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Surakarta declares itself bike-friendly city despite minimum facilities
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A white bicycle has been installed by Bicycle community Rocketers on the sidewalk of Jl. Gatot Subroto in South Jakarta, near the location of an accident, which took the life of cyclist Sandi Syafiek, 37, on Feb. 10. The installation is there to urge other road users to share the road with cyclists. (tribunnews.com/Dennis)
The Surakarta administration declared the city bike-friendly over the weekend, despite the fact that its facilities are inadequate.
Bike enthusiast and chair of cyclist community Sepeda Onthel Lawas, Didik Santosa, said he was nonetheless encouraged by the local administration’s effort, calling on local leaders to quickly meet the basic requirements for a city to be considered cyclist friendly.
“It’s a good move, even though facilities for cyclists remain inadequate. I hope this is a starting point for the local administration [to improve the facilities],” Didik said on Monday.
He mentioned a number of problems that need to be addressed, including the conversion of bike lanes into parking areas for motorbikes and the presence of street vendors on bike lanes.
Surakarta Deputy Mayor Achmad Purnomo said the declaration was part of the administration’s commitment to reducing air pollution and traffic jams.
“We have allocated funds to fix [bike lanes]. The transportation agency will also install road signs for bike lanes. We will clear the bike lanes in the near future,” he said.
