Share the Road: Increase Investment in Walking and Cycling Infrastructure

This page contains two types of information: updates on Share the Road’s activities and news from around the world. The news articles are chosen from online news agencies and websites of other organizations with complimentary goals to Share the Road. If you would like share your news on our website, please contact us.

Updates on Share the Road’s Activities

Progress in Burundi: UNEP and Propreté, Environnement et Santé Host ‘Share the Road’ Workshop in Bujumbura
November 2011, UNEP

As a first step in launching a national Share the Road project in Burundi, a workshop took place late last year to raise stakeholder awareness on the need and benefits of a systematic investment policy in walking and cycling road infrastructure, especially in cities. A key outcome of the workshop was the development of an Action Plan with targets and timelines, for development of a non-motorised transport (NMT) policy and for advancing investments in walking and cycling road infrastructure in the City.

Progress in Rwanda: UNEP and Rwanda Transport Development Agency host “Share the Road” National Workshop in Kigali
11 October 2011, UNEP

Pedestrians walking along a road with no walkway facilities in Kigali. Photo Credit: UNEP

As a first step in launching a national Share the Road project in Rwanda, a workshop took place on 11 October 2011 in Kigali, hosted by the Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) in cooperation with UNEP. One of the key outcomes was a multi-sector steering committee to discuss details to a pilot project and manage the implementation, with support from UNEP. A pilot project to showcase walking and cycling infrastructure has been identified by the steering committee. The site has been chosen in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, on a high-demand street in the central business district. Details to this pilot project are under development. At the same time, a national NMT policy will be drafted to provide the basis for further investments.

Progress in Kenya, Share the Road’s first pilot country: KURA and UNEP continue close cooperation
19 August 2011

Photo Credit: UNEP
Wide, quality sidewalks on showcase road provide safety and convenience.

Kenya is the first pilot country for the Share the Road (StR) initiative and UNEP has been working with the government since late 2009. In Nairobi, the capital, the first demonstration project for Share the Road is taking place on a major urban road. In collaboration with UNEP, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) mobilized government resources through the Ministry of Roads for the rehabilitation of United Nations Avenue (UN Avenue) with the goal of reducing congestion and improving safety. Construction works are at advanced stages, and it is envisaged that the project will be completed by November this year. The left turning slip lane that connects UN Avenue to Limuru Road at the main junction is complete and is providing easier access to motorists driving towards Parklands or the Central Business District. Further, incorporation of sidewalks on both sides of the road and a protected 2-way cycling lane on one side of the road is taking place. The effects of the project can already be felt due to reduced traffic congestion, and improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

When completed, UN Avenue will be promoted as a joint showcase road in the entire region of Africa. Furthermore, the Kenyan government has also recently adopted a new policy to integrate NMT facilities in all road projects, marking the first major success of the StR initiative to catalyse policy for walking and cycling infrastructure.

Share the Road projects under development in Uganda and Rwanda
July 2011

Photo Credit: UNEP
Uganda will develop policy with UNEP for promoting walking and cycling infrastructure.

UNEP is engaging with key stakeholders in Rwanda and Uganda to push for transport policies that systematically invest in walking and cycling road infrastructure. In Uganda, consultations are taking place with the Ministry of Works and Transport (MoWT) and the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), among other stakeholders. These agencies are partners in the “Sustainable Transport (SUSTRAN) Solutions for East African Cities” Project, supported by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and led by UN-Habitat to conduct feasibility studies and support detailed designs for Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems that will incorporate NMT feeder networks. A pilot project in Kampala for pedestrianisation and NMT facilities is also part of the SUSTRAN project. UNEP will focus its support on policy development and a stakeholders workshop is being planned for Uganda on an urban transport policy with a strong NMT component.

In Rwanda, consultations are underway with the Ministry of Infrastructure (MININFRA) and the Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) to develop transport policies and standards that incorporate NMT. A stakeholders workshop is being planned later in the year in Kigali, to provide an opportunity for capacity building and information sharing amongst key stakeholders on sustainable urban transport, and to obtain political buy-in and support from key politicians and decision makers.

