Cycling is important to cut back on pollution and counter congestion because of motorised transport. Few years ago PMC had laid the cycle tracks in the city, but it has been observed that over 90% of the 100 km cycle tracks are not used by cyclists. The most common reason is that many stretches either don’t serve the purpose, or are poorly maintained or badly laid. Physical barriers like manholes jutting out, trees and bus stops in the middle of the cycle tracks force cyclists to drive on tar road.
Signage for cycle tracks are missing in several places. Very often, lack of signages leads to the inability of identifying a cycle track from a footpath. However, there are several examples of footpaths being treated as cycle tracks and meant to cater to both the pedestrians and cyclists. Examples of unidentifiable cycle tracks are many.
Cycle tracks have to be continuous for a long stretch, but that is not the case. Also, the surface is of poor quality because interlocking blocks have been used.
Pune, which was once known as the bicycle city, has an estimated 1.5 lakh bicycle users, as against the 20 lakh two-wheelers. The total length of the cycle tracks is 123 km. However, the PMC has failed to promote the tracks sufficiently.
