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Chandigarh: World Bicycle Day is a reminder of a simple truth: the cycle remains one of the most efficient, affordable and quietly transformative machines ever invented.

First conceived in 1817 by the German Baron Karl von Drais and refined over the next two centuries, the bicycle has reshaped personal mobility more profoundly than almost any other mode of transport. As an avid cyclist myself, I find every ride a daily reminder that the bicycle is far more than a machine; it is a symbol of freedom, self-reliance and human endurance – and, perhaps more than ever, a practical mobility solution hiding in plain sight.

Yet, across India, its salience is fast shrinking.

Once a prized and everyday companion for many of us over 65 in our growing-up years, the bicycle has largely disappeared from urban life; not because its fundamental utility has diminished – it has not – but because cities and towns have refashioned themselves around the needs of motor vehicles, making everyday cycling more difficult, less practical and often unsafe in the 21st century.

The underlying irony, however, is that the bicycle remains ideally suited to most short urban journeys – school runs, market visits, office commutes, among others – all of which fall well within cycling distance in India’s traffic-clogged towns and cities. Yet despite this, it is now rarely the transport of choice.

According to Wednesday’s Economic Times newspaper, a 2021 World Bank report – ‘Investing for Momentum in Active Mobility’ – had estimated that around 35% of all urban trips in India averaged under three kilometres, about 60% under five kilometres and nearly 80% under ten kilometres – all distances within easy cycling range. The report effectively underlined that a large share of everyday urban travel across the country did not, in principle, necessitate motorised transport.

It went on to state that these short distances could not only be traversed swiftly and with ease on a bicycle but also provide millions of sedentary Indians with an opportunity to meet the World Health Organisation’s recommended 150-300 minutes of weekly physical activity. This, in turn, the report recommended could help reduce the perils of obesity and related metabolic disorders that were rapidly becoming endemic across the country, as overall levels of physical activity continue to sharply decline.

The Economic Times further reported that India ranks fifth globally for traffic congestion, with conditions in the country’s four largest metropolitan centres – New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai – imposing an estimated annual economic cost of over Rs 1.83 lakh crore through lost productivity, fuel wastage and travel delays.

The paper also cited a study by TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), which estimated that shifting just half of all short-distance motorised journeys to bicycles could generate annual savings equivalent to 1.6% of GDP. According to TERI, these gains would accrue through lower........

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