'Pedestrian, cycling facilities cheaper than roads'

Air pollution in Delhi can be a catalyst for making crucial changes in our mobility system to incorporate infrastructure and space for pedestrians and cyclists, says urban planner Jeff Olson. Co-founder of Alta Bicycle Share, Olson, who has been a part of the greenways and cycle sharing initiatives in New York, told Jayashree Nandi that building pedestrian and cycling infrastructure is far more affordable than building infrastructure for cars which is why it shouldn't be delayed.

Did you see a major shift from cars to cycling after the bike share schemes were put in place?

It's still early to say we have seen that change in a big way. In Portland, Oregon, we now have 8% of people cycling and a significant number of pedestrians. These are people who shifted from driving. In terms of investment too it makes sense. The amount of money spent on building one mile of urban highway has funded all pedestrian and greenway projects in Portland for the past ten years..

People are scared to cycle or even walk on the main roads here because it's extremely risky. Do you have laws to protect pedestrians?

New York state law defines traffic to be pedestrians and bicycles and other modes sharing road space to commute. So pedestrians and bicycles are recognized modes, and that has probably helped drive policy to build infrastructure for them.

Cycling is often considered to be a poor man's mode of transport. How did you manage to in spire people to shift from cars?

In the wealthier parts of the world, there are people with significant health problems because of lack of physical activity and the response to it is to cycle more; in other parts, it's a mode for the poor who have no other choice. It's very interesting to see how these trends meet at the same point. And then it becomes like a social movement. In NYC, after bike share projects were launched and greenways developed, all of a sudden every media star wanted to be seen on a bike. Open a newspaper and you see Leonardo di Caprio on a bike; bike share was in the opening credits of the movie, Annie; and Paul McCartney mentioned it on a show. The more that happens, you break past that point of whether it's rich, poor or otherwise. It's seen as popular and people enjoy.

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