A Cycling Recap of the May Day Holiday + 4 New Odometers

At the beginning of 2026, there were 17 traffic counters in operation in Western Pomerania; today there are 21. The new devices have been installed near Ińsko, Rymanów, Kołobrzeg, and on the bridge in Siekierki. The latter also counts pedestrians. The counters were installed as part of the ongoing "Berlin - Szczecin - Kołobrzeg" project, co-financed by the Interreg VI A Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/Brandenburg/Poland 2021–2027 program. Interreg MV / BB / PL.

What do the numbers look like for the period of May 1–3?

A quarter of all recorded trips were in Świnoujście, which consistently ranks first among our counters. Exactly 14,510 trips were counted there.

Right behind it was our new counter in Podczele, east of Kołobrzeg, where 11,000 cyclists were recorded. These two coastal counters clearly dominated the rankings.

The next two spots are also held by counters along the Velo Baltica route—Sarbinowo and Rogowo—with 5,464 and 5,117 recorded passes, respectively. This is a good result, though nearly half that of Podczele, which is located precisely between Sarbinowo and Rogowo. This suggests a half-day ride, where the start and finish are in Kołobrzeg, and cyclists explore only the immediate surroundings, including the Eastern Eco-Park.

Fifth place in terms of the number of crossings—and in this case, also pedestrian crossings—went to the new counter on the bridge in Siekierki. It marks the start of the Western Lake District Route and is also located on the Berlin–Szczecin–Kołobrzeg route. While there were “only” 2,566 cyclists—a lower figure than at the subsequent counters in the ranking—this must be supplemented by as many as 2,201 pedestrians. It is clear, then, that there are more cyclists on the bridge, though it is also frequented by pedestrians, despite its significant distance from larger towns. This is the first and, so far, the only counter of this type in our region. In the table below, we report only the number of cyclists counted.

Next is the first counter on the Old Railway Trail—in Mielno. During the long weekend, 3,806 bicycle trips were recorded there, despite ongoing roadwork on that section.

Seventh and eighth place went to counters located on the Blue Velo and Around the Szczecin Lagoon routes, namely Pilchowo (2,713) and Dąbie (2,182). Interestingly, the TOP 10 list is once again rounded out by coastal counters—Kołczewo and Darłowo—each with approximately 1,700 recorded bicycles. For comparison, throughout 2025, Darłowo recorded a number of trips similar to Mielno (approx. 100,000) and three times higher than Dąbie (33,000). This means that cyclists were just as eager to head to the coast last May Day weekend as they were to the routes in the heart of the province.

Was the May Day holiday a record-breaker?

Certainly so in the case of the counter in Toporzyk, on the Old Railway Trail, where a total of 1,172 people passed through. Although this result may not seem as impressive compared to previous locations, it is worth noting that as many as 499 trips were recorded there on May 1. This is a daily record since the counter was launched. Interestingly, the previous record also came on May 1, but last year—when 407 bike trips were counted. It should be noted, however, that this year’s May Day holiday was short, lasting “only” three days. In 2025, it lasted four days (Sunday fell on May 4), and in 2024, for some people, as many as five days (May 4 and 5 were part of the weekend). Consequently, traffic may have been distributed somewhat more evenly. 

Unfortunately, we do not have data from Karlino; the counter is temporarily out of order. Data from the counter in Rudka near Wałcz may be incomplete. 

Detailed data is presented below: