Cyclists pin hopes on alternative mobility corridor

 BENGALURU: There is hope for cyclists in Bengaluru even as more than 63 lakh vehicles choke the city's streets.
An alternative mobility corridor is in the works, with the Directorate of Urban Land Transport ( DULT) ­ experts believe it is the only government body that cares about cyclists ­ chalking out a Bengaluru Bicycle Master Plan.

Transport planners at the directorate are investigating how a cycling network can be created using layers, apart from the existing road network.

According to a DULT project brief, the master plan intends to map ­ through geographical infor mation systems ­ layers such as lakes, rivers, storm water drains, wetlands, public spaces like parks, large land parcels, government of fices, campuses, conservancy lanes and transport hubs to give form to an alternative mobility corridor for cyclists.

“We want to rethink and start from the scratch,“ said DULT transport planner Sonal Kulkarni, who is involved with the master plan. “Currently , we are testing a few hypotheses. We'll have a full fledged participatory planning for it when we start.“

Buried for a long time, the master plan gained life after DULT got an overwhelming response to its cycle day events. The city has had 190 cycle day events since 2013, where a 500-m to 1-km stretch is made vehi cle-free for a couple of hours at two different locations in the city every Sunday . By 2019, DULT plans to organise over 50 open street events every year. “While DULT is trying to push the cycling agenda, the mindset elsewhere in the government is, `where are the cyclists?'. It's a chicken-and-egg problem. If you have the infrastructure, the cyclists will come,“ Bengaluru Vision Group member V Ravichandar said.

The DULT believes it has a clear case to promote cycling.The average trip length in Bengaluru is now 11 km a day , due to which dependence on private vehicles has increased. Share of trips made by public transport is 42%, whereas private vehicle ownership is going up by 10% every year.

“It is imperative for the city to plan for sustainable transport apart from buses and metro,“ the master plan brief reads. Ashish Verma from IISc's Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning, pointed out why pilot projects on cycle lanes have failed in the city.“It won't work with a piecemeal approach. You need a citywide network to induce behavioural change,“ he said.