Hero Cycles celebrates World Bicycle Day through “#Right2Ride” rally

Ludhiana, June 2, 2019: With the aim of spreading awareness about the social, economic and environmental benefits and improving the cycling infrastructure in the country, Hero Cycles flagged off ‘#Right2Ride’, a public bicycle rally on June 2, in support of spreading a word for sustainable mobility at the Rakh Bagh to celebrate the United Nations (UN) mandated World Bicycle Day. Hero Cycles Officials kick started the 20 kilometer fun ride at 5:30 am in the presence of more than 1000 cyclists including men, women and children. The Managing Director, Hero Cycles highlighted that the event was conducted to bring all the cycling enthusiasts under one roof and celebrate the passion for this sport and educate them about the eco-friendly mode of transport. A study released by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in January 2019 estimated that if bicycles were to “substitute the two- and four-wheelers used for short-distance trips, it can result in an annual benefit of Rs 1.8 trillion, which is equivalent to 1.6 percent of India’s annual GDP for 2015–16. “More than 50 percent of the people in India use non-motorised forms of transport, such as walking and cycling to travel to work followed by two-wheelers (18 percent) and buses (16 percent). Benefits of cycling are immense be it direct or indirect. Through this ‘#Right2Ride’, we wish to bring attention to the major factors that are hampering the growth of cycling infrastructure in our country. We also want to tell people that cycling is not just an individual choice but one that knits together communities”, said Mr. S.K. Rai, Managing Director, Hero Cycles. Sh. Ashwani Kapur, DCP Ludhiana, spoke about the benefits of cycling and highlighted how we can reduce the carbon footprint by a huge amount. The event once again raised the concerns about the lack of safe cycling infrastructure on Indian roads by talking about the effectiveness of their existing campaign “Road pe dikhegi tabhi to chalegi”. They also extended the campaign in other cities besides Delhi. The main idea behind this campaign is to bring cycles back on road and the need for separate cycling lanes. Cycling has the potential to help countries meet several of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite its many benefits and utilities to the ordinary user, bicycle ownership and its use for daily commute has not been given adequate promotion by the authorities in terms of finance or technological up-gradation capital for many small bicycle and parts manufacturing units.