Cycling communities to raise awareness on public transport

Hyderabad: Active mobility has great importance in big cities like Hyderabad, as it comes with several benefits like decongesting traffic, less air pollution, and the health and well-being of the citizens. With a target to reach five lakh people in the city, members of the Hyderabad Cycling community in collaboration with the State government have planned a rigorous awareness campaign about active mobility which involves walking, running, cycling or using public transportation.

This year the members of Hyderabad Cycling Revolution have planned for a four-month intense campaigning on usages of active mobility, as it is a long-term sustainable permanent transport solution for Hyderabadis.

Santhana Selvan, Bicycle Mayor of Hyderabad said, “After the success of Hyderabad Cycling Revolution 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0, as more than 20 percent of people have adopted active mobility, this year we planned to organise Hyderabad Cycling Revolution 4.0 where cyclists will be on a single platform and will pedal to various streets in the city. Over time we have planned to start various awareness programmes that will start from the second or third week of January and in these four months, we plan to touch 50 lakh people in the city. we are not forcing them to adopt active mobility. This campaign will signify Active Mobility, which includes walking, cycling and public transportation (bus and metro).”

How HCR 4.0 is different from three revolutions, the campaign’s main focus will be on the behavioral change of the people, as we will motivate the people that out of 10 trips, at least 2 trips in a week, people to use active mobility, if it is just a 2 km, they can walk or can use bicycle. If it’s more than 5 km they can use public transportation. Our target is that by 2030 we want to see at least 50 percent of Hyderabadis use public transportation for transportation needs.

During this campaign, we have planned to work with the State government as there is still a need to improve public transport which includes the metro rail end-to-end connectivity is required and also buses should be increased, and bicycle parking should be set up at metro stations.

“Along with various cycling communities, we will be visiting various educational institutions and heritage monuments. With all these campaigns we are trying to build awareness among people, so more people know about it, talk about it, there are high chances things can change for the better,” said, Ravi Sambari, Hyderabad Cycling Revolution.