Read More on Uganda >>>
Read More on Rwanda >>>

Share the Road presentation at PCFV Costs and Benefits Workshop for Sub-Saharan Africa
June 2011

Photo Credit: UNEP
Group picture of participants in the workshop.

The Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles (PCFV) organised a Regional Workshop on the Costs and Benefits of Clean Fuels and Vehicles for Sub-Saharan Africa on 23-24 June 2011 at the UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. Countries represented at the meeting were Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroun, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. On the second day of meetings, a presentation was given on Share the Road. In the following discussion, participants agreed that infrastructure for integrated NMT and public transport is another piece of the puzzle, along with clean fuels and vehicles, to achieve sustainable transport. Several countries expressed their interest in working with UNEP’s Share the Road initiative on policy change.

Global Launch of Decade of Action for Road Safety and Share the Road briefing for HRH Prince Michael of Kent
May 2011

Photo Credit: UNEP
HRH Prince Michael signing the UNEP Guestbook.

The Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 was officially proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in March 2010, with the goal of saving 5 million lives. The Decade was launched globally on 11 May 2011, and Governments were encouraged to release their national plans for the decade. In Kenya, the Ministry of Transport marked the occasion at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), at an event graced by HRH Prince Michael of Kent. HRH Prince Michael of Kent is a Patron for the Commission for Global Road Safety. The Prince later visited the UN Compound in Gigiri on 12 May 2011, where he got the opportunity to tour the UN Climate Neutral Offices and receive briefings on key UNEP Transport Unit Initiatives like the Share the Road Initiative.

Share the Road fits squarely within the Decade of Action’s Global Plan, where one of the five pillars of activities is ‘safer roads and mobility’ in its focus on improving infrastructure and the emphasis of protecting vulnerable road uses. As such, UNEP continues to work closely with the FIA Foundation and the Make Roads Safe Campaign, both key partners of the Share the Road Initiative.

News From Around The World

Dutch Cycling Embassy: Teaching the World to Cycle
27 September 2011, BikeBiz

The Dutch Cycling Embassy has produced a new and inspirational video as part of an outreach programme created by non-governmental organizations and bike companies, and that is aimed at encouraging cycling worldwide. Currently, the Netherlands has over 29,000 kilometres of separated cycle tracks. This is 12,000km more than in 1996. Clearly, the Dutch continuously invest in cycling, and millions of Euros are invested in making intersections safe for cyclists and creating dedicated tunnels and bridges. Ideas that the Embassy wants to promote include: constructing cycle paths and reducing road space for cars; facilitating cycling through cycle network planning, road design, signaling, parking and enforcement; and reducing maximum speed on the majority of urban roads to 30 km/h or less.

New Report “Walkability in Indian Cities” released by CAI-Asia: Low scores signal urgent need for improvements
1 September 2011, Clean Air Portal

A study that benchmarks the pedestrian infrastructure of six Indian cities was released by the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) in a publication titled “Walkability in Indian Cities.” Parthaa Bosu, CAI-Asia India Representative, shares “there was an urgent need to assess walking conditions of our cities and to highlight the areas for improvement to stakeholders, especially those from government. Livable cities should be created without neglecting pedestrians in mobility plans, and is essential for inclusive growth.” CAI-Asia has conducted the walkability study in 21 Asian cities to date. Improving the pedestrian facilities significantly reduces the shift from non-motorized transportation to two wheelers and cars, thereby minimizing traffic congestion and pollution emission that threatens public health.

Interview with First Ukrainian Cycling Advisor
Summer 2011, SUTP

Why is the Ukrainian city of Lviv promoting cycling? What are the main barriers? What is the main task of Lviv’s cycling advisor? These questions are answered in the following interview with Oleh Shmid, the first Ukrainian cycling advisor.

“A modern city is difficult to imagine without a complex cycling system. We can see cars everywhere and they have occupied great part of public space. The city has no technical possibilities to handle such a great amount of vehicles anymore. It is necessary to choose either to develop Lviv for people or to make it comfortable for cars. Transport revolution must be made not on the roads but in the minds of Lviv citizens first.”

