Within the Active Cities project, the City of Bergen and KU Leuven have joined forces to explore how football fans travel to their local stadiums — and how more fans can be encouraged to walk or cycle instead of driving.
Written by Valentina Kroker (KU Leuven), Einar Greig (City of Bergen), and Harry Dobbs (Bax innovation)
Both cities are conducting separate but complementary studies to understand and improve active fan mobility for home matches in Bergen (for SK Brann) and Leuven (for OH Leuven).
While each project operates independently, the teams regularly exchange ideas, methods, and insights through the Active Cities network to strengthen their approaches.
How the Collaboration Began
This cross-city collaboration between Leuven and Bergen began after discussions at the Active Cities consortium meeting in Lille (2024) and took shape following KU Leuven’s updated proposal in Aarhus (October 2024).
The City of Bergen was already investing in cycling initiatives for football fans and sought KU Leuven’s expertise in behaviour change and evaluation. Together, they designed a joint approach that combines local experimentation with scientific analysis.
Bergen: Encouraging Fans to Cycle to SK Brann Games
Bergen has long promoted cycling among its citizens — and now it’s bringing that ambition to the football stands.
Last season, fans who cycled to Brann Stadium could get their bikes repaired for free during the match. Building on that success, the city now wants to better understand how fans travel and what motivates or prevents them from choosing active modes.
Key actions so far have included:
- The launch of a city-wide fan questionnaire to map travel patterns, barriers, and motivators.
- Testing guarded parking facilities for up to 180 (e)-bikes and tracking usage during matches.
- Continuing the free bike repair service and exploring incentives such as prize draws for free tickets for fans arriving by bike.
Early observations suggest that guarded parking and visible bike facilities have made a difference, and fans appreciate these efforts. City of Bergen also communicates with fans via social media, local events, public transport advertising, and the distribution of club newsletters, reaching up to 70,000 registered supporters. Participants are also told that their feedback may inform future changes, which is expected to keep people interested and engaged.
The parking facilities have also become a topic of conversation in fan forums, with supporters voicing their desire for a larger area dedicated to bike parking alongside comments on the general atmosphere and team performance.
The bike fixing station at SK Brann
Leuven: Researching Mobility Behaviour at OH Leuven
Active Cities partner KU Leuven's collaboration with local team OH Leuven builds on years of fan research on identity, social responsibility, and community engagement. The new local initiative is focusing on cycling and mobility behaviour among the fanbase.
The research began with surveys during previous seasons, focusing on season ticket holders that visit the stadium regularly for home games throughout the season. The KU Leuven team recruited season ticket holders who receive a short questionnaire about their mobility and consumption behaviour after each home game.
The evaluation approach includes:
- A detailed baseline survey at the start of the season to record attitudes and background information.
- Short post-match questionnaires after each home game to monitor shifts in behaviour.
- Opportunities to win fan-relevant prizes upon the completion of the project to maintain engagement.
This model allows researchers involved in the project to explore how external factors such as weather conditions, parking availability, or club initiatives affect mobility choices from week to week.
Bike parking at OH Leuven
Early Insights and Observations
In Bergen, while formal evaluations are still underway, early results show an encouraging rise in cycling activity:
- Guarded bike parking facilities have resulted in an increase from about 9-70 bikes last season to about 100 at the start of this season. However, as the season has only recently commenced, these figures can only be considered preliminary.
- Fans are making use of the new cycling tunnel in Bergen to access the stadium more easily.
Numbers and behaviour will be monitored throughout the season to identify long-term trends.
In Leuven, preliminary results show that roughly the same number of fans report using cars and bicycles to reach the stadium, at least occasionally. However, tracking individual trips will help uncover when and why fans choose active travel and how weather conditions influence decisions.
What's next?
Both projects will continue data collection throughout the football season, combining survey results, bike counting, and observational studies.
The results will help both cities refine their active mobility strategies and continue to promote active mobility amongst fans of each team.
In the longer term, KU Leuven plans to publish the methodology and results in an academic journal, while Bergen will use the insights to guide future cycling infrastructure and fan engagement campaigns.