District VII mayor joins Budapest cyclists' cause

Budapest's District VII has joined a public initiative to make the city more bicycle-friendly by installing bike racks, an unprecedented move in a city known to favor motorists over cyclists at all times, writes index.hu.

index.hu

Budapest's first permanent bicycle parking rack set up on a sidewalk occupies only two car parking spaces and provides safe parking for 25 bikes.

The lack of sufficient bike racks in Budapest is evident. Near popular destinations, bicycles are chained to traffic signs, lamp posts and fences. Sidewalks are narrow, which means racks would have to occupy parking spaces, something generally thought to be unacceptable in the city. As a result of a recent initiative by bicycle courier company Hajtás Pajtás, the situation may finally change.

Hajtás Pajtás riders have been reported to police on several occasions by residents of downtown Király utca, claiming the bikes locked to the company's offices were a nuisance. The courier service first submitted a request to the local government for permission to install a bike parking rack for 25 bikes on two car parking spaces on the sidewalk in fall 2007. The request was rejected on the basis that the number of parking spaces cannot be reduced.

"Critical Mass" organizers Gábor Kürti and Károly Sinka then talked to Budapest Mayor Gábor Demszky in person after a press conference on the bicycle situation in the city, asking for practical advice to their problem instead of promises. Demszky suggested they turn to his transport department, which granted conditional permission after receiving formal documentation and plans. To validate the permit, signatures from the local government and the "traffic technology" department were also needed. It took six months to get these, but once they were granted, Hajtás Pajtás was allowed to set up the rack, which cost the company a total of Ft 450,000 (€1,790) and an additional Ft 45,000 per month to use the space.

Months after the parking rack was installed, District VII Mayor György Hunvald contacted the company to say he liked the initiative, and following the example of the couriers, the local government would also install a few racks, which are still a novelty in the city.

Hunvald told the portal that since then, the local government had chosen 54 locations near major intersections, educational and local governmental institutions and catering establishments where racks would be set up. Roughly half of the parking racks would be standing on the sidewalk, sacrificing parking spaces. The Ft 5 million investment has been accepted by the district, which means that if the Budapest government grants permission, work can start this month.

He added that the racks, which would provide parking for roughly 300 bicycles, are part of a larger plan to introduce a bike rental service already in operation in some Western European cities, including Paris and Lyon. After studying the system, he will make aproposal to other districts and the Budapest government that the plan is realized in a co-operation.

Hunvald says the flexible system would help reduce traffic on the roads by allowing rentable bicycles to be used with a pre-purchased card at any time, and dropped off at another rack later. The mayor believes the system would be especially useful in Budapest where public transport is well-developed in inner districts, but getting around in the street network between main roads is quicker by bicycle, on foot or by car.

As the next step towards introducing the system is installing bike racks, Hunvald will talk to mayors of District V, VI and VIII to suggest they install them in their districts.

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