The good part of Covid19—because there is one, at least—is the massive change in the way we are moving. In Alba Iulia, RO, cycling has been going through a real explosion since March 2020, when the emergency state was declared in Romania.
Alba Sport Vision, one of the local TInnGO stakeholders and, also, one of the biggest bikes shop’n’service in Transilvania best noted this major change. Alina MARIAN, the managing partner of the company, said for the local TInnGo team that, “this period sales, especially on women’s bicycles, have increased by almost 50%, which was unexpected, even for us. So did children’s bikes, where sales also hit a record. All this leads to only one conclusion: that, since Covid19 pandemic, people are much more responsible when they choose to use bicycles instead of personal cars or conventional, motorized transport.”
Her statement is confirmed by Mr. Andrei ZAHAN, head of AIDA, the metropolitan zone transport association of Alba Iulia, “We have reduced by more than 35% the number of buses on AIDA routes, due to the ever decreasing demand. People seem to choose alternative, safer and healthier transport options in the context of the pandemic,” he states.
On the other hand, attentive to the new transport trends, the municipality of Alba Iulia is already implementing plans for sustainable urban mobility, including 16 km of new bike paths built from scratch in the city. “We have enough good practice examples in Europe, especially from the northern part, to make the use of the bike a way of life in Romania, too. Alba Iulia aims to be among the first cities to change the game from this point of view and to invest massively in sustainable mobility solutions, such as new bike lanes, bike sharing systems, special areas for pedestrians and so on…” states Mr. Voicu PAUL, the mayor of Alba Iulia.
Opening photo credit: https://www.facebook.com/pg/SkirtBikeAlbaIulia/photos/?ref=page_internal
