To increase public awareness on using cycles, Bangalore’s Ride A Cycle Foundation (RAC-F), an NGO, has announced a host of competitions for students from 7th to 10th Standard.

The following are the competitions:

1. Essay Writing Competition:
Topic :Me and My Bicycle.

2. Letter Writing Competition:
Topic : A letter to your parent asking him to bicycle along with you to school once in a week.

3. Drawing Competition:
Theme 1: Share the road with cycles.
Theme 2: Cycle Friendly cities / Children friendly cities.

1st Prize : Hercules Bicycle + Rs.2000
2nd Prize : Hercules Bicycle + Rs.1500
3rd Prize : Rs.3500
3 Consolation Prizes

The entries need to be sent in by 10th January to the following address:

Murali HR
# 16, 4th Cross, 35th Main
BTM 2nd Stage
Near Silk Board
Bangalore – 560068

New initiative to make Jayanagar cycling-friendly

In a related development, Karnataka’s Department of Urban Land Transport (DULT) says it has plans to make the streets of Jayanagar more friendly by introducing cycling corridors in Jayanagar as part of a pilot project to make Bengaluru’s streets friendlier for cyclists. The move hopes to provide a boost for people to endorse cycling as an alternate sustainable mode of transportation.

Jayanagar, south-central Bangalore’s prestigious locality, has more than 30 educational institutions making it one of the most popular educational hubs in Bangalore. With a lot of students commuting on a daily basis, the number of cycle users too is proportionally high. The streets of Bangalore, however, are not known to be friendly for cyclists. They have to compete for space with motor vehicles and are often bullied by their motorised cousins, posing a risk of accidents. The risks involved deter many people from taking up the pedal to commute.  

Speaking to Citizen Matters, V Manjula (IAS), Commissioner of DULT, who is spearheading the initiative says that plans for cycling corridors are ready but the implementation will come after getting the BBMP and the traffic police on board. "Apart from various civic agencies, the plan also needs to get the nod of the residents and only then can we implement it", she says.

Manjula added that apart from Jayanagar, DULT is conducting pre-feasibility reports for such a corridor around Madivala tank.

Extensive research for the Jayanagar initiative was undertaken for DULT by Gubbi Labs, a private research collective. The research was to identify cycle routes and understand possibilities of using dedicated cycles lanes, and the conflicts that could arise. Tumkur-based Dr H S Sudhira, Director of Gubbi Labs said that Jayanagar was chosen because of the large number of educational institutions present there and the well-planned layouts were an advantage. Sudhira was earlier with the DULT before he branched out after his Ph D to start Gubbi Labs.

"Having dedicated lanes is a difficult proposition but a middle-ground has to be arrived at to make streets friendlier for cycles. We have proposed earmarking lanes as cycle-friendly and motorists will have to travel at slower speeds and give priority to cyclists", says Sudhira. Not surprisingly, signage needed has also been accounted for. "Network maps on the streets which are friendly for cyclists will also be put up around Jayanagar", says Sudhira.

The total cost of the project will not put a dent on the exchequer’s accounts, according to Sudhira. "The pilot project will not cost more than Rs.20-25 lakhs as no major infrastructure change is required", he adds. ⊕