Off the beaten track: rural perspectives on the conflict over the future of cycling in Bavaria

This article addresses the challenges of a sustainable mobility transition in rural areas, where car dependency is high and alternative options remain limited. Although civil society actors serve a vital role in promoting socially and environmentally just mobility, existing research often neglects the perspectives of rural initiatives in relevant debates. Focusing on Bavaria in Germany, this article examines the role that rural areas play in civil society conflicts over the sustainable mobility transition, with a particular focus on a broad alliance campaigning for the introduction of a cycling law. Unlike similar urban-only initiatives, this campaign explicitly targeted also rural areas, which are home to over half of the Bavarian population. This article draws on a qualitative content analysis of expert interviews, documents and media coverage, and applies the embedded agency perspective, which offers an analytical framework based on four spatial dimensions: cultural, physical, regulatory, and actor and agency space. The article illustrates specific rural conflict lines (e.g. acquisition of agricultural land to construct bicycle lanes) and how civil society mobilisation differs (e.g. more personal and slower, but with more potential for capacity building). Ultimately, the article provides insights into how rural perspectives can be more meaningfully considered in mobility conflicts.