May 2011
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On your BICYCLE! Central City Partners Forum says It’s all about creating more “Liveable Cities” There’s no doubt about it – the use of bicycles is vital to creating more liveable cities for all citizens. The reasons are obvious – if you’re on a bike, you take up less space, use fewer resources and contribute to a far healthier environment and to your own health. Just as importantly, if you are on a bicycle, you understand your city so much better. It is one of the key points made in the “Our Cities Ourselves Exhibition: The Future of Transportation in Urban Life”, organized by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) and displayed recently at the Freeworld Coating Design Centre. It’s also a point which the Cape Town Partnership and Central City Improvement District support wholeheartedly.
Photos: Shaen Adey
Delegates at the recent Central City Partners Forum
Andrew Wheeldon of the Bicycle Empowerment Network (BEN) hailed the developments of the past five years in the City towards non-motorised transport, but said there are a number of problems that still need to be addressed. “Central to the debate over bicycle lanes, in our view, is safety. If cyclists and pedestrians do not feel safe, and if they don’t feel that they will go from A to Z in a convenient, effective and efficient way, they will look for alternatives,” Wheeldon said. Among the negative responses BEN has received were that cycling facilities have been built, but are not sufficiently used. “A problem going forward is that we need to work on a good maintenance plan,” Wheeldon said. Routes must be well marked and convenient. “Much more research must go into where people are going from and where they are going to, so that everything from A to Z is catered for,” he said. Wheeldon said a key role of his organization is to encourage more people to start cycling.
Examples from the display in the “Our Cities Ourselves” Exhibition.
Paris on a bike “Three years ago, I was ignored by everyone in Paris. I was on a bicycle, riding through the city, on no infrastructure. Nobody hooted, cursed or swore at me. In fact, nobody paid me any attention at all!” These were the words of Gail Jennings, urban cyclist and editor of Mobility Magazine, when she addressed the Central City Partners Forum on 19 April. “There I was, on a bike, and perfectly safe, despite the lack of infrastructure for bicycles. That, for me, is a crucial point,” said Jennings. “It demonstrates that there are ways other than infrastructure to promote cycling in a city.” The theme of the Forum, tying up with the theme of the ITDP exhibition, was “Liveable Cities”.
“It’s crucial to integrate transport modes” Jennings said the creation of cycling infrastructure is time-consuming and can be controversial. “Infrastructure and partitioning
“For safety’s sake, get more cyclists out there” of lanes is not the panacea. Policymakers sometimes fail to take into account the other crucial issues.” In Jennings’ view, these include integrating the various transport modes to accommodate bicycles, for instance by allowing bicycles on trains.
“The best thing we can do to promote the safety of cyclists is to get more cyclists out there.”
“In Cape Town, if you start out on your bike in the morning, you have no option but to go home on your bike. We don’t have that crucial integration with the other modes of transport.” Jennings added: “We don’t have safe bike parking. We do have some parking, but it is not all safe. Secondly, it is so much safer to
cycle where road speeds are much lower. Decreasing road speeds is another non-structural intervention which would make a big difference to cyclists in Cape Town.”
Send a clear message: “Bikes are legitimate” Turning to her experience in Paris, Jennings said: “Paris is not big on bike lanes. Bicycles were made legitimate because a clear message was sent to all citizens that they were legitimate. In South Africa, we don’t have that clear message. We don’t have legislation to create a bikefriendly environment. That needs to be looked at.” Theuns Kok, senior officer in the Universal Access and Non-Motorised Section of the City’s Transport Department said there is, without doubt, a role for pedestrians and cyclists in Cape Town in the future. He described how the face of the City is changing in the way it functions, citing the impact the World Cup Soccer experience and the Fan Walk had had on
pedestrianising the City. Kok said non-motorised transport is an important part in the City’s travel chain. The fact that pedestrians are still Vulnerable road users remains a concern. He said Non-Motorised Transport has been highlighted in the national government strategy, with the Department of Transport’s draft NMT policy of 2009 highlighting its importance. Turning to the City’s NMT programme, Kok said the project’s focus is to develop a comprehensive City-wide pedestrian and cyclenet-work that aims to provide link-ages between residential areas and public transport, employment areas, public facilities and amenities.
“Cape Town leads the NMT agenda” Kok said Cape Town is leading the NMT agenda in South Africa, with metropolitan councils from key cities like Johannesburg, Pretoria and Durban visiting the City to learn.
“The best thing we can do to promote the safety of cyclists is to get more cyclists out there. It is when you have few that cycling is at its most dangerous. “Other cities around the world have achieved this through big promotional campaigns to get more people to ride. We need a powerful media and marketing campaign to get simple people out on their bikes to meet as equals in the streets of Cape Town and to share a common mode of transport. That’s what needs to change. We need to get the critical mass and all of the rest will follow.” Cape Town Partnership CE Andrew Boraine said that in Copenhagen, Denmark, 37 percent of all citizens cycle to work, while 50 percent use bikes every day. He said the concept of a liveable city should extend to the poorest neighbourhoods of a city. A key component of a liveable city is its alternative modes of transport. The ITDP exhibition provides a menu for cities to learn from in terms of creating liveable cities, he added.