Riga bridge

Riga aspires to develop everyday cycling as a mobile, environment–friendly and healthy means of transport

About Riga

Riga logo

The biggest city in the Baltic states, Riga blends timeless tradition and cutting-edge cool. A Nordic blonde with a fiery heart, there is far more to Riga than meets the eye. Its 800 years of turbulent history have seen everyone from German knights to Swedish kings and Soviet commissars leave their mark. Today, Latvia’s capital is an exciting European metropolis at the crossroads of eastern and northern Europe. Riga’s skyline tells its story - timeless Gothic spires in the Old Town mingle with the grand facades of one of the world’s richest collections of Art Nouveau buildings on the city's boulevards.

Main cycling challenges

Riga has no deep-seated cycling tradition, and most people do not use the bike as their everyday mode of transport. An understanding of the link between cycling and green and healthy living is increasing annually by 10% among inhabitants. The greatest challenge is addressing a lack of good quality, well-connected and safe cycling infrastructure. Awareness raising is necessary among all road users - drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians and public transport users - to communicate the shared principles of mutual understanding and a safe road movement.

Statistics

Population icon
639,600 Population
Amount of cyclists icon
600/hr Amount of cyclists
(on busiest route)
Car ownership rate icon
374 Car ownership rate
(cars per 1000 residents)
City area<
304 km² City area
Length of cycle network icon
68 km Length of cycle network
Riga

Timeline

Cycling solutions

Riga is progressively prioritising cycling in the city, which is accompanied by new initiatives to support a change of mobility culture in the city.

Mentor: Copenhagen

Riga

Contact

Ieva Pastare

Riga City Council Traffic Department

Gertrudes street 36

Riga, LV-1011

Latvia

 

ieva.pastare [at] riga.lv

+371 67012766

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This project has received funding from the European Union‘s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement no 769177.

The sole responsibility for the content of this website lies with the CIVITAS Handshake project and in no way reflects the views of the European Commission.