{"id":49949,"date":"2021-03-29T17:21:47","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T16:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=49949"},"modified":"2021-04-06T08:53:26","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T07:53:26","slug":"bicycles-for-the-post-covid-era-an-opportunity-india-shouldnt-miss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/03\/29\/bicycles-for-the-post-covid-era-an-opportunity-india-shouldnt-miss\/","title":{"rendered":"Bicycles for the post-covid era\u2014an opportunity India shouldn&#8217;t miss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"standfirst\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bicycles are a healthy, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly mode of transport that India should invest in, say Sucharita Panigrahi and Soumyadeep Bhaumik<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The importance of robust transport systems in promoting socioeconomic development is well understood. However, developing a transport system that considers the diverse needs of a vast country like India is beset with challenges. The existential nature of the covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed a lot of things, but most importantly how we think and plan. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The risk of viral transmission from public transport (both real and perceived) is here to stay. This has resulted in <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">many people preferring to opt <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">for personal transport, leading to the use and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businesstoday.in\/current\/economy-politics\/cycle-sales-in-india-double-in-last-5-months-amid-pandemic\/story\/418911.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">sales of bicycles increasing substantially across India<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. This is similar to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/news\/international\/world-news\/coronavirus-pandemic-leads-to-a-bicycle-boom-and-shortage-around-world\/articleshow\/76378658.cms?from=mdr\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">what has been seen in many other countries<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Could covid-19 be the proverbial <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cun mal pour un bien<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201d that leads to the development of a transport system which is not only safe, affordable, and inclusive but also resilient\u2014providing health, environmental, and economic benefits? We hope this will be the case.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>The benefits of bicycles<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.orfonline.org\/research\/policymaking-towards-green-mobility-in-india\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Seventeen of the 25 most polluted cities<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> in the world are in India. A recent study estimated that about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/17-million-deaths-in-india-were-attributable-to-air-pollution-in-2019-says-study\/article33394600.ece\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">18% of total deaths in the country in 2019<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> were attributable to air pollution. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Vehicular and industrial emissions are an important contributor to air pollution in India, where <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cprindia.org\/news\/6569\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the Air Quality Index<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (AQI) is rated as being \u201cVery unhealthy\u201d (200-300) for a large part of the year<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Unfortunately, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.orfonline.org\/research\/air-pollution-delhi-filling-policy-gaps\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">India\u2019s policies have so far focused on the time of the year from October to January<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, when AQI becomes \u201chazardous\u201d (&gt;300), <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedaily.com\/releases\/2019\/03\/190304095938.htm\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">which coincides with events such as Diwali and stubble burning<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Such strategies are akin to offering band aids to heal deeply necrotic wounds. Blaming the seasonal activities of farmers on a low wage for what is also essentially an urban and year<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> l<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">ong issue is additionally problematic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With climate change high on the agenda, we should be ushering in large scale action that embraces more sustainable forms of transport. Bicycles offer a healthy, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly solution. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0048969717301559\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Analysis of a new transport model in Stockholm<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that promotes bicycling estimated it could decrease the mean population exposure for both NOx and black carbon by about 7% in the most densely populated areas of the city, resulting in decreased mortality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">India has a considerable burden of non-communicable diseases and increasing physical activity is crucial to preventing them<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. A <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s12966-014-0132-x\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">meta-analysis<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> of 187 000 individuals found that cycling can decrease all cause mortality by 10%\u2014this is after adjustment for other physical activity. Developing ways to increase people\u2019s use of bicycles is therefore a sound investment from a public health perspective too as it would have health benefits at a population level.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>The new economy and micromobility\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is expected to take a few years for the Indian economy to recover from the impact of the pandemic, with some commentators expressing concerns that the pandemic has widened inequities even further. People in India<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">spend about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/business\/business-others\/household-expenditure-on-services-durable-goods-travel-communication-biggest-burden-across-india\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">20% of their monthly households budget<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> on transport. Reducing this output and providing people with more expendable money will be key to expediting India\u2019s<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">economic recovery. While <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/business\/Industry\/robust-demand-lifts-passenger-vehicle-sales-in-december\/article33474166.ece\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">car sales rose in India towards the end of 2020<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">this will increase people\u2019s spending on transport and only the automobile and petrol industry will benefit from it. Again, bicycles have the advantage here. The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teriin.org\/sites\/default\/files\/2019-01\/Presentation%20-%20Benefits%20of%20Cycling.