May Meeting Cyklisté sobě (Cyclists for Each Other): What we did and did not solve?

Thank you for the large participation in the May meeting of the Cyklisté sobě (Cyclist for Each Other) platform, which took place on Monday, May 14, 2024 at Polévkárna Karlín. 13 people participated in the event. What topics were “on the table”?

In the presence of Bára Soukupová, the chairperson of the Prague Cycling Commission (Piráti), we discussed the situation regarding investments in bicycle transport and the circumstances of the financial difficulty of implementing bicycle routes in Prague.

It was heard from the public that the most important thing regarding cycling infrastructure is to focus on the wider center. According to a number of meeting participants, cycling routes in the peripheral parts of Prague for people whose journeys are longer than 10 km are not that important.

This was followed by a debate regarding protected infrastructure in the inner city. Present project architect Tomáš Cach explained the principle of dual measures as the most effective way to achieve at least something in Prague.

Using the examples of future changes on the Václavské náměstí (Wenceslas Square), in front of the Fantova budova (Fanta’s building) of the main railway station and on the Magistrála (city highway) in Prague 2, we then debated about the divergence between the public’s demand for protected routes and Prague’s conditions, in which it is practically impossible to functionally separate cyclists from pedestrians on the street.

An important part of the meeting was the response from the active public towards what the AutoMat association should focus on in its cycling campaign and what it should improve. According to the opinion of the participants in the debate, we should assist more in commenting on plans posted on official boards so that this commenting in favor of cycling measures is consistent. We were also warned that we pay little attention to large projects that are problematic for non-motorized transport, such as the Florence highway, Bubny-Zátory or the Philharmonic. They can have large-scale irreversible negative impacts on public space and conditions for cycling, but the public is not sufficiently informed about these problems.

Thanks for the suggestions, which we will systematically work on. We will announce the next Cyclists meeting date soon. You can view the entire photo gallery on our Flickr.