Delhi from the eyes of its cyclists
Perspective of a neglected group of road users – livelihood cyclists
“I have been cycling for 20 years now, but it poses significant challenges today, like never before. Earlier the streets weren’t so crowded, so it used to not be so difficult to cycle on the roads.”
When one thinks of Delhi, they think of wide roads and huge flyovers – that undoubtedly garner awe amongst visitors. However, this awe fails to translate into convenience for the millions of residents of Delhi, who have no use for this infrastructure. A large working class travels long distances everyday for work, spanning almost 20–30 kms, for which they rely solely on non-motorised forms of transport like walking and cycling.
We reached out to livelihood cyclists, who have been traversing the roads of Delhi on their cycles for decades – to understand their perspective on whether Delhi infrastructure has always been so unwelcoming towards its residents.
The plight of livelihood cyclists
“The flow of cars has significantly increased, and vehicle parking is a big issue. Further, in big markets, stalls and shops occupy so much space, which has now made it very inconvenient to cycle on the roads.”
A combination of speeding vehicles, unmindful car parking and encroachment by illegal residences and shops has taken up any space the cyclists had for uninterrupted use of the road. As a way of deflection, car owners are often quick to blame rickshaws for the parking problem, but only the vulnerable really understand their plight. The cyclists who bear the brunt of this parking problem themselves pointed out that “rickshaws also have insufficient dedicated parking space, and therefore are forced to park by the side of the road; they have to pay the cops 800 or so rupees for this parking, so it is only natural for them to feel entitled to that parking spot, in the absence of any space dedicated for rikshaw parking.”
Amidst all this jostling for space, authorities have completely forgotten about parking for cycles. This means cyclists have to park anywhere they find space, and hope it’ll be safe. Even for livelihood cyclists like plumbers and electricians, who cycle to people’s houses, they are often not allowed to park inside the building premises, and must park on the road. Unfortunately, this leaves the cycles at risk of being stolen. To try and account for this, we found out that it is common practice for them to not buy a new cycle, because it increases likelihood of it being stolen. They prefer purchasing old second hand cycles, in the hopes that it will look downtrodden and unappealing enough to not even be stolen.
While having separate facilities for cyclists seems like a stretch, even basic issues in road infrastructure that are only a minor inconvenience for motor vehicles to overcome easily, end up posing huge challenges for cyclists. The absence of street lights, and the dismal conditions of smaller lanes with large potholes, expose cyclists to risks of accident, personal injury and cycle damage, all of which also severely affect their already vulnerable livelihood.
Amidst all these conversations, there was a constant sense of passive acquiescence – “of course there are issues, but what can we do, nobody will listen to our troubles”. When encouraged to share their woes, and the extent of frustration and inconvenience, we got a resigned response.
“This is the unfortunate situation and nothing can be done about it, so we have gotten used to it and are now accustomed to cycling being a dangerous feat that we must perform.”
Fostering change
The challenges of urban transport are not new. They have been identified long ago and organisations have been working on solutions for many years now. So where are we going wrong in addressing them? It’s because, once again, the worst impacted hold the least political leverage, and thus the issue resolution is deprioritised and delayed. Infrastructure has grown over the years unilaterally, to accommodate the rising number of private vehicles, at the expense of cyclists and pedestrians. Further, there is a looming perception problem, with cycling being categorised as a ‘poor person’s mode of transport’. Cyclists are not respected and even in places where cycle lanes are made, motor vehicle owners don’t follow it.
Until either the cyclists are given a political voice, or those with a political voice see the benefits of these interventions, progress will be slow. Decision makers have to be connected with all the existing literature and incentivised to enact the required changes. They must be encouraged to adopt a change in their approach towards planning, by reimagining the way we have known infrastructure for the last couple of decades. Planning must be centered on NMT, as opposed to motor vehicles. Models like ramping up public transport access to commercial centres and marketplaces, and cordoning them off for NMT use, must be made more commonplace. Bike sharing platforms have been instrumental in realising cycling as an option for last-mile connectivity, as well as in transforming the perception around cycling being a ‘poor person’s activity’. It is crucial to capitalise on this technology and model to promote the use of bicycles more frequently.
More than anything, it is important to give enough people reasons to revert to cycling as a preferred mode of transport, by rehashing the ‘cost, convenience, and climate’ narrative. It is necessary to normalise cycling and democratise roads, and to realise that the ‘Netherlands ideal’ is not impossible in India.
About the author: Namita Gupta is a YLAC Urban Mobility Champion placed with CEED, and can be reached at namita1209@yahoo.com.
