Cycling in the Era of COVID-19: Lessons Learnt and Best Practice Policy Recommendations for a More Bike-Centric Future

Alexandros Nikitas, Stefanos Tsigdinos, Christos Karolemeas, Efthymia Kourmpa and Efthimios Bakogiannis
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Alexandros Nikitas: Huddersfield Business School, University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield HD1 3DH, UK
Stefanos Tsigdinos: School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece
Christos Karolemeas: School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece
Efthymia Kourmpa: School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece
Efthimios Bakogiannis: School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 15780 Athens, Greece

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-25

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our cities in monumental ways with no sector likely being more severely impacted than transport. Lockdowns, physical spacing, transport restrictions and stay-at-home guidelines have transformed personal mobility and highlighted the mistakes of an unbalanced pro-car culture that defined a century of urban planning. One immediate effect of the virus in relation to travel demand and supply was the emergence of active travel modes because of their unique ability to provide a socially distanced way of transport. Cycling is one of the modes that has enjoyed significant attention. Numerous cities have reallocated street and public space to cyclists and introduced pro-bike interventions like pop-up cycle lanes, e-bike subsidies, free bike-share use and traffic calming measures. This newly found outbreak-induced momentum creates an opportunity to establish a new ethos that allows the promotion of potentially permanent strategies that may help cycling to be (re-)established as a robust, mainstream and resilient travel mode for inner city trips and not as a second-class alternative operating under the automobile’s giant shadow. This paper provides a state-of-the-art description of the anti-COVID cycling-friendly initiatives that have been introduced globally, the successes and failures of these initiatives, the lessons learnt that can help us redefine the bicycle’s role in local societies today and a best cycling practice policy guide for planning a more bike-centric future.

Keywords: cycling; COVID-19; transport planning; cycle lanes; bike-sharing; e-bikes; road space reallocation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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