File photo: INLSA File photo: INLSA
Pedal Power Association has teamed up with #CoCreateSA to launch the first Bicycle Mayor within the Mother City.
#CoCreateSA is a platform for South African and Dutch counterparts to exchange ideas and innovations for sustainable solutions to local challenges.
The pilot project, aimed at promoting cycling for all, particularly cyclists from underprivileged areas, is based on a global initiative, and it is set to commence early next year.
Netherlands consul-general Bonnie Horbach said: “We are excited to work with Pedal Power Association as a continuation to the deliverables outlined at the 2016 Mobility Indaba.
“The Bicycle Mayor will play a pivotal role in listening and presenting the concerns and ideas around cycling in communities, with a key focus on underprivileged areas,” she said.
Horbach said cycling had been perceived as exclusive and it is only through collaboration that they would be able to find inclusive, sustainable solutions.
Horbach said the responsibilities of the successful candidate would include: raising awareness, representing communities, investigating the challenges and opportunities of cycling and extending cycle advocacy to the underprivileged.
“Mobility is a key driver of inclusive economic growth, sustainable development and societal transformation. We will only be able to find sustainable solutions to the current challenges by working together,” said Horbach.
Netherlands Deputy Consul-General Nichola Walker-Woodard said: “It would make sense to tap into the Pedal Power Association’s existing network, in areas such as Kayamandi, Mitchells Plain and Kommetjie.
There is an element of trust for us all to be able to be able to carry out the pilot project properly.
“We are looking to announce the Bicycle Mayor at the end of the first quarter next year.”
Chief executive of the Pedal Power Association Robert Vogel said: “We look forward to the unfolding of this initiative and the potential that it has in bringing people together through cycling.
“This project allows us the opportunity to present cycling as an accessible mode of transport that is available to all.”