Aiming to promote cycling as an alternative mode of clean, healthy, and affordable transport for commuters in cities, on January 1 the Government of Nepal launched its campaign, ‘Cycling for a Healthy City’. The campaign, launched jointly by the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport of Nepal, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Kantipur Media Group, and Cycle City Network Nepal, aims to promote and support sustainable urban mobility and environment-friendly lifestyle choices for urban populations in the context of COVID-19 and beyond.
The campaign is initially expected to be launched in two municipalities and will then be further scaled up in the next few years. Lalitpur Metropolitan City will kick off the initiative with a cycle rally in Lalitpur on January 9.
Underlining that the bicycle has been in use for two centuries and continues to be a simple, affordable, reliable, clean and environmentally sustainable mode of transport, fostering environmental stewardship and health, the UNDP Resident Representative in Nepal, Ayshanie Medagangoda-Labe, said, “Cycling should be included in development programs where stakeholders encourage the use of the bicycle as a means of fostering sustainable development. It is a means to access schools, health facilities and to help to keep fit the young and old, the rich and poor alike.”
Emphasizing that the Government of Nepal’s National Plan for Electric Mobility (NPEM) envisages improving air quality through a 50% reduction in the use of fossil fuels in the transport sector by 2050, Gopal Prasad Sigdel, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport of Nepal, said, “Promoting cycling in cities, I believe, will be one of the immediate and low-cost and most sustainable ways of reaching that target and makes a strong case for the sustainability of Nepal’s existing and emerging cities.”
Commenting that Lalitpur Metropolitan City was pleased to launch this joint campaign to further motivate the people in the city to use bicycles as an alternative means of transport, Chiribabu Maharjan, the Mayor of Lalitpur Metropolitan City, said, “As the first city to have initiated cycle lanes, I believe it makes great sense to initiate the cycle campaign in Lalitpur. We look forward to building healthier cities together.”
- According to Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), Nepal aimed to increase the proportion of electric vehicles by up to 20% by 2020.
- Similarly, by 2050, Nepal will decrease its dependency on fossil fuel in the transport sector by 50% through mass public transport while promoting energy-efficient and electric vehicles.
- Nepal will also develop its electrical (hydro-powered) rail network by 2040 to support the mass transportation of goods and public commuters.
- By 2025, Nepal aims to try to decrease the rate of air pollution through the proper monitoring of the sources of air pollutants such as waste, old and unmaintained vehicles, and industrial output.
- In Nepal, urban air is increasingly polluted and the air quality in larger cities such as Kathmandu Valley has fallen sharply as the concentration of pollutants increases.
- According to an Environmental Performance Index (2016) carried out by Yale University, in Kathmandu exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as per the Environmental Performance Index was 30.40 µg/m3 in 2014, three times higher than the World Health Organization standard of 10 µg/m3.
- A World Health Organization’s study in 2016 entitled ‘Ambient air pollution: A global assessment of exposure and burden of disease’ revealed that the annual average exposure of PM 2.5 in Kathmandu Valley was nearly five times higher than the WHO standard
Focusing on advocacy and awareness of the adoption of cycle-friendly policies and programs and environment-friendly lifestyle choices for urban populations, the campaign plans to use existing technology to track, map, credit, and reward good cycling practices and gradually connect with a larger ecosystem of solutions for healthy cities. It also aims to motivate people to use bicycles or switch to cycling and other forms of cleaner transport through the gamification of cycling practices that will incentivize cyclists with rewards and also favor clean businesses that sponsor and participate in the game.
It is anticipated that people will be more willing to switch to or continue cycle-commuting for many reasons including economic, health, and environmental factors as well as COVID-19 related safety reasons. Furthermore, the cycle campaign is expected to offer opportunities for private sector contribution through sponsorship and other in-kind rewards along with certain business development opportunities for interested private sector companies as the initiative progresses.
