Bern Mobility behavior in Biel/Bienne is moving in a pre-pandemic direction

After motorized private transport increased in the city of Biel/Bienne during the pandemic, slow traffic and public transport are now on the rise again. This is according to the Mobility Monitoring 2023, which the city presented in a press release on Thursday.

Over the past two years, the data from the counting stations in Biel/Bienne has been "in the same order of magnitude" as in 2017 and 2019, according to the press release. Accordingly, the mobility habits of the people of Biel/Bienne have not changed significantly.

In concrete terms, this means that the increase in individual motor vehicle traffic recorded since the start of the pandemic has stabilized. With the exception of Murtenstrasse and Brüggstrasse, decreasing volumes have been measured. Since measurements began in 2017, a decline has been visible in the eastern part of the city in particular, which the city attributes to the relieving effects of the eastern branch of the A5 highway, which opened in the same year. Average weekday traffic on Mettstrasse, for example, has fallen by around 52% since then.

In addition, the use of public transport increased sharply again between 2021 and 2023, almost reaching pre-pandemic levels: according to the monitoring, the increase in passengers was between 19% and a good 77%, depending on the road section.

The volume of bicycle traffic has risen steadily since counting began in 2017, but there have been slight decreases on Murtenstrasse and General-Dufour-Strasse. The city explains this by the fact that alternative routes are being used, which have recently been made safer.