A brief reflection on winter darkness, Scandinavian warmth, data-driven cycling research, and a 34-hours train journey – by Christian Werner.

        

Earlier this week I returned from the International Cycling Safety Conference which took place in Oslo, Norway. For me it was the first participation at ICSC – and I really liked the conference with its diverse perspectives from numerous disciplines. The conference brings together researchers, planners, and policymakers to advance cycling safety. It was an inspiring time with great talks and conversations – all embedded within the very livable city of Oslo. Yes, Scandinavia in November means limited daylight. But the friendliness, ideas and energy at ICSC more than made up for it!

It was an honor for me to present the data-driven method for gap detection in cycling networks within the session on “Nordic Perspectives on Cycling”. For this talk I applied the method which is part of my dissertation to the greater Oslo area and illustrated results with street-level imagery. And I was very curious to receive feedback from local planning experts who really know this area. Their feedback was very positive and I hope we will be able to collaborate on further validating and advancing the data-driven approach. You find the slides of my presentation at Zenodo: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17549404.

Conference contributions on single crashes and additional feedback by local planning experts also helped me to derive priorities for the development of our open source project NetAScore. For example, integrating the presence of (tram) tracks into the bikeability model of NetAScore is an important aspect scheduled for the upcoming version. We will also assess data availability for adding detailed infrastructure characteristics such as curb heights.

Thank you to the organizers and everyone who made the ICSC 2025 such a great event! Highlights of the social program were the welcome reception at Oslo city hall and the dinner at Høymagasinet with delicious Norwegian food. And many thanks to my friend Jonas for hosting me and for making the trip just perfect!

As in most cases, I traveled by train. The journey from Salzburg to Oslo was a mix of productivity and exploration: a full, highly productive workday on the ICE, a leisure stopover in Gothenburg, and a scenic return via Stockholm where I took the night train to Germany. It showed me once again how sustainable travel can be both efficient and enjoyable.