BY SILAS NKALA BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has announced plans to resuscitate its long forgotten culture of cycling to decongest the central business district (CBD).
This is in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Africa Development Agenda, the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS 1), smart cities and Bulawayo’s corporate strategy.
The city has already developed smart parking which is expected decongest the CBD.
The smart parking initiative has, however, resulted in battles between motorists and BCC over expensive fees.
BCC’s economic development officer, Kholisani Moyo told Southern Eye that the initiative emanated from discussions at the April Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) which ran under the theme Rethink, Reimagine, Reinvent; Value chains for Economic development.
He said cycling was one of the value chains exhibited at ZITF as Bulawayo’s storyline for smart cities.
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“Historically, Bulawayo was a cycling town, and employees from most big companies used bicycles as a cheaper mode of transport to go to work. The city had big companies that used to manufacture bicycles and spare parts, and it employed a considerable number of people,” Moyo said.
“Furthermore, there were vibrant cycling clubs competing at international level, and goods were delivered in the city by bicycle-riding messengers, resulting in reduced congestion in the CBD. However, the cycling culture has disappeared and the city has moved to an expensive mode of transport. It is against this background that the city is reintroducing the cycling culture to revive the industry in line with SDGs, the Africa Development Agenda, NDS 1 and the city’s corporate strategy.”
Some of the advantages of a cycling culture are low-cost transport, health benefits, reduction of carbon emissions in the city and decongestion.
“Cycling provides affordable and independent travel for those who might otherwise have restricted travel options. Bicycles for many years offered increased mobility to many groups such as low-income earners, students, unemployed people and people living with disabilities who use wheelchairs as modes of transport,” Moyo noted.
He said demand for bicycles would create the need for manufacturing them, which will result in employment in line with SDG 8.
“In developed countries where a cycling culture is encouraged such as in the Netherlands and Switzerland, life expectancy is very high. This is in line with SDG 3. Students must use bicycles to go to school, colleges and universities to reduce congestion and damage to roads,” he pointed out, while also indicating that CBD congestion was costing the city millions per year.
“Cycling is one of the sustainable transport solutions, unlike other modes of transport. Bicycles do not emit dangerous gases that pollute the atmosphere. This mode of transport is environmentally friendly, and can assist the city to achieve a green economy, in line with SDG 13 on climate action,” he added.
The city seeks to attain smart city status by 2024 after a learning visit to the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, which introduced the smart city programme.
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