Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Specialists from the Institute for Macroeconomic and Regional Studies (IMRI) conducted a survey to assess the popularity of cycling among the population of Uzbekistan as a means of transportation to work.

About 100,000 respondents participated in the survey.

The survey revealed:

1. residents of the country move to the workplace through:

- car -51%;

-public transport -26%;

- on foot -16%;

-bike -7%.

2. To the question of whether there is a desire to switch to cycling if there is a convenient infrastructure

74% answered YES;

26% answered NO, and gave various reasons for rejection:

-distance -12%,

- embarrassment -4%

-discomfort -4%

-health problems -2%

-other reasons -4%.

Cycling has many benefits:

-Health Benefits: People who cycle to work have a 45% lower risk of cancer and a 46% lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

-Environmental benefit: Implementation of the Dutch approach (who cycle an average of 2.6 km per day) worldwide would reduce annual CO2 emissions by 686 million tons.

-Economic Benefit: Increasing the share of cycling to 6% (cycling will replace car trips) will generate about US$1.2 billion in global benefits annually from climate change mitigation.

There are several obstacles for cycling, which can be divided into 3 main groups:

- Perception and awareness of bicycles is one of the biggest barriers to achieving a higher share of bicycles. In particular, stereotypes such as "a bicycle is for the poor who cannot afford a car" or "not suitable for women because of the mentality";

- Poor infrastructure creates barriers to the use of bicycles, which may discourage people from this environmentally friendly and healthy mode of transport;

- Urban policy to create a city friendly to cyclists may not be fully implemented. Support from employers is also important, in particular, the creation of showers and changing places at work.

Recognizing the broad benefits of cycling, governments around the world have set targets for cycling:

England has set itself the goal of doubling the number of cycling trips by 2025 compared to 2013.

In 2021, the Pan-European "biking" plan was adopted,

which aims to significantly increase the number of cyclists in the region by 2030.

France in 2018 committed to tripling cycling by 2024.

Current state in Uzbekistan

In Uzbekistan, an increasing number of people are starting to use bicycles. At the same time, there are a number of infrastructural shortcomings that prevent people from switching to cycling:

-Very often, cyclists encounter obstacles in the form of concrete flower beds, retail stalls, parked cars and drains;

Also, pedestrians become an obstacle in the way of cyclists;

- Along a number of streets, the width of the bike lanes is 1 meter, which is less than world standards;

- Bicycle paths are not interconnected into a single network, and cyclists are forced to move along the roadway.

In 2022, 9,902 road accidents were officially registered in Uzbekistan, of which 1,136 (11.5%) are bicycle accidents. At the same time, in 342 (3.5%) cases, the reason is the lack of bike lanes.

  In order for the bicycle to become a more widespread and mass mode of transport, it is necessary:

-create a safe and convenient infrastructure for it, including parking lots and repair stations.

- promotion of bicycles as an everyday means of transportation can increase the popularity of their use;

-development of a bicycle rental system (bicycle sharing) in cities and tourist areas.