Support of alternative means of transport at the Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science Anna Benčoková, Roman Matoušek Traffic is one of the major environmental problems in Prague. Despite well organized public transport, the city in general, and the historical centre in particular, suffer from high amount of individual car transport. Air pollution and noise caused by car traffic exceed the health limits. Therefore the support of alternative means of transport like bicycles is an important issue. Bicycle transport is very poorly developed in Prague. There are some obstacles to this development: the historical city centre does not offer many possibilities for construction of bicycle paths and the hilly relief of the city makes cycling more difficult. Moreover, the activities of Prague´s municipality towards bicycle transport are often criticized due to slow start, inefficiency and lack of long-term strategy. Activities of non-governmental organizations and other actors are therefore crucial for further development of bicycle transport. Charles University, which has approx. 50 000 students and 13 000 employees, can be one of the important actors. University building are mostly located in the city centre where are traffic issues most urgent.
Location of the Faculty of Science in the centre of Prague and a rare network of bicycle paths
Already in 2007, before the municipality started to be more involved in bicycle transport promotion, the Faculty of Science of the Charles University made a significant contribution towards bicycle transport of its students and employees. A plot for bicycle parking was found in the mini-campus of the Faculty, which is in the historical core of the city. With relatively small investment, a safe place for parking of bikes was provided. Since its opening, the place is used by both students and their professors. The efforts of the University stimulated also the municipality to support bicycle transport by other investment. During 2010, the municipality placed additional bike stands in the area. Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Science, is an example of institution which enables usage of bikes to its students and employees. Employees of other institutions might have problems to park their bikes during the day which may turn them into car users instead of bikers. On the other hand, using of bikes is still marginal compared to many other cities and universities. There is a long way to go to promote this mean of transport and contribute to more sustainable transport in Prague.
Even in the middle of summer, people go by bike to the University