Cycling Rostov-on-Don

Challenge

In 2014 the city asked a simple question: should Rostov-on-Don build cycle lanes, and if so, where? The first ideas were recreational paths on the outskirts. They would not help people who wanted to ride to work, to study or around the centre.

To answer the question, the city needed facts: who rides, where, why — and what stops everyone else.

What was done

Mihail Veklenko created and initiated the project and organised the research. In 2014–2015 Urban Factory carried it out:

• GPS tracks shared by cyclists, joined into a map of the routes people really ride;
• surveys of cyclists;
• interviews with bike rental operators, designers, urban planners, transport specialists, local business and the city transport department;
• a round table that brought all stakeholders to one table.

The key idea was simple: cycle lanes are transport infrastructure, not recreation. Collect real bike tracks, join them into one network, then build it.

I Bike RnD, a media project led by Dmitry Gusev, ran inside the programme and kept cycling in the public eye.

Result

The research results became the basis of the brief for the design tender of the city transport department. The tender was won by Velovod (Dmitry Gusev), which prepared the city cycle network scheme. Mihail consulted on the project until it was implemented.

• 2014 — request from the city
• 2014–2015 — research: GPS tracks, surveys, interviews, a stakeholder round table
• Design tender of the city transport department — won by Velovod (Dmitry Gusev)
• 2018–2019 — city cycle network scheme prepared by Velovod
• From 2021 — cycle lanes built in phases: Pushkinskaya Street (about 3.5 km); Levenetsovsky district (2023)

This is where the cycling network of Rostov-on-Don began: research done with the people who use the street shaped a city decision — and put lanes on the ground.

Today Rostov-on-Don has more than 20 km of cycle lanes (city roads department, 2026).