This spotlight series is dedicated to showcasing the best practices shared by ERSC members. Each month, we highlight a different member’s innovative road safety initiative. By presenting these success stories, we aim to create a collaborative environment where others can recognise, celebrate, and adopt lessons learned and best practices.
Our June spotlight features the research initiative "Cycling mothers show path to more road safety," developed by Mobiel 21 in Leuven, Belgium. This project explores the road safety experiences of mothers cycling with their children and provides practical recommendations to help make urban cycling safer for all.
Why the cycling mothers initiative has been recognised as Good Practice of the Month
We celebrate EU Green Week, Europe’s leading environmental conference, in June. It presents an opportunity to share ideas and inspire action on sustainability. Mobiel 21’s initiative has been selected as June’s Good Practice of the Month because it supports these goals by encouraging active and sustainable travel through cycling, while also addressing the road safety challenges that many families face.
Key inspiration behind the initiative
Mobiel 21 launched the project after local surveys showed that many parents, especially mothers, believe their neighbourhoods are not safe enough for children to cycle independently. The goal was to understand these concerns better and learn what needs to change so that more families feel confident choosing cycling for everyday journeys.
Project activities
The project used a qualitative method called Customer Journey Mapping (CJM) to gather detailed insights from a target group of cycling mothers in Leuven (Belgium). The main activities included:
- Accompanying 18 mothers and their children on their morning bike rides to school;
- Asking them to rate how safe they felt at key points along the route;
- Conducting follow-up interviews straight after each ride;
Two Mobiel 21 researchers carried out this fieldwork in late 2023. While CJM is time and labour-intensive, it provides in-depth, personal insights that are hard to capture through surveys alone.
Outcomes of the initiative
The research showed that the participating mothers were motivated and committed to cycling with their children, despite often feeling unsupported. Their experiences highlight how cycling safety is affected by traffic volumes, signage, the behaviour of other road users, and school zone conditions.
The findings informed practical recommendations for policymakers, such as building protected cycle paths, lowering speed limits, improving signage, and running campaigns to build mutual respect between road users. These insights already shape follow-up awareness efforts and offer a model for similar projects in other cities.
For more information
Read more about the Cycling mothers project here – explore the project's activities and outcomes in further detail.
If you want to develop a similar strategy in your local authority or Member State, contact the project lead, Elke Franchois at elke.franchois@mobiel21.be.
Explore all our members’ Good Practices here. To submit your own Good Practice, please log in to your account and complete the form on this page.
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