Pune Infra Watch: PMC to make bicycle master plan part of city’s development

The citizens are urged to submit suggestions and objections on the plan, supported by the Union urban development ministry, within 30 days.

The bicycle plan was prepared with the help of consultants, data collection and public engagement, studies of traffic situations for cyclists and cycle tracks. Over 10,000 people were surveyed for travel patterns, views about cycling and willingness to shift after holding consultations at ward offices with cyclists, cycle shops, schools, colleges and corporate groups.

The existing cycle tracks of over 90 km across the city can be made usable by connecting the missing links, improving existing designs and strictly preventing other activities in the cycle tracks, the plan states. It recommends segregating cycle tracks on arterial roads, identifying waiting spaces for cyclists at junctions and dedicated signal for cyclists to cross the road at traffic junctions

It also suggests development of on-street and off-street parking facilities, linking cycling to public transport like bus, metro rail and railway stations. Cash reward for those cycling for the entire month, easy loans for cycles and holding ‘Cycle Day’ or ‘Cycle week’. The PMC should promote cycle-oriented educational campus, the plan says.