Lou, Tong Li, Xin Tang, Hangjian Yu · 2026 · China
This study develops an Activity Portrait Index (API) framework to assess the seasonal quality of urban streets in Harbin, China, a city with extremely cold winters. Based on observations of 37 street segments, the method evaluates pedestrian activity levels, diversity of activities and the demographic diversity of street users across different seasons. The findings highlight how the qualities that support street activity change throughout the year: wind protection, thermal comfort and connections between indoor and outdoor spaces become particularly important in winter, while greenery, ventilation and opportunities for outdoor staying gain importance during warmer periods. The study provides an evidence-based approach for evaluating and designing streets that remain attractive, accessible and socially active throughout the year.
- Planning & Design
- Data & Monitoring
- Health, Safety & Wellbeing
ResearchStrategy
Assessment of Seoul's Snow Removal Operations and Improvement Strategies
Oh Han Jin, Park Daegeun, Lee Keesei, Ma Gyeonghoon · 2026 · South Korea
This policy research report evaluates Seoul's winter maintenance operations using weather and operational evidence, including data from the 2020/21 to 2024/25 winter seasons. It identifies increasing road icing risks, fragmented responsibilities between municipal agencies, inconsistent maintenance standards and shortcomings in the prioritisation of vulnerable locations. The study proposes risk-based maintenance planning, improved coordination between districts, GIS-supported resource allocation, more consistent deicing practices and greater use of weather and road surface data in operational decision-making. Although its scope extends beyond active mobility, the findings are particularly relevant to improving the reliability, safety and governance of winter maintenance for pedestrian areas and urban transport networks.
- Maintenance & Operations
- Data & Monitoring
- Policy, Strategy & Governance
Research
Cold stress mitigation by urban trees: Computational fluid dynamics analysis of deciduous and evergreen effects in winter environments
Geon Kang, Wonsik Choi, Jeong Hee Eum, Jae Jin Kim · 2026 · South Korea
This peer-reviewed study investigates how urban tree species, height and placement influence pedestrian-level cold stress during winter in Daegu, South Korea. Using a validated computational fluid dynamics model coupled with solar radiation modelling, the researchers compared deciduous and evergreen tree-planting scenarios and assessed their effects using the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). Wind speed was the dominant factor affecting winter thermal comfort. Tall evergreen trees reduced cold stress in exposed and windy urban corridors, while their shading could worsen conditions in sheltered areas by limiting winter solar radiation. The findings provide practical guidance for climate-responsive street design, demonstrating that winter tree-planting strategies should balance wind protection with access to sunlight rather than applying uniform greening solutions.
- Planning & Design
- Data & Monitoring
- Health, Safety & Wellbeing
Method
Drone-Based Winter Maintenance Monitoring in Vilnius
Vilnius City Municipality; ID Vilnius · 2026 · Lithuania
Vilnius uses drones, artificial intelligence and vehicle tracking data to monitor winter maintenance of pedestrian and cycling routes. Introduced in November 2023 and expanded in 2026, the system monitors 222 predefined locations across five city districts. Approximately four hours after snowfall, weather permitting, drones capture images that are analysed using AI to identify snow-covered sidewalks, public transport stops and areas requiring further maintenance. Results are integrated into the city's operational management system to direct maintenance crews to unresolved locations. A public dashboard launched in February 2026 combines drone inspection results, maintenance data from 188 sensor-equipped vehicles, precipitation records and residents' service requests. In January 2026 alone, drones collected 2,142 image observations, including repeated inspections. The case demonstrates how automated monitoring, operational data integration and public reporting can improve oversight and accountability in winter maintenance. Quantified impacts on maintenance efficiency and pedestrian or cycling safety have not yet been independently established.
- Maintenance & Operations
- Data & Monitoring

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