Bicyclists not afraid to challenge Yerevan motor traffic will soon have designated parking lots in the capital.


‘Bicycle+’ eco-sport NGO got a 300,000 drams (abut $770) grant from Armenian Youth Fund programs, which will be spent on making about 20 bike parking areas in Yerevan.

Primarily two parking areas will be designed in the yards of Yerevan State University and Yerevan State Engineering University, where students will be able to park maximum 20 bikes.

According to Samvel Hovhannisyan, head of ‘Bicycle+’ eco-sport NGO, the number of bike riders rises in Armenia year by year especially among the youth. About 200 active bike riders of ‘Bicycle+’ participate in the bicycle tours organized by the NGO.

Video cameras will be installed in the parking areas in order to prevent the threat of theft.

Activists of ‘Bicycle+’ hold lessons as well as education on traffic rules in the Tsitsernakaberd memorial hills free of charge every week.

“Since 2006 when we have started developing the bike movement in Yerevan, there were very few people who rode bikes then, whereas now many people buy bikes and use them in their daily life,” Hovhannisyan says.

Active young bike riders living in Yerevan participate in a number of environmental bicycle rallies dedicated to the protection of Garni stones symphony, Teghut Forest, Lake Sevan and Mashtots Park.

By Lilit Arakelyan

http://armenianow.com/hy/node/36132