The biker's advocate
Setting the pace on bicycling advocacy
Car-free Sundays in KL, practical?
The KL City Hall is giving a shot at closing roads on Sunday for two hours. Is it sustainable? Or only a lip-service?
The KL City Hall has introduced a bike-free weekend on the first sunday of every month. It began with a 6km leisure ride around designated roads in the city centre.
For the uninitiated, this will be a fun ride along KL's busiest roads. Many things has been planned for the city centre with criterium races and a path for leisure cyclists.
But, this is only for two hours on a Sunday. And its only one day in a month. Even with the planned races for roadies to vent out some steam and earn a placing in the local ranking, this event may eventually run out of steam.
Nevertheless, its a good plan by the City Hall to introduce a car-free environment. That said, it is hoped that someday, KL will get it's own bicycle lanes -- especially around the city centre.
We are not nation with a cycling culture, but the car-free Sunday is a start. Hopefully, with good public participation, the car-free event may someday be a regular affair where roads are closed for pedestrians and cyclists to roam around freely without any fear or prejudice.