What Bikers Really Need in the Global South
In Delhi, Accra and Dhaka, most cyclists are low-income people who rely on bikes despite perilous riding conditions. Yet new bike lanes are built for the elite.
A cyclist rides at the edge of a car lane in Dhaka.
Photographer: Piyas Biswas/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
In urban areas like Dhaka, Delhi and Accra the streets are alive with engines, horns and urgency. Buses grind through intersections. Motorcycles, rickshaws and vendors push their way through any gap they can, and pedestrians play a real-life game of Crossy Road to traverse streets where crosswalks are blocked with congestion. In a commute plan built primarily for fast, motorized vehicles, those who choose to bike find themselves in a dangerous situation — they have to navigate an already competitive street hierarchy with the least protection.
In many low- and middle-income cities, bicycles account for a significant share of everyday trips, even though they are rarely treated as core infrastructure. In Delhi, for example, about 7% of all trips are made by bike, according to one government estimate — more than many cities in high-income countries. But that rate has gone down, not up, as more Delhi residents have shifted to motorized two-wheelers.