Cycling Forward, Rolling Back: Mumbai’s Bold Bike Leadership Vote Amid BKC Track Demolition

In a big leap towards city mobility and cycling activism, Mumbai will for the first time vote for its Bicycle Mayor and set of councillors representing the city's 24 municipal wards. This is at a time when the Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) cycle tracks-earlier presented as a benchmark for clean transport-are to be razed to make way for broader car lanes.

 

55 residents of the wards they want to represent have applied for the new Bicycle Mayor and councillor roles. The project is designed to provide cyclists with an official voice in city planning and advocating for safer, more accessible cycling infrastructure throughout Mumbai.

 

But the timing is crucial, as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has already issued a tender for ₹25 crore to raze the BKC cycle tracks. The half-finished tracks, which cost the city around ₹60 crore, have been criticized for poor planning, poor connectivity, and lack of usage. Authorities claim the demolition will not only de-congest BKC's arterial roads but also cut peak-hour travel times and emissions from vehicles.

 

Cycling campaigners have been dismayed, saying that the dismantling of the tracks is a reverse for the campaign to encourage sustainable transport. They cite implementation failures-like sudden ends to the tracks and encroachment by parked cars-as explanations for the tracks' limited success, not a lack of public enthusiasm for cycling.

 

The election of a Bicycle Mayor and councillors has been viewed as a move toward solving these issues, providing a voice for the cycling community in order to drive future cycling infrastructure projects and policies.

 

Source: Free Press Journal