With cases of Covid-19 surging past the one million mark, Indians are shunning crowded buses and trains to travel on what has traditionally been regarded in this status-conscious society as the poor man’s mode of mobility: the bicycle.
At Bike Studio in Bhopal, owner Varun Awasthi is almost out of stock. Sales are up by 30% and he expects them to rise to 50% once he gets more bicycles.
“It’s a craze. I’ve never seen anything like it. People come in saying cycling is the best way to avoid crowded public transport and maintain a social distance. They don’t want to risk car-hailing apps either – 90% are first timers who haven’t ridden a bike since they were five or six,” says Awasthi.
As in other parts of the world, India is experiencing a boom in bicycle sales caused by the virus. Atul Gupta in Chandigarh is extending his opening hours to cope with the influx of customers. “I’m running out of stock. There is a long waiting list for my next consignment,” he says.
Indians want to get back to work but travelling on public transport is a huge fear. A survey in April and May by Deloitte showed that 77% of consumers want to limit the use of public transport and 70% plan to avoid ride-hailing options. About 79% want a car.
But not many can afford a car to remain isolated while travelling. The next best option is a bicycle. In June, when the lockdown was lifted, sales went up by 25% compared with the same month last year, says the All India Cycle Manufacturers’ Association.
Suryanarayan Singh, a cycling enthusiast in Bhopal, says people are desperate to exercise after the lockdown.
“Everyone is obsessed with boosting their immunity to ward off the virus and exercise is seen as vital. So while some are commuting on their bikes, others are buying them purely for exercise that can be done while avoiding human contact,” says Singh.
In Delhi, two app-based bicycle companies are expanding their services in the capital. Electric bike rental start-up Yulu already provides bikes at 250 metro stations and plans to expand. SmartBike is setting up bike stations in 130 neighbourhoods this year.
While it has taken a global pandemic to make many Indians realise the value of cycling, it is unlikely to become as commonplace as in Europe. The car is still the ultimate status symbol, and India has gone from having 89m cars in 2006 to 253m in 2017.
The first sign of a family starting to do well is when the scooter is traded in for a car. The next stage is having a driver ostentatiously chaperoning them to their seat before putting the shopping bags in the boot.
Multiple cars sit in the driveways of the rich, one for every member of the family.
Aside from a car’s status value, the intense summer heat also works against cycling. Riding a bike while wearing a helmet in temperatures of 40C is not pleasant.
But perhaps the most important factor holding cycling back is India’s roads, where murderous mayhem rules. Cyclists are at the bottom of the highway heirarchy – an irritant to be bullied and forced aside by cars, while trucks and buses almost graze them as they hurtle past.
There are few cycle lanes. Even where some exist, they are intermittent, forcing cyclists on some stretches to go back onto the road. Between 2011 and 2015, 25,435 cyclists were killed. In 2018 in Delhi alone, 53 cyclists were killed in road accidents.
The government is trying to promote cycling in cities but progress has been slow.
What could put pressure on the authorities is more Indians demanding cycle lanes, a digital network of rental cycles, better maintained roads with fewer potholes, and lock-friendly bike racks, especially at metro stations and bus stops.
This pressure may grow given that cycling is gaining traction. “It’s become glamorous, a kind of status symbol of an aware, environmentally conscious person. If you have a bike, you are respected,” says Singh.
For Jyoti Pande Lavakare, the emergence of new cycling groups across India is good news. She and her family love to cycle. As someone who campaigns against pollution through the Care For Air group, which she co-founded in Delhi, Lavakare hopes the post-pandemic world may cement this trend into a lasting contribution to reducing pollution.
“Subsidising cycles would be an excellent beginning and schools would be a good place to start when they come back to offline classes. Behavioural changes are the hardest to engineer and habits begin at an early age. The fact that it’s becoming aspirational will be useful,” she says.
