#biketowork: the growing trend of biking to office in India
Sreekanth Raj, the 26 year old communication designer, dresses up, packs his office bag, takes his bike out and cycles to his office every morning! Being from Kerala and shifting to Mumbai for work, he has this daily routine of ‘biking to work’ for last 2 years. “I like cycling to work. First of all, I don’t get stuck in this ugly Mumbai traffic. And secondly, it helps me cut down my expenses too! I think that’s wonderful! Isn’t it?” Says Sreekanth.
This new trend of cycling to work, that has started to spread around in India rapidly, is not a very new concept in foreign countries.According to official data, the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany top the list of top 10 countries that has a high bicycle number per capita. The list also includes countries like, Japan, Norway, Finland and even, China!The Netherlands with the highest of 99.1% of per capital hosts around 25% of work commutation by bike.
Now, you might ask, “why should I bike to work when I can easily hop onto a auto rickshaw or own a motorized two wheeler/ four wheeler myself?” Well, according to a study by the University of Otago, those who cycle to work regularly have a lower risk of dying when assessed through a range of diseases and ill-health. The results, when expressed in a percentage, showed a 13% less mortality rate of the cyclists because of the added physical work which creates a healthier functioning life style.Also, a recent study by TERI showed that the substitution of cycles with two and four wheelers for short distance trips can result in an annual benefit of 1.8 trillion, which may absolutely sound unbelievable!
This trend of cheaper, healthier and more eco-friendly style of daily commutation to work is rapidly increasing in India. Even though, India doesn’t really fall in to the list of cycle-friendly countries, the number of people cycling to work is actually increasing in the cities as cycling seems to be a logical method to commute in these over populated cities that mostly stay jammed with traffic at office hours.
But is India ready for this revving revolution? Well, unlike most Western countries and the above mentioned countries, India lacks the safety and rules for cycle commuters! Yes! The high key cities of India, like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata, may boast about their metro railways and good transportation, all of these cities lack proper cycling paths which forces the commuters to cycle on the open road making cycling a difficult and dangerous task.
As Sreekanth shares his experience on daily cycling, he says that the ‘casual’ disobedience towards the traffic rules by other motorized vehicle owners makes the situation altogether worse and more terrifying sometimes.
“Which Indian city doesn’t have traffic issues? Well, I love cycling. I will not wait till the cycle paths are constructed or the traffic rules are made stricter. Cycling makes me healthier and more productive. So why not? If your work place is not too far, I’ll totally advice you to bike to work everyday. Just get yourself some good gears and yes, most important, a mask!” Shares Sreekanth Raj.It’s true that there are the inconveniences of rainy weathers and city pollution for people like Sreekanth and many other cyclists, in a country like India, but so is the hope of better cycling environments in the near future as the government is trying to promote the concept of ‘bike to work’ under the smart city plans. Till then, the passion for cycling is the only thing that keeps these enthusiasts going.
