Budapest turned empty roads into bike lanes because of coronavirus

Budapest City Council believes that temporary bike lanes provide a safe alternative for getting around in the current coronavirus situation when people are advised to avoid using public transportation.

Index reports that traffic in Budapest decreased by 60% due to the pandemic, and it has also led to a 90% drop in bus passengers on some routes. It was announced in March 2020 that Budapest started working on temporarily expanding the network of cycling routes in the city. This way, cycling can be a good alternative for everyone who is living in Budapest and has to go from one place to another but does not want to use public transport.

Magyar Kerékpárosklub provided a set of proposals detailing cheap and fast ways to create new bike routes in Budapest.

The expansion of the network of cycling routes started on Bartók Béla street and Tétényi street, but one of the most important additions include Üllői street, which is a crucial road connecting the inner and outer districts. Cyclists can now find the newly put up signs indicating the temporary bike lanes.

Unfortunately, most of these are temporary, and once everything gets back to normal, these lanes will resume functioning as regular car lanes. Metro constructions will likely start in the fall, and lanes will be much needed for the replacement buses on busy routes.

As we have reported earlier, Budapest City Council has already taken several steps to make cycling a good alternative to public transport during this pandemic. For example, as of 14 March 2020, the MOL Bubi system, Budapest’s public bike-sharing system is temporarily available for a symbolic fee of HUF 100. Simultaneously, in order to provide a simpler use, BKK launched the possibility of online registration. The public bike-sharing system is available with 157 docking stations and with 2,071 MOL Bubi bikes from Óbuda to Kelenföld and from Városmajor to József Attila-lakótelep.

Source: www.facebook.com/ibikebudapest; www.index.hu