Abhijeet Saboo, Architect & Urban Planner.

Help me ride my Bike !

A humanistic, people-friendly city is first and foremost an accessible city, where mobility is possible for all. Many cities today are plagued by traffic congestion, and in densely populated city areas the fastest way of getting around is often on a bicycle, which is a highly efficient means of transport.
- Louise Kielgast, Gehl Architects Being an architect and city planner, I have always realized the value of bike friendly cities as a model for sustainable development. Also, having faith in our transport planning techniques, I often advocate sustainable mobility plans for Indian cities in which cyclists are acknowledged and usually rewarded with the so called cycling track. On a busy Monday morning, as I found myself stuck in traffic jam on my way to office, I envied this cyclist biking past my car leaving behind all the traffic. It was then that I made up my mind to bike my way down to office every day. Not until I had set my foot on my bikes pedal did I realize that the decision was an eye opener. Unable to tread even 100 meters of citys vital transport corridor comfortably, I bemoaned the extreme disjunction between our transport planning system, a planners thought process and the cyclists experience.

As I pulled my bike on to the cycling track of the new BRTS corridor on a major artery of the city (here it happens to be Bhopal), I was welcomed with a series of potholes and patches of unpaved, uneven surfaces to ride on. Almost crashing into big trees and utilities present right in the middle of the cycling track section, I wondered at the sensitivity of the designer. Manoeuvring through open manhole lids as I moved ahead, my biking spree turned into adventure sports when I had to lift my bike at the road junctions where the so called cycling track abruptly vanished with a sudden gradient drop. With no slopes or traffic calming techniques at the road junctions, I felt lost and petite amidst heavy traffic, struggling my way to get to the other end of the junc-

Small ditches can get you big stitches !

Abhijeet Saboo, Architect & Urban Planner.

The supposed bike lane

Do we have a choice ?
tion on my bike. Also, discontinuity of the track at many stretches apart from the road junctions made it impossible for me to ride my bike at a comfortable and steady pace. The so called dedicated track became a contested domain of the two wheelers, cyclists, pedestrians and road side hawkers, further making it difficult to tread smoothly.

May be its time for Method Planning like Method Acting, where one needs to get immersed into the role of the character before performing an act.

Grappling with basic infrastructure issues where my safety was my primary concern, it seemed far-fetched to elaborate about the poor visual experiential quality of my bike ride. As our streetscapes are primarily designed for motorists, the scale of graphics (hoardings and signage) as well as landscape is meant to be a visual treat only for the automobile user with no attempts to design at human scale. Despite the inconvenience, I somehow felt lucky to be riding my bike in winters as basic landscape elements such as tree shade was missing, making it difficult to imagine the condition of cyclists riding in hot Indian summers. Street Lighting for cyclists and pedestrians also seemed to be an unachievable luxury as unlit bike lanes not only risked the lives of cyclists but also made these spaces unsafe and prone to crime. Nevertheless, jostling my way as I reached my destination and took a sigh of relief, it occurred to me that this was not the end of my expedition, I was yet to find a safe space to park my bicycle!!! The lack of safe cycle stands throughout the city is reason enough to discourage biking. The act of riding bike to work may look fancy to some but the decision has been very scary for the family so far. The fear is not unjustified. A quick Google search tells us that among all countries, India has the highest number of deaths due to road traffic-related accidents. Road accidents are the sixth leading cause of death in the country, and there were nearly 1,40,000 deaths from road accidents in 2012. Out of these cyclists and pedestrians account for more than half of all road fatalities. If cycling conditions remain much as they are, cycling will remain a very minor mode of urban mobility, practiced mainly by people with very little means or by committed hardcore cyclists who feel capable of battling with motorized traffic. Although a recreational cyclist like me may pull out his bike occasionally, but sadly enough a regular commuter is left with no choice but to confront the hostile traffic environment everyday to earn his bread and butter.

Abhijeet Saboo, Architect & Urban Planner. One may argue the necessity of a designed biking space in a developing country like India where there is dearth of basic services for life sustenance, but for those it would be interesting to note that that despite the presence of resources, even the most developed countries are struggling to provide infrastructure and safety to its bikers and pedestrians. Hence, the intention of planners and policy makers, as well as the idea of fair share of resources matters most in deciding the fate of cyclists. With innumerable flyovers and high speed corridors, its alarming to know how our Indian cities are still being planned for the elite motorist. The attempts to encourage sustainable public transport systems seemingly fail to succeed due to sheer lack of our (planners & policy makers) understanding of the end user.

A bike friendly city is a dream too distant from grave reality of where most Indian cities are devoid of basic infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians. Not only a robust movement network with sound infrastructure is a priority but there remains a need to sensitize planners and city designers towards the experience of a cyclist. So when Enrique Penalosa, the new urbanist and ex-mayor of Bagota, Columbia, asks the Coimbatore city mayor and chief planning officer to strap themselves to a wheel chair and try navigating through the city before coming up with mobility plans, he makes a point to the policy makers to ensure that they understand, perceive and imbibe the difficulties of residents before making any announcements. Hence, its time to question our basic methods and approach to designing and planning cities. Secondary and tertiary case studies as well as theoretical understanding are not enough in the planning process. The policy makers as well as city designers need to undergo first hand experiences in order to evolve a truly empathetic mobility plan. May be its time to implement Method planning like the popular Bollywood style of Method Acting, where one needs to get immersed into the role of the character before performing an act. In the current planning system, stakeholder consultation is a method to connect to people, but unfortunately, most of the times it turns out to be mere a necessary ritual. Though it is commendable that we have come up to a point where we have understood the importance of listening to public opinion and I am hopeful the next advancement would not just be listening but also planning in accordance with public perception. Realizing the alarming need for sustainable development of our cities, its high time that we as citizens, planners, designers and policy makers make concrete commitments for cycling to become a safe, enjoyable and completely normal way for people to get around in our cities.

The End