BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has been encouraged to promote a culture of cycling within the city to reduce carbon pollution caused by vehicles.
Mozambique’s Quelimane Municipality said the local authority could copy its pro-cycling initiative,where there is zero tax for bicycle users.
The remarks were made during the city-to-city exchange programme between the Quelimane Municipality and Bulawayo City Council this month.
Quelimane municipal director for projects and strategic studies Sacura Chipire said this was another initiative to reduce carbon emissions.
Chipire said their mayor Manuel de Araújo promoted the cycling culture by introducing zero tax to all bicycle taxi drivers, among other factors.
“The mayor actually promotes cycling by giving out more bicycles to the residents. The majority of cyclists in the city are bicycle taxi drivers and also the citizens,” he said.
“In addition to that, as a municipality, we actually came up with different programmes because we are aware that most of the bicycle taxi drivers come from the rural areas and when they get to the city, they see traffic lights which will be something new to them.”
According to Chipire, they are in the process of constructing cycle lanes in the city, a first in that country.
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“Currently, we are actually working with an organisation in the United States which has invested about US$400 000 to build about 5km of cycle lane,” he said.
“That’s actually a milestone and very important to promote cycling in the city. It’s not only the bicycle taxi drivers involved in this, but also a lot of women and children have taken an interest in cycling.”
In 2022, BCC announced plans to promote a cycling culture.
Acting town clerk Sikhangele Zhou said the aim was to be a leading, smart and transformative city by the end of 2024.
Since then, there has been little movement towards revamping cycle tracks on old and new roads.
