site.btaNumber of Cyclists in Sofia on the Rise, Association Says

Number of  Cyclists in Sofia on the Rise, Association Says

Sofia, August 28 (BTA) - The number of bicycle riders in Sofia
has increased over the past three years, the Bike Evolution
Association told BTA, referring to data of cyclist cordon counts
 from 2012 and 2015. Two counts were conducted this May and June
 - one during the week and one on a weekend. Another one is
scheduled for October, after which a final analysis will be made
 on the data.

Bike Evolution conducts the cordon counts as part of a project
for collecting bicycle-related data about Sofia, which is
financed by the Europe 2015 Programme and Sofia Municipality.
The goal is to monitor the distribution and intensity of bicycle
 traffic and how they have changed compared to previous counts.
The results will be provided to Sofia Municipality in order to
help it determine the need for new bike lanes and improvements.

The number of cyclists between 2012 and 2015 has gone up by 139
per cent on week days and 143 per cent on weekends, the data
show. The most active cyclists are people aged between 18 and
50, who constitute around 85 per cent of all bicycle riders. The
 Association also registers an increase in the number of people
who commute by bicycle.

The share of female cyclists has gone up by almost two per cent
in the past three years, reaching 15.2 per cent. Electric bikes
have not become popular, constituting less than 0.5 per cent of
all bikes.

The number of cyclists at Sofia' Lion's Bridge have increased
almost two-fold after its renovation was completed. The use of
the bike lane connecting Sofia's centre with the Nadezhda
residential area has increased almost two-fold as well since its
 completion back in 2012, Bike Evolution says.