Stockholm is the second best city in the world in which to commute, aided in part by its well-developed bicycle paths and commitment to green initiatives, all according to a new study.

The Urban Mobility Index, which looked at 84 major cities across the globe, found that voluntary policies instituted since the 90s have drastically reduced greenhouse gases and fine particulate matter.

“The city is also well known for its green projects – energy, building, transport – and quality of life,” the study said. “When it comes to public transport, everything is done with an eye to making it clean, safe and reliable, with real-time information and fare reimbursement in the case of delays.”

The report, compiled by international consultancy company Arthur D Little, said the Swedish capital stands out for having one of the world’s best developed networks of cycle paths, which is the third most dense in the world. The SL-Access smart card allows commuters to access a number of different forms of transport in the city, and have proved popular, with 0.64 cards per capita, the report said.

As a result of its forward-thinking approach, Stockholm ranks above average for transport-related emissions, with one of the lowest concentrations of nitrogen dioxide and particulates (NO2 and PM10) in the air in the world. What’s more, its traffic-related death rate was amongst the lowest in the survey.

In the overall rankings, Stockholm came second to Hong Kong, with Amsterdam third and Copenhagen fourth. “The quality of the network it created and the incentives it offered citizens to shift to public transport made Stockholm a worthy runner-up to Hong Kong in the survey,” the report’s authors wrote.

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This article was sponsored by Stockholm Business Region.

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