Prague boasts other suicide bikes. “The bike becomes a fetish,” says Pospíšil
Bicycle transport as one of the central pre-election topics in Prague. Recently, Prague City Hall boasted record investments in cycling infrastructure (it has invested over a billion crowns in it since 2019) and this year it wants to build the most cycling routes in history. But for whom? Prague is not Amsterdam and despite all its efforts, it still belongs more to motorists than to cyclists. The dispute is mainly about the often criticized and dangerous cycle lanes, which, especially on busy roads, unlike cycle paths, are used by cyclists only in rare cases. The problematic cycle lanes are criticized not only by the opposition, but also by the coalition colleagues of the Pirates and Prague, who are behind the whole concept of traffic construction.
At the beginning of May, the Prague councilor and deputy mayor for transport, Adam Scheinherr (Prague himself), boasted last year’s record investments in bicycle infrastructure (370 million crowns). And for this year, it wants to build the most cycling routes in history. “We are investing 127 million crowns through the Technical Administration of Roads alone, and with subsidies for city districts this year we are reaching almost a quarter of a billion. We will open the most new sections of cycle routes in history. This is the result of intensive training in recent years, ”says Adam Scheinherr.
According to him, last year confirmed that the popularity of bicycle transport in the capital is growing significantly. “The counters recorded almost 5.9 million trips of Praguers on the city’s cycling routes. We also know from the counters that the number of passes has basically doubled since 2019, and at least once a month, 456,000 people ride bicycles in Prague. do work.
However, it is the counters that record passages that show the long-term trend that most Prague cyclists avoid roads in the city center and use mainly the backbone cycle paths along the Vltava (in the long run, most passages are recorded on the Modřany and Troja cycle paths). This is one of the reasons why it is considered to be primarily recreational cyclists.
Scheinherr has previously stated for the daily Echo24 that cycle lanes are created in Prague following the example of Swiss cities. For example, in the capital Bern, cycling accounts for more than 15% of the total transport mix, while in Prague – according to data TSK – only 1%. The rest of the transport consists of public transport (43%), cars (33%) and pedestrian transport (23%). In addition, according to some expert opinions, Prague cannot become a cycling city such as Amsterdam in the Netherlands in the foreseeable future due to its hilly landscape profile.
It bothers me that the bike becomes a fetish, says Pospíšil
Coalition representative for TOP 09 Jiří Pospíšil says that he is not against investing in cycling, but I do not agree that city cycling should be preferred at the expense of cars. “I will not oppose investments in new cycle paths. I don’t mind the principle of investing in bike paths. But it bothers me that there are no changes in the technical parameters of the road and the bike lanes are painted there without enough space for them. People who write to me often complain that the lanes for cars are narrowing and the risk of precipitation is increasing, see the reconstruction of Charles Square, but there are a number of places, “he says for Echo24.
“It bothers me that with Councilor Scheinherr, the bike becomes a fetish and basically creates bike lanes where the technical conditions were not suitable. I do not want to force Praguers on what form of transport they should use in Prague. As an urban liberal, I want them to decide for themselves what form of transport they will use and to have an offer to do so. The city has to choose the options for them, not that we will do everything we can to force the Prague citizen to use the cycle paths. This is social engineering, “adds Pospíšil.
Portlík: Scheinherr declared war on motorists
The opposition Prague representative for the ODS and the mayor of Prague 9, Tomáš Portlík, are also against the boundless painting of cycle lanes. “Mr. Scheinherr has declared war on motorists,” he says.
“In the program statement, the word car had three times and always slowly in a negative connotation, and ten results of four years of rule correspond to that. Only now, when he found out that motorists are a large part of the electorate, did they suddenly start dusting things like the level crossing of Poděbrady and Kbelská, which are the ideas we put together ten years ago. The reason that they are doing level crossings at the moment is that they know that the cycle lanes on the main roads are completely useless and that there is a need to make level cycle paths, because those classic cycle lanes simply do not work, “says Portlík.
“I think that cycling is increasing the proportion that has been going up in the last five or six years, but they are still at a low percentage. They have scribbled the whole of Prague, but they must have a head and a heel in order to attract cyclists, “he adds.
According to him, the number of drivers is being reduced due to bicycle lanes. “We can all see if those bike lanes limit or not restrict drivers. The road, where the final is a relatively narrow lane, is not comfortable in the final either for cyclists, because they inhale smoke, or for motorists, because it would be sacred to be careful if something didn’t happen. If we are to follow the example of Switzerland, we should all see how many cycle paths there are in Switzerland, or in Bonn, Germany and other cities, and that those cycle paths can be a certain body line and so on. It is necessary to move the skeleton so that cyclists ride outside the car as much as possible. The cycle paths are to be run extra-level and out of the vehicle. Or then we can go the way of Thailand and then it’s useless to draw anything on those roads. “
In 2021, Prague built a total of 21 kilometers of new cycle paths. At the same time, however, 27.5 kilometers of cycle lanes were created, on which most civic and political critics descend.