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news
prague_cc_licensed_by_roman_boed_via_flickr.jpgPrague to ban bikes (but not cars) from popular tourist areas
Prague is to ban cyclists from some of its most visited areas between the hours of 10am and 5pm, arguing that they are a hazard to tourists. Motorists with a permit will still be permitted.
The Guardian reports that the new ruling, which will come into effect from May, will keep cyclists out of areas including part of Wenceslas Square, Karlova street on the approach to the 600-year-old Charles Bridge, and Josefov, site of the city’s former Jewish ghetto.
“We are not against cyclists, but the problem is space,” said Oldřich Lomecký, the mayor of Prague 1, the municipality introducing the ban. “In a pedestrian zone, the advantage should be for pedestrians, not cyclists. Every day there is conflict between cyclists and pedestrians. This is the core of the problem.”
Prague’s official goal is for cycling to account for five per cent of all journeys by 2020.
Auto*Mat, a local pro-cycling campaign group, points out that nearly 1,000 cars will retain permits to enter central Prague’s otherwise pedestrian-only zones.
Speaking on behalf of the group, Vratislav Filler told the sort of story that may sound familiar to those who regularly visit the news pages of this website.
“Data shows there were 21 pedestrians hit by cars over the past 10 years, and only three involved in accidents with bicycles,” he said.
“The council just doesn’t think supporting cycling or creating corridors for cyclists is necessary in the city centre. It means cyclists are going to be forced on to streets that are dangerous because they have heavy car traffic and busy tram lines.”
The ban was originally conceived as one on the motorised bikes that have been marketed to tourists since the city banned Segways in 2016, but has since been expanded to include all bikes.
In 2011, two Prague artists drew attention to the dearth of bike lanes in the Czech capital by hooking a pico projector up to a bike so that they could project cycle lane markings onto the road ahead.
The resultant video pretty much proves everyone’s point. The cyclist is first seen on the road being passed by fast-moving cars, but ends with him weaving in and out of pedestrians at a fair old lick.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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With the lack of any decent content updates for a long time now, the build up to the tenth anniversary and the big hike in monthly price we'd...
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No offence to Endura, but same advice as to Rapha, I actually have all the kit I need, for probably several years. You need to go and win the next...
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Well, thanks for correcting me, I thought that bike was still in production! That bike was great though, too bad, so sad it's gone.
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Here's one I got an AI to write......
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Anti-cycling programs or articles always get a lot of attention or comments, so they are very good for media advertisers.
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This is a screenshot in low light and drizzle at approx 15mph. It's pretty decent in my opinion. I have mounted mine on my offside seat stay within...
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What a bunch of ases
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It was only your comment in the carousel that first brought me here, and yet I still managed to read most of the page before remembering this isn't...
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5 comments
Prague is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. Budapest and Vienna the next. The Czechs and Slovakians some of the keenest cyclists, tourists and racers you may ever meet. The Tatra mountains, Peter Sagan, fine weather and hospitality. They also manufacture some excellent kit.
would be fun to just stroll leisurely waiting for the police to activate, and then push some watts and watch them trip over trying to catch you.
As a pedestrian, I never had an issue with cyclists when walking round town, instead, I had issues with zombie pedestrians when cycling myself.
I recently moved to Cambridge, full of tourists and realised how much conflict there can be. In the tourist hot spots, pedestrians cannot fit onto the pavements and start to fill the road and cyclists weave between, with some riding far too fast. It was the first time I had seen another cyclist jump a red light, or ride without lights, but now to me it’s commonplace.
Just as cyclists should be protected from cars, pedestrians should be protected from cyclists. Make the areas with highest foot traffic cyclist free, but provide good bike lockup areas nearby, and remove places to lock up in the pedestrianised areas so they aren’t tempted to ride in.
Wonder how many of the pedestrians had been wound up sitting in traffic to travel less than 5 miles to get within 50m of their destination...
Bloody cyclists!
Living in the old communist dictatorships the best you could hope for was a Trabant, Dacia, a Skoda or something similar. Most people used horse and carts, public transport or walked. After the revolution in 1989, the first dream of dreams, the American dream, was to obtain a car from the west. It still is, you can't blame them. I have seen many living in terrible conditions in deteriorated flats or hovels, homes near to collapse, but with a Mercedes or a Porche parked outside. Think Albania. People travelled to other countries to obtain higher wages to return with a car that will fulfil their dreams and above all, give them status. Status and being important is everything after fifty years of the proletariat.
Bicycles and motorcycles were historically only for the poor. If you had one, have one, you must be a peasant, unimportant, a nobody and so looked down upon. Until recently it was deadly dangerous to be out cycling out on the roads. Drivers would often wind down their windows to shout swear and shake their fists at you to get off the road. Cars approaching, overtaking each other, drove at you head on forcing you off the road or be killed.
However, cyclists, people have learned from you in the west and organised 'Days of Protest' taking over the city centres, and slowly things have changed for the better. Not yet in Prague though, it seems, the old dinosaur elite still has a long way to go, but in the end, we will win.
Keep riding.