The archive · Public & Social · Product decision · 1992–2013
Trampe: Trondheim's 1993 footplate lift pushes cyclists up Brubakken — world's first
Trondheim's 1993 Trampe pushed cyclists up the steep Brubakken hill without dismounting — the world's first bike lift, still carrying 20–30k riders a year.
Trondheim Municipality (Trondheim kommune)
What it had to solve
Brubakken, a steep street in the old quarter of Trondheim, sat on the way to work and university, and its 1-in-5 gradient discouraged casual cycling. A local cyclist, tired of arriving sweaty, wanted a machine that made the climb effortless enough for everyone.
How it works
Trampe is a bicycle lift installed on Brubakken in Trondheim, Norway, and opened in August 1993 as the world's first lift designed for cyclists. It runs 130 metres up a street with a 1-in-5 gradient, pushing riders toward the city's university quarter so commuters no longer had to dismount and walk.
The idea came from a local cyclist who was tired of exhausting himself climbing the hill to work each morning. His solution, adopted by the municipality, was a footplate that rises from a track in the ground when activated; the rider stays on the bike, rests a leg on the moving plate and is carried up at nearly five miles per hour, with up to five people riding at once. The system was free and ran daily, and it quickly became a point of pride as well as a useful commute.
Guinness World Records counts more than 220,000 uses before the original mechanism was replaced in spring 2013 by the upgraded CycloCable, which added safety improvements and a fresh promotional push. Visit Trondheim says the lift now carries 20,000–30,000 cyclists a year and has become a major tourist attraction because of its rarity; the original equipment was preserved at the Public Roads Administration museum near Lillehammer.
Why it lands
- It attacked the single worst barrier on a route instead of asking cyclists to change behaviour — infrastructure that meets people where they struggle.
- The mechanism itself became the message: a utility people ride for fun, so the city's cycling identity was built from one clever machine.
- Keeping it free, simple and always available made the lift usable by anyone on wheels, from commuters to tourists.
- A citizen's prototype backed by public money proved a small, reversible experiment could carry disproportionate civic pride.
What it did
More than 220,000 cyclists used the lift before the 2013 upgrade, and Visit Trondheim reports 20,000–30,000 riders a year on the current system. It became a tourist attraction in its own right, a Guinness World Record, and the demonstration model for similar bike lifts proposed in other cities.
What you can take
Fix the single barrier that makes a route unusable instead of asking people to change: infrastructure that meets users where they struggle gets adopted without persuasion.
Since then
The 2013 CycloCable replacement kept the lift in service with upgraded, button-activated technology developed by Skirail, part of the French Poma group, and the original Trampe mechanism was preserved at the Public Roads Administration museum near Lillehammer. The lift remains the world's only urban bicycle lift of its kind, carries 20,000–30,000 riders a year and is a fixed stop on Trondheim's tourist circuit; its inventor's story has made it a reference point for other cities weighing similar systems for steep districts.
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