PLANNING FOR BICYCLE FRIENDLY CITIES IN INDIA

Abstract

Bicycling the conventional mode of transport has many strengths in general. Its use is starting to get encouraged by many environmentalists and activists. Cycling is the most sustainable mode of transport and could be promoted more when integrated with the public transport for the last mile connectivity. Netherlands, Denmark and many other European countries has achieved sustainable goals by having the most cycle friendly cities in world. Copenhagen and Amsterdam are the most cycle friendly cities in world, people use cycle on daily basis and have policies in place to promote cycling even more, every year the number of cycle users is increasing in both the cities due to well managed infrastructure and management of the cycle tracks and much more to influence and encourage people to cycle more with comfort and their convenience. Indian cities has great need for creating cycle friendly neighbourhoods as the percentage of cycle users are significant in India. A more attractive and effective cycle friendly environment like good infrastructure, segregated lanes, and policies to promote more will encourage people who use cars or other modes to cycle for shorter distances. The purpose of the study is to understand the variables which encourage people to cycle more and provide them with a more bicycle friendly environment to do so, through extensively studying the existing best practices and there factors to succeed. Then conducting the study in Chandigarh to find out the factors unsatisfactory usage of cycle in Chandigarh and propose for strategies to mitigate1.