By Margot Pepper
Imagine what would happen if an industrialised country with over 10 million inhabitants were to have its petroleum reduced by 40% and consequently had to cut the bus fleet in its capital in half, cut petroleum used for government cars to 50% and reduce fuel for private cars to 30%, leaving owners to ponder how they were going to survive on 10
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This alone could certainly lead to a hopeless crisis; no economy can afford to allow workers and students to become immobilised for lack of transportation nor factories and businesses to lie idle for lack of fuel. Such economic paralysis was threatening Cuba after the collapse of European socialism, but it was largely averted by the introduction of bicycles into the urban transportation system.
Before 1989, 85% of Cuba's imports came from the socialist camp. Today Cuba's trade with these countries has been reduced to a mere 7% of what it was, and the country is making do with a little over a quarter of the total imports it used to receive.
The Cuban government responded to the crisis with an emergency measure to purchase about a million bicycles from China. The bicycles are sold on easy credit terms to students for 60 pesos, and workers pay around 120 pesos.
In just the year and a half since the government approved the measure to introduce bicycles on a massive scale, bicycles have become the cornerstone of the new Cuban energy reduction strategy. Now bicycle transportation accounts for 30% of the overall trips in the country's capital. According to a December 1991 study by the Cuban Institute of Market Research and Consumer Guidance, 47% of all Havana households have at least one bike, and 90% of the country's bikes were acquired as part of the new program. Twenty-five per cent of bike owners surveyed are using their two-wheelers to ride to work. Eighty-one per cent of those travelling to work by bike said it took 20 minutes or less to arrive.
In Havana, 25 miles of road lanes and pathways have been converted to bicycle-only lanes, an extensive system of traffic signs have gone up, automobile speed limits have been reduced, special trucks transport bicycles through the tunnel that goes under the bay, and most workplaces have installed special bicycle parking, often with attendants.
These achievements have not come easily. To facilitate the transition, three key institutes have taken on the task of carrying out research, education campaigns and planning for non-motorised transportation. These institutes, along with 21 other Cuban organisations, will participate in an international conference planned for early 1993 called, Bicycles: Vehicle for the 21st Century.
Five new bicycle factories expect to increase Cuba's bicycle capacity n the next five years in order to avoid importing measures in this area. A uniquely Cuban mountain bike has been designed with excellent quality 26 x 1.75 inch tyres that are expected to make the product a desirable export. Plans to introduce gear mechanisms within the next few years will be quite an improvement over the heavier, no-frills Chinese import. All of the bicycle factory workers were assigned their own bicycles for commuting so they would become aware of any necessary improvements.
Over the next two years, Cuba plans to reduce its truck fleet by half by importing 60,000 Chinese cargo tricycles. A preliminary economic analysis by World Bank urban planning specialist Roberto Chávez shows that on a countrywide scale, the transition to bicycles would be translated into a savings of $50 million a year, and when the new "truck" fleet is introduced, the saving could add up to half a billion dollars a year.
Aside from the tremendous advantage this has for the Cuban economy, the transition has also had many personal advantages. Many people talk about overall improvements in their health and the environment, seeing friends they haven't seen in ages, delighting in the ride to the beautiful beaches in East Havana, the conversations they've had with a stranger along a bike route and even the friends they've made. (More than 30% of the bikes headed for the beach were carrying an extra passenger.)
Cyclists interviewed by Granma International said they enjoy having a bike and probably would never have had the opportunity had it not been for the crisis. Many pointed out that they found riding bicycles much more pleasurable and efficient than having to transfer several times on the buses to get to a destination.
The economic and social gains are hard for any city to argue with. The fact that non-motorised transportation is being ignored by major industrialised cities and providers of aid to countries with limited fuel resources and pollution problems is a result of the influence of petroleum and car manufacturing interests.
Nevertheless, while Cuba has been winning an international reputation as a model of a modern-day "ecotopia", the sacrifices Cubans have had to make to adapt to the crisis cannot be overlooked. In 1989 one of Havana's principal urban planners was asked by a member of an international bicycle study tour what they were doing to promote the use of bicycles in Havana. The planner responded that nothing was being done because bikes wouldn't be acceptable to the population. (Today the planner is among the hundreds and thousands of Cubans who commute to work on bicycles.)
It is one thing to have the option of riding a bike to work and taking a car or bus when it's raining or one isn't feeling well, and quite another to have little choice. Some riders complain about an increase in appetite — which could be an added strain during Cuba's current special period, now that virtually all food is rationed. People also complain about having to lug 48 pounds of bicycle up flights of stairs, not having gears to use on hills and riding to work against high winds. Residential bike parking is still a very real social icycle theft since Havana's bicycle saturation point of a little over 1 million has yet to be met.
Since the first half a million bicycles were distributed in Havana, about 0.1% have been reported stolen. The police consider this figure unacceptably high and hope to reduce it by issuing licence plates or registering bikes.
While people may joke about Havana's new reputation as having one of the lowest figures of car accidents per year, bicycle accident deaths have soared. The number of deaths caused by traffic accidents in Havana remained approximately the same as in 1990 at 303 per year, but instead of 16 cyclists dying, the number rose to 120 in 1991. This is largely a result of many new cyclists' unfamiliarity with the rules of the road, having relied previously on buses, and the fact that helmets are still nowhere to be found.
The shortage of replacement parts and accessories has forced individuals to come up with their own innovations. More than one out of every three bikes in Cuba has a locally made rear axle extender for accommodating an extra passenger's feet. Racks, trailers and child seats are also common inventions.
Nevertheless, in spite of all the difficulties, every Cuban knows that the bicycle is in Cuba to stay. This only goes to show the amazing determination and efficiency with which Cubans are tackling a crisis which the so-called First World predicted would be the end to Cuban socialism.
[From Granma International.]