Ankara Metropolitan Municipality prepared the "Ankara Bicycle Strategy and Master Plan", which is planned to be implemented gradually until 2040, and introduced it to the public. Bicycle lovers showed great interest in the introductory meeting attended by Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş. According to the plan, 53,6 routes with a total length of 2040 kilometers and a bicycle path consisting of 275 stations will be provided to Ankara by 87, including the 38 kilometer cycle path under construction.
After the 53,6-kilometer bicycle path project, which continues under the coordination of the EGO General Directorate in order to reduce environmental pollution in the capital and to promote the use of bicycles in public transportation, the Metropolitan Municipality Transportation Department also plans to implement Başkent's first "Ankara Bicycle Strategy and He prepared the Master Plan.
“Ankara Cycling”, which will consist of 275 routes and 87 stations, with a total length of 38 kilometers, prepared in cooperation with the Metropolitan Municipality and ARUP, supported by the United Kingdom Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development and the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-Habitat) fund within the scope of the 'Global Future Cities Programme'. The introductory meeting of the Strategy and Master Plan was held at the Metropolitan Municipality Conference Hall.
Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş, members of the Metropolitan Municipality Council, EGO General Manager Nihat Alkaş, ASKİ General Manager Erdoğan Öztürk, Metropolitan Municipality bureaucrats, AKK Executive Board Chairman Halil İbrahim Yılmaz, United Kingdom Ambassador to Ankara Dominick Chilcot, ambassador of 33 countries and mission Ankara City Council Cycling Council members and Czech Embassy Charge d'affaires Jiri Borcel came to the meeting with its chief and many rectors.
TAŞKINSU: “IT WILL BE A PART OF DAILY LIFE”
While the “Ankara Bicycle Strategy and Master Plan” was delivered to Mayor Yavaş by ARUP Turkey Transportation Team Leader Ali Şengöz, Metropolitan Municipality Secretary General Reşit Serhat Taşkınsu drew attention to the fact that Ankara has the highest rate of motor vehicle ownership in Turkey in his opening speech: pulled:
“While there are 142 vehicles per thousand people on average in Turkey, this rate rises to 252 in Ankara. For this reason, traffic and environmental pollution are among the important problems of Ankara, which is growing rapidly. With this project, which we aim to solve this important problem of Ankara in an environmentally friendly and inclusive way, we aim to popularize the bicycle as a sustainable and innovative mode of transportation and to create a bicycle network in the city. We will encourage people to cycle regardless of their age or social status.”
Stating that a 4,75-kilometer route in Batıkent was chosen as the pilot implementation of the master plan, Taşkınsu said, “We have prepared the implementation projects. It will be integrated with Batıkent Metro and Batı Merkez Metro Stations. It will appeal to a population of more than 36 thousand, over 5 thousand employees and close to 7 thousand students. We are planning to implement the Batıkent Bicycle Road Project in 2023”.
ALKAŞ: “WE HAVE TAKE GREAT STEPS FOR BICYCLE INFRASTRUCTURE IN 2,5 YEARS”
EGO General Manager Nihat Alkaş also stated that the Bicycle Paths Project, which is one of the most important election promises within the framework of the human-centered transportation policies of Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş, continues, and said:
“We are happy to break new ground in our Capital with this project. The climate is changing and we have been feeling the impact of this more in recent years. Average temperatures are increasing year by year. We see the recent floods and forest fires as a result of this situation. As Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, we are working hard to combat climate change. We have made great strides in bicycle infrastructure in the last 2,5 years, but we are also aware that we have more work to do.”
AKKOYUNLU: “OUR AIM IS TO PROVIDE ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORTATION OPPORTUNITIES IN THE CITY”
In his speech at the introductory meeting, Ali Cengiz Akkoyunlu, Head of the Metropolitan Municipality Transportation Department, said, “We have implemented our 'Ankara Bicycle Strategy and Master Plan' project, which also supports the Ankara Climate Action Plan. Our aim is to develop cycling culture, to offer alternative transportation opportunities in the city, to increase mobility, to prevent traffic jams and environmental pollution”, while ARUP Turkey Transportation Team Leader Ali Şengöz made the following assessments:
“Ankara, our beautiful Capital with a population of approximately 5,5 million, and one of the lesser-known features of this city we love to live in is that it is the province with the highest number of automobiles in Turkey. In addition to this, it is necessary to fight against traffic density and air pollution. The solution to this is not to build more roads for cars, but to integrate different types of transportation, such as bicycles, into the society and solve them together. For this purpose, we thought of it as a solution that can be integrated into public transportation, where everyone can use the bicycle as a mode of transportation within the scope of the Bicycle Master Plan.”
