De Vries: Get on yer bike Dutch cycling campaigner in bid to tackle congestion on TRNC roads
PEOPLE living in the TRNC have been told to “get on yer bike” by a Dutch cycling campaigner in a bid to tackle congestion on the roads.
Maud de Vries, representative of the “Dutch Cycling Embassy”, said encouraging more people to cycle instead of driving was the key to reducing traffic and promoting healthy lifestyles.
She said better infrastructure, such as dedicated cycle lanes within towns, was needed in North Cyprus to help create a “bicycle-friendly culture”.
Ms De Vries was the guest speaker at a recently convened conference on the topic jointly hosted by the Cyprus Turkish Medical Association and Gönyeli Municipality, which has started introducing cycle paths on its main roads.
“North Cyprus has become a car-friendly country,” she said in an interview with Cyprus Today’s sister newspaper, Kıbrıs.
“It [driving] has become part of the culture. This actually causes pollution, traffic jams and noise. Yet this problem can be overcome by creating a bicycle-friendly culture.
“Do you want to resolve your traffic jam problem? Then the solution is cycling. You can use your bike to commute every day. Don’t want spend money on a car? Then a bicycle is the solution again.”
Ms de Vries, who was one of the founders of a global cycling promotion movement known as Cyclehack Amsterdam, said her home country had successfully managed to encourage greater use of bicycles following a “high car-density” period of the 1950s.
“We established . . . Cyclehack to promote cycling and make sure it stays as the preferred mode of transport in the Netherlands,” she said.
“We are addressing the barriers to cycling and coming up with creative solutions.”
Ms de Vries called on doctors in North Cyprus to instigate a “culture change” by setting an example to others.
“If they can cycle to work for two or three days [a week], they can be the ones starting a change,” she said.
“Doctors, teachers, politicians — they are models for the people.”
Ms de Vries dismissed suggestions that cycling is a “dangerous” mode of transport, claiming that fewer than 1 per cent of accidents involving bicycles globally were fatal.
“Of course, there might [still] be accidents but [the risk] is low,” she added. She also called on motorists to “respect the rights of cyclists”. all role