Cycling restrictions in Kolkata were imposed on about 36 streets in the year 2008 by the Kolkata Police which had been increased to 174 roads in 2013 and later due to widespread protests Kolkata Police this had been reduced to 62 road restrictions and at present, these restrictions continue to exists in 62 major roads impacting the livelihoods of thousands who use cycling as the only means of transport. The Kolkata Police has cited two reasons behind the cycle restrictions – that it slows down traffic and threatens safe vehicular movement. SwitchON Foundation filed an RTI to the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic Department, Kolkata in 2020 and also conducted a vehicular count survey accompanied by speed mapping surveys and commuters perception surveys to come up with evidence from the ground.
The RTI responses have been used as on-ground data to comprehend if the reasons cited hold any ground validation. The insights from the RTI data (from 2008-2020) revealed some interesting findings:
- Cyclists’ deaths between the 2008-2020 period have remained consistent. Total deaths by fatal RTA have come down. Deaths of pedestrians and motorcyclists have also come down. Road safety campaigns and safe road infrastructure has played a crucial role. During the period, Pedestrians form 55% of the total deaths by fatal Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) while cycles form only 6%.
- There is no data on official records on cases for unregistered slow-moving across all years and no-entry violations (post-2013) and In 2020 only 5 petty cases have been booked for bicycles.
- Between the 2008-2020 period, 88.2 lakhs of cars have been booked for violating parking rules as compared to only 5104 bicycles for breaking traffic rules.
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