Don’t waste your time being stuck in your cars in endless lines; ride a bicycle – it’s cheaper and healthier! In Podgorica, you can easily afford yourselves that pleasure. Representatives of the association biciklo.me say that every change is hard to accept and that’s why residents of Podgorica are protesting against drawing bicycle lanes on the roads in Podgorica.
This NGO clearly states that the improvement of conditions for the use of bicycles must be accompanied by the development of public transport, which is now in poor condition in Podgorica.
“Public transport is the cornerstone of traffic in any bigger city”, they stated.
Good news that arrived yesterday from the Capital, which announced that the Draft Budget for 2021 proposed an increase in subsidies for public transport, but also €5 million for the purchase of new buses in order to increase the quality of public transport services confirms that Podgorica administration is working on addressing the problems of public transport. This means that modernization of public transport will improve conditions for cycling and walking.
“A bicycle is considered the most efficient vehicle in city area at distance of 5 km. The majority of distances citizens in Podgorica cover are shorter than that. It is a known fact that bicycles don’t pollute air, don’t make noise and have positive impact on flow of people and reduces parking problems”, they say.
The bicycle also enables physical activity and thus saves health funds, because cyclists are healthier than other participants in traffic, so on average they need less medical care.
Apart from that, a bicycle is a relatively cheap means of transport – this means it’s widely available to all social groups because the ride is free of charge.
“Also, the World Health Organization (WHO) considers it the” most hygienic “form of mobility, and in addition to walking, recommends it as a mode of transportation that helps combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Now that we know all that, it is simply unbelievable that in our Podgorica, which is so flat and has over 240 dry days during the year, we haven’t got more people who are willing to use bicycle. However, now that we have engaged more actively in the construction of cycling infrastructure, we expect that things will change significantly”, they emphasize.
The remind that at the beginning of the year, Podgorica adopted its first Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan- a strategic document which creates prerequisites for sustainable planning of mobility and overcoming traffic challenges in a city, through a balanced treatment of all modes of transport.
The goal of that plan is to improve the quality of life of all citizens, by ensuring better mobility, increasing traffic safety, reducing pollution and improving people’s health. This will be achieved by investing in sustainable forms of mobility – walking, public transport and bicycle use.
“Podgorica is just one of several thousand of European cities with that plan. The problems we are currently facing are well known, as they occurred in other areas too. Bicycle lanes are an integral part of the overall traffic strategy of a city and cannot be regarded separately. According to SUMP, there’s still a lot to be done in the improvement of city transport. Walking conditions are also expected to improve”, representatives of biciklo.me NGO say.
They especially emphasize that our fellow citizens should understand that the reason for traffic jams is not bicycle paths, but the fact that most of us use a car to move around the city, often at very short distances.
“Our city is not able to sustain the existing amount of cars in traffic and the situation is getting worse year on year. Over the past five years, number of registered passenger vehicles in Podgorica has increased by a quarter, i.e. around 15.000”, they explain.
It should be noted that during the preparation of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, it was determined that the average number of passengers in cars is 1.4, which means that most citizens travel through the city as the only passenger in the car. This has direct impact on the space, because in addition to the crowds, there are also huge problems with parking.
“On the other side, one car can’t be replaced with six bicycles or more than 10 pedestrians. It is obvious that such distribution of space is not fair or efficient. Therefore, it is important to invest in other forms of mobility – walking, public transport and use of bicycles so as to citizens can satisfy their needs for moving around city with growing population”, they state.
This means changing the priority in traffic planning and investing in sustainable modes of transport, so that we can live in a city tailored to people, not cars.
According to the NGO, every change is hard to accept, and so our citizens’ first reaction is extreme, but we firmly believe that we will soon all feel the benefits of this plan.
“Of course, the improvement of bicycle conditions must be accompanied by the development of public transport, which is a key lever of traffic in every major city. Public transport is now in very poor condition and not adapted to the needs of citizens, nor citizens from the wider areas of the capital can rely on it. It is therefore necessary to revise the lines as soon as possible, introduce a larger number of departures and ensure the healthy functioning of public transport, which we believe is the most demanding and most expensive part of solving traffic problems” , they say.
They cite Ljubljana as an example.
The practice in Ljubljana shows that this type of transport cannot be based on the market principle, because they tried to privatize it like we did in Podgorica, so they returned it to the ownership of the local self-government and now it works great.
“In order for y bicycle to live as means of transport, it is of paramount importance to establish high-quality, safe and well connected bicycle network. At the same time, safety on streets must be enhanced through slowing down motor traffic and through areas for keeping bicycles”, they point out.
As far as protected bicycle paths are concerned, physically separated bicycle surfaces are the guarantee of cyclists’ safety, and at the same time they “invite” citizens to use them.
“Although we have excellent communication with the Capital, we are not acquainted with their plans concerning construction of bicycle infrastructure and we can’t tell how specific technical problems will be addressed. Anyway, new approach to building bicycle paths seems to be much better in relation to the previous one, when areas for movement of cyclists were on sidewalks and occupied space of pedestrians, who are the most endangered traffic participants”, biciklo.me representatives state.
They note that on social media networks, and elsewhere, we can often read justified criticism of non-compliance with environmental principles prescribed by the Constitution of Montenegro, but when an individual needs to make their own contribution by providing a different way of transport than the car we are so used to, the belief in the contribution that each of us can make to improve our environment simply disappears.
“In long term, better conditions for urban cycling and more cyclists on the streets of Podgorica will be beneficial for all citizens. As a society, we have to face the fact that traffic in Podgorica is impossible to be carried out as it was so far. The current situation simply suffocates us”, they claim.
They remind that sustainable transport is one of the key elements of the new strategy of the European Union for green recovery.
European green agenda envisages reduction of harmful emissions by 90% by 2050 and that includes providing conditions for accessible, healthy and clean types of transport. In addition, European commission strongly stimulates local self-governments to adopt plans of sustainable urban mobility, which is likely to become an obligation for all cities in near future. Without addressing urban mobility problems, inclusive of bicycle use, we are afraid chapters 174 and 27 can’t be closed.
“We are sending a message to our fellow citizens not to waste time stuck in cars waiting in endless lines, but to resort to the fastest, cheapest and most efficient vehicle available to everyone, because in addition to saving time, they will do so with money. And it is one of the best ways to keep their distance from other road users during the pandemic and to engage in regular physical activity, and thus directly invest in their health,” representatives of this NGO concluded.