Cycling Booming in Britian, says new report from the London School of Economics
24 August 2011, Bike Europe

A 24-page report on the state of the 'cycling economy' and the prospects for the future has been released by an academic at the London School of Economics. The report - 'The British Cycling Economy' - was written by Dr Alexander Grous, a productivity and innovation specialist in the Centre of Economic Performance at LSE. Dr Grous said: "Cycling in the UK has undergone a renaissance over the past five years, with an increasing number of people taking to the streets of the UK by bike. Structural, economic, social and health factors have caused a ‘shift in the sand’ in the UK, spurring an expansion in the cycling market with indications that this will be a longer-term trend. This growth in cycling participation has had the knock-on effect of bringing economic and social benefits to the UK. In 2010 the result was a gross cycling contribution to the UK economy of £2.9bn."

For the article and full report >>

Bicycle ridership up by 50% in Guangzhou, China
17 August 2011, ITDP

The city of Guangzhou, China opened its new 22.5-kilometer Bus Rapid Transit corridor in 2010, with the aim to cut congestion on one of the city’s busiest roads, Zhongshan Avenue, and to improve the efficiency of the city’s bus system. Today, the Guangzhou BRT has a whopping 805,000 daily boardings, making it the most well-used bus corridor in all of Asia. This BRT system is fully integrated with other transport modes: full-length, physically-separated bikeways were built along both sides of the BRT corridor and improved sidewalks run through the full corridor. In mid-2010, 5,000 bicycles were made available at 113 stations along the BRT corridor during Phase 1 of the Guangzhou public bicycle-sharing scheme. The city of Guangzhou says the bicycles are currently used for over 20,000 trips per day (bicycle ridership is up approximately 50%) and ITDP’s user surveys show that this reduces at least 7,500 motorized trips per day.

5% for Bikes Campaign in Mexico
1 August 2011, ITDP

ITDP (Institute for Transportation and Development Policy) launched the 5% for Bikes campaign in Mexico, in cooperation with the National Network of Urban Cycling (BiCiRA). The campaign calls for governments to commit at least 5% of the transportation budget to the creation of quality cycling infrastructure, encourage a culture of safe co-existence of the various vehicles on the roads, and work towards development of a regulatory framework to create a fair and equitable city. The campaign’s end goal is for cycling to become an essential part of urban transportation networks, not just something for exercise or recreation. On 28 July, musician David Byrne and ITDP Mexico rounded up a powerful team of government officials, urban planners and advocates to discuss the 5% campaign and how perceptions of urban transportation affect the way we build and live in the city, as the finale of the “Cities, Bicycles and the Future of Mobility” tour.

Cycling Caravan 2011 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
8 May 2011, UWABA

The UWABA Cycling Community in Tanzania organised the 2011 Dar es Salaam Cycle Caravan as part of Europe Week, with the event taking place on 8 May 2011. More than 300 cyclists participated in the caravan that was flagged off at Mnazi Moja. Cyclists travelled through Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road, Kawawa Road, Kariakoo and back to Mnazi Mmoja. Hon Magufuli, Minister for Infrastructure in Tanzania, graced the occasion and reiterated the need to support road safety for cyclists. The event was also organised as part of national activities for the Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020.

Cape Town, South Africa, Invests in Walking and Cycling Infrastructure
Spring 2011, BEN South Africa and City of Cape Town

There are over three million people in Cape Town, many of whom depend on public transport. Currently, most people travel by train, bus or minibus taxi, but Cape Town lacks the safe, affordable, reliable and integrated public transport system that a city of that size and level of development requires. In the past 3 years, the City of Cape Town (CoCT) has developed a city-wide NMT (non-motorised transport) programme to plan, design and implement NMT infrastructure within the city. The City is divided into four regions with 8 districts, and a list of projects has been identified with 2 prioritised projects being implemented per district. At present 16 prioritised projects are at the detailed design stage, with a proposed budget estimated at R200 million (about € 16,5 million). In March 2010 the City-Wide NMT Programme Conceptual Report & Network Design was completed, and the Implementation phase of prioritised projects was scheduled to start in March 2011. Restructuring of road-based Public Transport and Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) includes provision for bicycle infrastructure and parking facilities, and the cycling policy is part of an Integrated Transport Plan, that is a component of the Integrated Development Plan. Already many cyclists and pedestrians are using the special NMT lane from Table View to Cape Town city centre.