The bicycle can help address the problem of urban transportation and environmental degradation. Acknowledged as an environmentally benign mode of travel. the bicycle represents affordable transport to considerably alleviate the gridlock on our urban roads and reduce pollution. It encompasses multiple functions ~ from low cost mobility to recreational activities and physical exercise. HG Wells was remarkably prescient when he wrote in his novel, The Wheels of Chance that “When I see an adult on a bicycle, I do not despair for the future of the human race”.

Mark Twain in his essay, Taming the Bicycle wrote, “Get a bicycle. You will not regret it ~ if you live,” a reference to how difficult it was to learn to ride early machines. Nearly 25 per cent of global energy-related CO2 emissions are transport-related. IIT Madras estimates the annual cost of congestion on roads in Delhi already exceeds Rs 65,000 crore; the UK government estimated in 2006 that the congestion cost of £22 billion a year in lost time by 2025. The Texas Transportation Institute likewise estimated that, in 2000, the 75 largest metropolitan areas experienced 3.6 billion vehicle-hours of delay, accounting for about 0.7 per cent of a nation’s GDP. Time magazine had named the urban planning legend, Jaime Lerner, as among the world’s 25 most influential thinkers. He had a unique mobility solution to recommend: BMW, he argued, stands for “Bus, Metro, Walking”.

Again, “25 per cent of all urban freight trips could be shifted from motorized vehicles towards cycling-related solutions,” explains Dr. Randy Rzewnicki, Project Manager of the EU-funded Cycle Logistics project. The bicycle came to be recognised in the 19th century as a ‘freedom machine’, a term coined by American feminist Susan B. Anthony, for women, liberating them from corsets and ankle-length skirts.

Transformed through infinite designs and forms, sizes and shapes, from the use of bamboo to steel, to aluminium and titanium, to chrome molybdenum and carbon fibre, the 21st century bicycle frames and components are lighter and more aerodynamic; electronic gadgetry has expanded from just cyclo-computers to cycling power meters and electronic gear-shifting systems. Some premium brands carry a price tag higher than what a car may cost: American Trek bicycles in India are priced up to Rs 3.5 lakh.

Although the first verifiable claim for a practically used bicycle is traced to German Baron Karl von Drais who invented his Laufmaschine (German for “running machine”) in 1817, a French metalworker is credited to have created the first pedal-operated “bicycle” around 1863. James Starley in Coventry added the tangent spokes and the mounting step to his famous bicycle “Ariel”, later nicknamed “pennyfarthing” ( penny representing the front wheel, farthing the rear). Scotsman John Dunlop’s invention of the pneumatic bicycle tyre in 1888 made for a much smoother ride on paved streets. In October 1889, Isaac R Johnson, an African-American inventor, lodged his patent for a folding bicycle.

India produces over 2 million cars, 23 million motorised 2-wheelers, and 17 million cycles annually, Ludhiana alone accounting for 85 per cent of the national production. Against just 9 per cent of bicycle-owning households in India, China’s score is 37 per cent. Scandinavia boasts a figure of 110 per cent. China as the world’s largest exporter ships over 15 million units per annum ~ mostly to affluent markets. India remains an exporter of only about 1 million units, mostly of basic models, largely to African and South Asian countries. During the 1978-1991 period, India emerged as the world’s fourth largest bicycle producer, after China, USA and Japan. In 1992, it surpassed the USA and Japan to become the world’s second largest producer. China is reckoned to be the “world’s bike capital”, its ‘Flying Pigeon’ heralding its bicycle phenomenon, termed as zixingche wang guo ~ the ‘Kingdom of Bicycles’ Indeed, a bicycle is regarded as one of the three “must-haves” of every citizen, along with a sewing machine and watch, which also offers an indication of wealth.

China has developed a niche product ~ the electronic bicycle or e-bike with speeds of up to 30 km per hour. In 2012, it produced more than 35 million e-bikes, and started to export them to Europe and the US. The country now has four times as many bikes on the road as cars. The first bike-sharing service was launched in June 2015 by a start-up, Ofo, which now claims to have 2.5 million more bikes than 50 Chinese cities. Several other companies are piling in. Some city authorities accuse the bike-sharing firms of causing congestion. Bicycle companies are emerging across Europe. In France, La Petite Reine moves over one million packages annually with 60 cargo bicycles. In Britain, the Cambridge-based company, Outspoken Delivery, claims approximately 70 deliveries by bicycle a day, most of them of small packages and boxes, offering even a multi-modal delivery service, using a folding bicycle for collection and delivery.

Some of the “Cargocycle” bikes can carry up to 250 kg of freight. “Frigocycles” can deliver refrigerated goods. A Netherlands research claims a 10 per cent shift in doorto-door urban delivery from trucks to cycle couriers creating 10,000 jobs, cutting motor vehicle kilometres by one million, saving 85,000 litre in fuel, and slashing 21,000 tons of CO2 emissions per year. The low cost Vélib’ project in Paris has helped to turn Parisians into avid cyclists, providing connectivity with public transport, including the Metro. In January 2010, Copenhagen opened up the “S-trains” to bicycles to encourage seamless commuting. “Flexi compartments” allow multiple bicycles on board at no extra cost, even parking and bicycle-sharing at stations. For 146 of the 365 million annual train trips, travellers in the Netherlands cycled to and from stations ~ helped by a network of bicycle routes. Japan is investing in bicycle lanes and parking facilities, offering property and business tax incentives to rail operators to provide bicycle parking near stations. Countries in Europe are making one-way streets for cars, also accessible for cycling in both directions. The Bike’n’Ride initiative in Canberra provides an incentive for potential cyclists to give up their cars in favour of a convenient bicycle-and bus-combination.

A report titled Urban Mobility: 10 Cities Leading the Way in AsiaPacific by the Centre for Liveable Cities and Urban Land Institute (Singapore,2017) cites several instances of smart mobility in Asia. Bicycling has been growing as various formats of folding bikes and bike-sharing services emerge in China, India, Japan, the Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, etc. In Indian cities, walking and cycling are now endangered modes of transport. According to the 2011 census, over 30 per cent of Delhi’s households owned a bicycle, and around 11 per cent of its working population ~ daily labourers, factory and shop workers, peons and vendors ~ risk their lives, jostling for space amidst maddening traffic on roads. Some state governments have distributed free bicycles, especially to schoolgirls; yet there is little local, city and national government investment in bicycle infrastructure such as designated “bikelanes and paths”. The present government in UP is dismantling the old government-built cycle tracks alongside arterial routes in Lucknow, Bareilly, NOIDA, etc. because they result in traffic snarls. The roads have been encroached upon by vendors and for parking of autorickshaws and other vehicles.

The much touted cycle tracks are fast disappearing . even in NMDC areas or along the erstwhile BRT are nowhere to be seen. Most of Delhi’s pavements remain hazardous, and walkways are cluttered by hawkers, shops, kiosks, and shrines. The situation in Mumbai and Bengaluru is no different. Regretfully, the symbolic cycling tracks are used as parking lots for cars!

The writer is Senior Fellow, Asian Institute of Transport Development, and former CMD, Container Corporation of India