{"id":17277,"date":"2025-06-03T13:01:16","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T11:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/?p=17277"},"modified":"2025-06-03T13:05:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T11:05:52","slug":"world-bicycle-day-2025-pedaling-toward-equality-safety-and-sustainability-in-the-balkans-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/en\/world-bicycle-day-2025-pedaling-toward-equality-safety-and-sustainability-in-the-balkans-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"World Bicycle Day 2025: Pedaling Toward Equality, Safety, and Sustainability in the Western Balkans, Moldova and Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, the 3rd of June, on World Bicycle Day<\/strong>, we celebrate the humble bicycle \u2014 a tool for clean transport, better health, and gender-inclusive mobility.<\/strong> But while the benefits of biking are universally acknowledged, the reality on the ground tells a different story: safety, accessibility, and gender equality are still major challenges in many countries across the Western Balkans and Eastern Europe. Let\u2019s take a closer look at the data \u2014 and the stories behind it.<\/p>\n

Who Cycles \u2013 And Who Doesn\u2019t?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In North Macedonia<\/strong>, a recent survey found that:<\/p>\n

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    64.1%<\/strong> of bicycle owners are men, while only 38.7%<\/strong> are women.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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    A striking 44.1%<\/strong> of people never use bicycles or skateboards. Among them, 62%<\/strong> are women.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The reasons are clear: lack of safety, poor infrastructure<\/strong>, and limited access to quality cycling lanes. In Skopje<\/strong>, although there are 110 km of bike lanes, many are poorly maintained, disconnected, and often unusable. Still, there are bright spots \u2014 in Ohrid<\/strong>, for example, women actually cycle more than men<\/strong>, defying regional trends.<\/p>\n

    In Serbia<\/strong>, bicycles serve as a crucial means of transportation for:<\/p>\n

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      70.1%<\/strong> of men and 65.3%<\/strong> of women.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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      Women are more likely to use bikes for transporting children<\/strong> (22.5% vs. 15.5% of men).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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      Encouragingly, over 50% of both women and men<\/strong> see bicycles as an important eco-friendly transport solution<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Cycling for Health, But Not for Work<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      In Montenegro<\/strong>, women cycle more for health and sports<\/strong>, but far fewer use bicycles to get to work or school<\/strong> \u2014 with a gender gap of nearly 25%. Only 49.1% of women<\/strong> report feeling safe using a bike for transport.<\/p>\n

      Electric bicycles (e-bikes) are slowly gaining interest. 31.4% of women<\/strong> (vs. 28.8% of men) show strong interest in e-bikes, but around 30%<\/strong> still don\u2019t know much about them \u2014 showing that awareness campaigns could make a difference.<\/p>\n

      Bosnia and Herzegovina: Walking More, Cycling Less<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      In BiH, 41.5%<\/strong> of people own a bicycle. Men are slightly more likely to be owners (44.8%) than women (39.0%). But when it comes to daily walking<\/strong>, women lead with 66.5%<\/strong> walking every day vs. 62.8% of men.<\/p>\n

      However, men are more likely to be daily cyclists or skateboarders<\/strong> \u2014 11.2% of men compared to just 6.3% of women.<\/p>\n

      There\u2019s reason for optimism: the Ministry of Transport in Sarajevo Canton<\/strong> has allocated funds to improve air quality<\/strong> through better cycling infrastructure<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

      Moldova: Unsafe Roads, Limited Progress<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      In Moldova<\/strong>, especially in rural areas<\/strong>, 19.3% of women<\/strong> report that cycling feels unsafe. Even in urban areas, 14.3%<\/strong> of women feel the same. That\u2019s a major obstacle \u2014 especially when 41.7% of women<\/strong> say they simply “don\u2019t like cycling,” often due to safety concerns, versus 28.2% of men<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

      The capital Chi\u0219in\u0103u<\/strong> is leading with 20 km<\/strong> of continuous bike lanes, but other cities like B\u0103l\u021bi<\/strong>, Orhei<\/strong>, and Laloveni<\/strong> lag behind with limited or poorly implemented bike infrastructure.<\/p>\n

      Prishtina: A City Where Cyclists Still Feel Unsafe<\/strong><\/h3>\n

      Cycling in Prishtina \u2013 Still Not Safe Enough. While 10 km of new bike lanes<\/strong> have been announced, it\u2019s nowhere near enough<\/strong>. Roads remain dangerous, lanes unprotected, and safety infrastructure like lights and signage is missing. Especially at night and in high-traffic zones, cyclists remain vulnerable<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

      What Prishtina Needs Now:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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        A city-wide bike-sharing scheme<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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        Safe parking<\/strong> at public buildings and schools<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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        Well-lit, connected bike lanes<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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        Clear bike route maps<\/strong> and signage<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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        Protected corridors that connect neighborhoods, parks, and workplaces<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Albania: A Gender Gap on Two Wheels<\/strong><\/h3>\n

        Cycling in Albania remains heavily male-dominated<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

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          Only 33.9% of women<\/strong> report using bicycles, compared to 65.8% of men<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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          With e-bikes, the gap widens: 69.3% of users are men<\/strong>, and just 30.7% are women<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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          Over 50% of women<\/strong> cite safety concerns<\/strong> as the reason they don\u2019t cycle.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          But there is hope. In Tirana<\/strong>, just 20% of cyclists are women<\/strong> \u2014 but with safer lanes, visible role models, and awareness efforts, that number could rise quickly.<\/p>\n

          What Can Be Done?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

          To truly celebrate World Bicycle Day, governments and cities must move beyond slogans and:<\/p>\n

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          • \n

            Build and maintain safe, continuous bike lanes<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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            Ensure gender-sensitive planning<\/strong>, including lighting, safety, and child transport considerations<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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            Launch awareness and training campaigns<\/strong> especially aimed at encouraging women and girls to cycle<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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            Create bike-sharing programs<\/strong>, especially in underserved and low-income communities<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

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            Involve local CSOs and women\u2019s groups<\/strong> in planning urban mobility policies<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            The data are part of the GBWN Transport Research from Gender and Climate change perspective done in all 7 countries and full reports will be available soon!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

            \"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Today, the 3rd of June, on World Bicycle Day, we celebrate the humble bicycle \u2014 a tool for clean transport, better health, and gender-inclusive mobility. But while the benefits of biking are universally acknowledged, the reality on the ground tells a different story: safety, accessibility, and gender equality are still major challenges in many countries […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":69,"featured_media":17290,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/69"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17277"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17289,"href":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17277\/revisions\/17289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gbwn.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}