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Cycle routes to lessen Delhi’s pollution woes

By BIG WIRE

Posted on January 15, 2016

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India is one of the largest producers of bicycles in the world. But sadly it is not safe to ride bicycles on Indian roads because there are no separate paths for them.

India’s capital Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities in the world, now struggles with odd-even formula to minimize its pollution levels.

While the Delhi government claims there has been considerable decrease in pollution levels, critics say the change is negligible but at the same time the formula has caused sufferings for the commuters as public transport system has failed to cater to their needs.

The best idea is to construct separate bicycle paths in Delhi and other Indian cities and encourage people to take to bicycles in a big way.

We can take inspiration from cities across the world having bicycle friendly roads to move ahead.

Here are some of the world’s best bicycle-friendly cities:

1.Copenhagen: The capital of Denmark having a population of more than 2 million people, is one of the world’s most environment friendly cities and aims to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

Bicycles outnumber the population and bicyclists cover around 1.27 million km every working day. The bicycle paths having 400 km of cycle lanes do not share space with vehicles and even pedestrians.

2. Amsterdam: The capital city of the Netherland with a population of 1.6 million has 400 km of bicycle path. All socioeconomic groups use bicycles because of its convenience.

3. Strasbourge: The small French city with a population of not more than 300,000 but has 535 km of bicycle path, which is a major ratio of total road network.

4. Malmo: It is Sweden’s third largest city with a population of around 300,000. Bicycle comprises 40% of commuting in Malmo that has over 400 km of bicycle path.

5. Antwerp: With a population of over 500,000, Antwerp is Belgium’s best large city for cycling. There is a huge network of cycle routes in the city.

All the five cities incidentally are in Europe and much smaller than Delhi. But what is the harm if we take inspiration from the best.

Big Wire