1st EDITION OF SOUTH ASIA CYCLES WORKSHOP HELD IN DELHI

Experts from the cycling industry met in Delhi to participate at the 1^st edition of the South Asia Cycles Workshop for a focused discussion on the past present and future of cycling in low and middle-income groups. ‘Lack of cycling infrastructure is hampering the growth of cycling’ everyone agrees unanimously.

For a refreshing change, I got an opportunity to attend a very different kind of cycling event ‘The South Asia Cycles Workshop’. This two-day conference was held in Delhi on 22^nd and 23^rd November 2024. The event was co-organized by IIT Delhi, University of Chicago, Brandeis University, Shiv Nadar University and TRIP Centre (Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Centre). Participants came from different cities in India, from Nepal and Ghana.

The conference started with an introduction of all the delegates followed by a brief presentation by Rahul Goel, research professor at TRIP. Rahul spoke about the history of cycling in India, highlighting the period between 1950-1970 considered as the ‘Golden age of cycling’ with nearly 30% trips done on bicycles. He gave a few examples of design interventions in Delhi; some worked, some failed.

“The need for the South Asia Cycles Workshop came because we realized that there was no dedicated forum for cycling. The transportation conferences do not have enough representation of cycling. A lot of cycling conferences that happen in Europe and rest of the world but they have limited representation of South Asia. We wanted to have a workshop where we bring in people from multiple disciplines, such as Anthropologists, advocacy groups, researchers, academics, policy makers, and whoever is looking at cycling from their own perspectives, to one single forum. This workshop spread over two-days will have six panel discussions, engagement through questions and answers, exhibition on history of cycling and short films. And we look forward to what comes out from these interactions.” – Rahul Goel.

Research students showcased their academic work through short films and poster exhibition from historic archives. The titles of the short films that were shown at the conference are ‘Tehzeeb, Savour, Silent Hours, Petrol, World Bicycle Day, A tale of two wheels, Pedaling for progress, Cycle ka chakkar, Two Cycles and Pedaling through privilege: a tale of two varsities. All the films were meaningful and had a message and I appreciate the student’s sense of observation and their approach to the topic. Livelihood cyclists stood out as the heroes of the films and their determination to continue to cycle on the streets of India amidst never ending challenges is commendable.

Divya Kannan, a historian and researcher for gender and mobility delivered an interesting presentation where she talked about the short film ‘Two Cycles’, women cycling, ongoing challenges, influence of Bollywood etc. Adding to her insights, I recommended everyone to watch two documentary films on women cycling to understand the subject in greater depth. One is ‘BONNIE’, a film about what it takes to make a difference for women in cycling (watch it here). And second, ‘Mama Agatha’, a soul-stirring documentary on how migrant women learn to cycle in Amsterdam (watch it here).

“It is great to participate in the South Asia Cycles workshop and to meet people with different perspectives and different walks of life. It’s really a good experience to be amongst the people from the advocacy fraternity, policy making, and the urban planning field. And we’re getting a very good exposure and diverse views about the bicycle and its promotion in India. And I’m very sure that at the end of this event, this, kind of interaction will continue for the upliftment of this category in the country. My gratitude to the organisers for taking a lead to conduct this valuable event and bringing us together.” – Vikas Khanna.

Speaking about his research project at the conference, Dr. Ernest Agyemang, senior lecturer at the University of Ghana say’s “Recently, we did a comparative study of bicycling, safety, and infrastructure, the barriers to cycling, as well as the prospects of cycling in the capital city of Accra in Ghana. And we’re doing this study vis a vis, other Asian cities like Chennai and Delhi in India, and also Dhaka in Bangladesh.”

Explaining about his study, Dr. Ernest say’s “Our objective is to find out who are the people who cycle in these cities. Our initial findings shows that majority of the riders are males. There are very few females who are biking, especially when it comes to biking for economic activities or those who bike to work.”

“Most of the riders are from low-income groups. They stay in the peripheries, and travel to the city center to earn a living. But in terms of leisure cycling, those who bike for pleasure, for recreation, typically on weekends, they are fewer in numbers. There are numerous barriers that we have to account for this low culture of cycling, which is usually associated with poverty. So, usually, it’s the low-income earners who are typically, riding bicycles. But, when it comes to middle class, upper class, they are car users.”

And hence, in absence of significant ridership and representation from diverse economic backgrounds, there doesn’t seem to be any interest among the political actors, policy makers, engineers to look at creating an enabling friendly environment for cyclists. And that has been the bane to our development, Dr. Ernest concluded.”

The sessions moved on with panel discussion on topics such as ‘Policy and Governance’, ‘Infrastructure, Planning and Design’, Sustainability, Electrification and E-Cycling on day 1.

While on Day 2, the Panel delved on topics like ‘People, Communities and Advocacy’, ‘Gender and Age’, ‘Design, Manufacture and Repair’.

At the end, the organizers of the conference came together for a brainstorming session reflecting upon the learnings from the two-day summit.

“I am happy to be here at the 1^st edition of the South Asia Cycles workshop. Representing the cycling community from Nepal is a big honor, and I am looking forward to connect and collaborating with people with similar interests.” – Rubin Singh Mahajan, Nepal Cycle Society.

Some of the key takeaways from the South Asia Cycling Conference are:

Lack of adequate cycling infrastructure is acting as an impediment to the growth of cycling in India.
Road safety is the biggest discouraging factor for people to cycle; especially parents fear to allow their children from cycling to school.
The place of motorcyclists on our streets still remains unanswered as they continue to invade the existing cycle lanes and pedestrian area.
Our neighbourhood bicycle repair shops are in danger of getting displaced.
Why not attempt to build ‘Median’ cycle lanes and see if that works?
Cheap bicycles are hampering the user experience and quality of bicycles must be raised.
Bicycles with women specific frame designs will enable more ridership.
Urban planners while designing the streets should consider ‘Cycling as a mode of experience’ and not just as a mode of travel.
The Indian cycling industry does not have enough accurate data to make a judgement of the existing ridership trends to take strong, futuristic decisions.
Women face barriers such as social stigma, sexual harassment, and proper training that deters them to cycle.
The political will to understand the subject of cycling seriously and take precise actions is missing.
Creation of connected cycling infrastructure have found a mention in the old master plans of few cities like Pune, but they never saw the light of the day.
Cycling is not being advertised by the central government and there is an instant need to come up with a national campaign to promote the category.
Cycling is not marketed as a ‘Mode of commute’ compared to other transportation options.
Electric bicycles are fun to ride, effortless, cost-effective versus electric scooters and motorcycles and deliver better user experience.
We must create one model cycling city by concentrating all our efforts and resources. Creating one successful model cycling city is better instead of scattered efforts delivering unsuccessful results.

Thanks to the organisers and all the volunteers who took the trouble to arrange a nice venue for holding our important discussions. And thanks for their great hospitality for providing breakfast, lunch, dinner and bus transport services.

My feedback to them is that we should have a morning cycle tour a day before the next conference so that we can take a feel of the city, explore and admire its beauty and bond over joyful conversations.