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Windhoek’s Forgotten Commuters
IN the 2007-8 financial year, the City of Windhoek allocated N$400 000 to begin the process of planning a bicycle path and lane network.
For me, it came after years of campaigning for the issue, and I thought was the breakthrough that we at the Bicycling Empowerment Network Namibia (BEN Namibia) had been working for.
A petition bearing the names of thousands of Windhoek residents, including Government Ministers, was handed to the Mayor of Windhoek, who triumphantly raised the petition in the air and announced ‘cycling is the future’.
On the strength of the announcement BEN Namibia aligned donors and supporters interested in moving the issue forward.
A Dutch donor offered a matching grant of EUR40 000 in technical support to provide planning expertise to the City of Windhoek to support its process. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was keen to bring all stakeholders to the table to get the process started. Cyclists, for the first time in Windhoek’s history, could have some hope of safe cycling facilities.
The environmental and health benefits could have been enormous.
What happened?
Unfortunately, there has been a curious lack of follow-up on this matter from the City of Windhoek. Two years since the issue of cycle planning disappeared from the radar, the city continues to slide into gridlock, with low-income earners trapped into using ever more expensive and dangerous forms of transport.
BIGGEST EVENT
OF ITS KIND
In November, Windhoek will host one of the most important sporting events to be held on African roads.
The 2009 African road cycling championships will bring international attention to Windhoek from both within Africa and beyond.
This represents an opportunity to showcase the capital’s world-class infrastructure.
Unfortunately, Windhoek has critically missed the mark in terms of cycling infrastructure. A small investment in cycle lane markings could begin the shift in perception necessary among cyclists and motorists to give cyclists a sense of belonging on the roads.
Signage showing allocated space for cyclists would begin to change attitudes of motorists and allow cyclists more space on roads.
These simple interventions would in turn pave the way for road safety campaigns on cycling, and legislation protecting cyclists’ rights.
All of this progress for cyclists, and an opportunity to show the world that Windhoek is a progressive city, are being undermined because of the City’s lack of vision.
There is an unfortunate perception that cycling is a second-rate mode of transport. Yet the world’s most progressive cities are showing that car-dependency is in fact the mark of regressive planning.
Paris now has a fleet of 20 000 bicycles available to rent for short journeys, with pick-up and drop-off points throughout the city.
New York City’s planning department is developing a 1 500 km network of cycling paths and on-road lanes, and riding to work is becoming more popular as a result.
London, where cyclists now have far more facilities than 10 years ago, will spend the equivalent of N$6 billion on cycling infrastructure in the next decade.
Copenhagen recently announced that it aims to achieve 50 per cent of all trips by bicycle by 2020, up from 35 per cent now.
The Crown Prince of Denmark is an active commuter cyclist, and advocates cycling as a way of reducing pollution and obesity.
Meanwhile, our neighbours in Cape Town and Gaborone are progressing with their own cycling master plans, proving that cycling as a serious mode of transport is not just a fad pursued by northern countries.
If only Windhoek’s mayor, and transportation planners, would take a more convincing stance on cycling as transport.
* Michael Linke is the Director Bicycling Empowerment Network Namibia.