UN Habitat Local Strategic Advisor Mehmet Sinan Özden also stated that they are working to promote the use of bicycles all over the world and emphasized the importance of environmentalist transportation with the following words:
“We have worked with Ankara Metropolitan Municipality and ARUP since the first day of the project in the development of Ankara's bicycle transportation plans. From the development of the project to the preparation of the planning framework, and then to the determination and establishment of the project's compliance with the sustainable development goals, we continued our cooperation with the proposals for implementation. The world of the future is a world where we will be more exposed to the effects of climate change and where we need to increase the fight. Increasing the use of bicycles, which is a green mode of transportation, should be considered as one of Ankara's measures in this area. It is inevitable that the perception of 'no cycling in Ankara' will change with the expansion of the bicycle path network. Bicycle will now become a valid and accepted means of transportation for Ankara in urban transportation.”
Stating that they are happy to support the implementation of the Master Plan, British Ambassador to Ankara Dominick Chilcott made the following statements:
“I have to admit I am biased in appreciating cities that encourage more cycling than driving. In the 14 years I have worked in London, I have always cycled to and from work, so the benefits of cycling to personal health and, more importantly, to the environment, are undeniable. That is why I am very happy that the Bicycle Master Plan has been launched in Ankara. This program continues under the UK government's global cities of the future programme, emphasizing new transport policies in 10 different countries and around 20 cities. The project was launched in September 2019 and was developed thanks to the contributions of many institutions and communities in the city, and was created thanks to the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality in particular, district municipalities, academics, and representatives of international organizations such as EBRD and BYCS. Our aim is to make the bicycle the most important urban transportation vehicle of the future, and the master plan will ensure that the traffic is reduced with exhaust gas emissions and that the disadvantaged groups can access the bicycle more easily than the automobile.”
THE MASTER PLAN WAS PREPARED WITH THE OPINION OF EXPERTS AND THE CAPITAL
The master plan, in which all necessary precautions are taken for safe driving, with the vision of “to ensure the adoption of the bicycle as a type of urban transportation for everyone and its integration into the public transportation system”; It was prepared by taking the opinions of experts on many subjects from the need for parking spaces to the population growth rate and how the rates of bicycle use will change, from the habits of cyclists to their usage preferences, and about 10 thousand citizens of the Capital with an online survey.
Bicyclists and representatives of non-governmental organizations, who participated heavily in the introductory meeting, stated that they examined the master plan closely and summarized their thoughts with the following words:
-Jiri Borcel (Charge d'Affaires at the Czech Embassy): “I think this plan is an excellent opportunity to support the Metropolitan Municipality's ideas about cycling. Cycling is not only healthy but also an effective means of transportation. Anything done for cyclists in the city deserves great respect and support.”
-Kadir İspirli (AKK Cycling Council President): “With this master plan prepared for our Ankara, we will have reached the 210-kilometer bicycle path project. As Ankara Cycling Council, our ideas and opinions are taken in line with the vision of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor, Mr. Mansur Yavaş. We had the opportunity to convey our ideas and thoughts at the meetings held during this plan process.”
-Nevzat Helvacioglu: “Ankara Metropolitan Municipality promised us a 53-kilometer bike path and now 3/1 of it has been built. It will be much better in the coming days when all is completed. It was an honor for us, bicycle lovers, to be contacted while the master plan was being prepared.”
-Aygun Doga: “We are very happy, the 53-kilometer bike path work continues. In addition, new bike paths will be built. People started to show respect to us cyclists. We thank our President Mansur.”
-Alp Ergun: “As an environmentally friendly and cycling enthusiast, we are very happy to see the work of the Metropolitan Municipality for bicycle lovers. Hopefully, by 2040, the projects will be completed and the number of cyclists will increase. Currently, there are no bike paths in many places and our life safety is in danger. It is truly an honor that they prepared a master plan with this in mind and asked us to do so.”
-Fatma Bulbul: “Our President Mansur Yavaş took into account the non-governmental organizations in this regard and embarked on this path together with them. Ankara needed it badly. We thank him very much for this vision that our President has put forward.”
-Meltem Alkaş sees: “It is such a good thing to say that, very good things will happen in our Ankara. On behalf of the cyclists, we would like to thank our president very much. We've been waiting for a long time, we've put a lot of effort into it. We love Ankara, we love bicycles.”
-Mert Altan: “I have been cycling since I was 12 years old. I was wondering about the Master Plan. As cyclists, we expect good plans in the near future.”
-Metin Ozturk: “We have been using bicycles in Ankara for a long time. We are also curious about the master plan. We want it to be accelerated and implemented as soon as possible.”
While the participants of the introductory meeting experienced the simulation application of the 4,75-kilometer Batıkent pilot project with VR glasses, the non-governmental organizations coming to the Metropolitan Municipality with their bicycles, especially the cycling lovers from the Capital, had a souvenir photo taken with Mayor Yavaş.
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