Category Archives: Well done!

From the financial assistance to the bike movement in order to promote biking

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When we were in the worst state of pandemic, some governments gave financial assistance to citizens to buy environmentally friendly ways of transport, mainly bicycles. Bikes allow private, mostly individual displacements while maintaining safety distance with other actors in the road, two good points in favor of fighting against Covid19 as we know. Another area covered by this money was the transformation of a conventional bike into an electric one. This point has sense specially in hilly or too extensive zones. And data showed a boom in the use of bikes in the next months.

A different impact of such an action could have been an increment in the cost of bikes. Since people have more money to spend, bicycles could cost more. This is an immoral approach because the financial assistance did not cover all the petitioners, thus many could have been expelled from the interesting assistance. I do not even like to think about what could have happened if a piece of news explained that the bike shop X or the bike manufacturer Y had increased the cost of bikes in these days. Surely, the branch would have need to invest substantially more money than the extra gained income as a result of the bike movement which only wants to populate roads with bicycles. Regarding its influence, the bike movement has made possible happier people, taking care of the planet or, indirectly, looking after bikers health. Concrete events like the Critical Mass, the European Mobility Week or the Iberian Congress, just to name but a few, have contributed to promote the bike use.

More and more people ride their bike every year. Thank you!

3rd June

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UN declared 3rd June as the World Bicycle Day in April 2018. As they said, International days are occasions to educate the general public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. International days are proposed by member states to the UN General Assembly. This Assembly determines by consensus whether to adopt the resolution establishing the particular day, 3rd June in this case.

Leszek Sibilski leaded a campaign to promote a resolution of the UN for the International Bicycle Day. It went ahead thanks to the support of 57 countries. Finally, it was adopted by a consensus of 193 member states. The International Bicycle Day logo was designed by Isaac Feld and professor John F. Swanson defined the one’s animation.

Why do we celebrate it? The bicycle is simple, affordable, reliable, clean, environmentally sustainable of transportation, and improves your health. UN acknowledged bike as the uniqueness, longevity and versatility which has been in use for two centuries. Indeed, they encourages member states to:

  • pay special attention to the bike cross-cutting development strategies and to include the bicycle in international, regional, national and subnational development policies and programmes

  • improve road safety and integrate it into sustainable mobility and transport infrastructure planning and design, in particular through policies and measures to actively protect and promote pedestrian safety and cycling mobility, with a view to broader health outcomes, particularly the prevention of injuries and non-communicable diseases

  • emphasize and advance the use of the bicycle as a means of fostering sustainable development, strengthening education, including physical education, for children and young people, promoting health, preventing disease, promoting tolerance, mutual understanding and respect and facilitating social inclusion and a culture of peace

  • adopt best practices and means to promote the bicycle among all members of society, and in this regard welcomes initiatives to organize bicycle rides at the national and local levels as a means of strengthening physical and mental health and well-being and developing a culture of cycling in society

Delft train + bike station

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One of the key concepts to fight against climate change is to allow people use non- or small-pollutant ways of transport. This fact, along with reducing space and infrastructures dedicated to noisy, contaminating transports, has been promoting in the most advanced countries for decades. One clear example is the Delft train + bike station (in The Netherlands) . This exemplar infrastructure enables thousands of people moving long distances under a comfortable, green model. Intermodality (1, 2) means just it: To transport people or things by using multiple modes of transportation. The good point in the Delft infrastructure is that the carbon footprint and the cost of using the station is considerably reduced in comparison with driving a car or a motorbike the same distance.

Why is so special this station? The Netherlands is well-known for being a paradise for urban cyclist and its developed railway system. So, they determined killing two birds with one stone. The Delft station was built thinking about the thousands of bikes one can see on a daily basis in the city. The result is a massive bike parking for 5,000 bicycles with natural light. A person arrives at the station by pedaling, locks her bike and takes the train. So easy, so powerful. What’s more, one can put it there for 14 days by free.

The modern bike parking sits of the floor and the train station is bellow it. But due to the fact of the enthusiasm people have shown with this infrastructure, there is an additional bike parking for 2,700 more bicycles close to the station. Well done!