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">estimates<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> that if we replace two and four wheelers with bicycles for short distance trips, it could result in an annual benefit of 1.8<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">trillion<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Indian rupees<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> nationally. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The healthcare costs saved by the public health benefits of bicycling both at an individual and macro level might also be substantial. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.peoplepoweredmovement.org\/benefits-of-biking-walking\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The social benefits of bicycling<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> including the fostering of community spirit<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and engagement with likeminded people, would ultimately lead to substantial economic benefits too. Modelling these should be part of sustainable development plans in the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>The way forward\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Cars are the ultimate status symbol in India. The first sign of a family doing well financially is the act of buying a car. An important part of encouraging the use of bicycles will be dispelling the notion that they are a \u201cpoor man\u2019s transport,\u201d and emphasising the ways in which they are \u201cvehicles of the future.\u201d This changed narrative is already taking root in the young urban middle class, but a greater push is needed. Social marketing campaigns that educate and encourage communities to opt for a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/climate-laws.org\/geographies\/india\/policies\/national-urban-transport-policy#:~:text=The%20National%20Urban%20Transport%20Policy's%20first%20version%20was%20launched%20in%202006.&amp;text=The%20purpose%20of%20this%20document,urban%20transport%20services%20and%20infrastructure%22.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u201cGreen Travel Habit\u201d<\/span><\/a> are<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0a good starting point.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">India already has a very well drafted <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/climate-laws.org\/geographies\/india\/policies\/national-urban-transport-policy#:~:text=The%20National%20Urban%20Transport%20Policy's%20first%20version%20was%20launched%20in%202006.&amp;text=The%20purpose%20of%20this%20document,urban%20transport%20services%20and%20infrastructure%22.\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">National Urban Transport Policy<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> (NUTP),<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> which lays out a plan for better road networks and associated facilities like road intersections, cycling tracks, secure parking spaces, and app based bicycle hiring services that provide connectivity to and from transport hubs. The NUTP also recommends that an \u201cUrban Roads Code\u201d should be adopted to ensure the safety of bicycle users by designing speed limits and barrier free accessibility, but little has changed on the ground.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">India needs<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">to make bicycling safer by actually implementing the Urban Roads Code <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">across the country and not just haphazardly in a few sections of selected cities. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.livemint.com\/news\/india\/it-s-a-late-beginning-but-the-route-has-been-well-charted-1565721214012.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Roads should be audited<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> for hot spots for accidents and appropriate mitigation strategies should be formulated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Financial<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">incentives to make the use of bicycles more attractive are also needed. A \u201cclimate change tax\u201d (using the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/explainers\/what-is-the-polluter-pays-principle\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">polluter pays principle<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">) on<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">personal cars and fuel <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">for personal vehicles <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">would be one<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">fiscal push. This would only impact people who are<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">well off and<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">encourage use of more environmentally friendly forms<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">of<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">transport. Removing the<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Goods and Services tax<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">on bicycles <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">needs to be a parallel investment, along with providing free bicycle helmets, making their use mandatory by law, and making our transport infrastructure more bicycle friendly to prevent bicycle related injuries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">India currently prioritizes vehicles, not people, with non-vehicle users ignored in policies and development plans and infrastructure disproportionately focused on building for motorized vehicular traffic. Micromobility should be a key area that India focuses on in transport policies for the post-covid era, especially with virtual workspaces becoming more common. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bicycles are vehicles of the future and it\u2019s time for India to invest in them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><b>Sucharita Panigrahi<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is studying for a master\u2019s in public health degree at ICMR- Regional Medical Research Centre, India.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><b>Soumyadeep Bhaumik<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is a medical doctor and international public health specialist working on policy impact and injuries at the George Institute for Global Health, India.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><b>Disclaimer:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0 All views in this article are personal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Competing interests:<\/strong> none declared.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bicycles are a healthy, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly mode of transport that India should invest in, say Sucharita Panigrahi and Soumyadeep Bhaumik [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2021\/03\/29\/bicycles-for-the-post-covid-era-an-opportunity-india-shouldnt-miss\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":49950,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - 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