A bike parade took place in the Central Highlands City of Pleiku on Sunday within the framework of the Community Bike Day. — Photo courtesy of AIP Foundation

PLEIKU CITY — A Community Bike Day was held on Sunday in the Central Highlands city of Pleiku, together organised by the AIP Foundation along with the National Traffic Safety Committee, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Gia Lai Traffic Safety Committee and the Pleiku’s People Committee.

The event is part of “Slow Zones, Safe Zones” programme, which, in its 5th year, is increasingly encouraging students and their families to use sustainable means of transport – paving the way for healthier and greener cities as well as promoting safe and sustainable mobility. This also aligns with Việt Nam’s National Green Growth Strategy 2021-2030. 

The Community Bike Day will kick-start safe and sustainable mobility-promoting activities, leading to the 7th UN Global Road Safety Week 2023 in May.

This year, the global campaign, under the theme of #RethinkMobility, focuses on sustainable transport, in particular, the need to shift to cycling, walking, and using public transport.

The ultimate goal is to ensure that safer modes of transportation, such as biking and walking, are made safe and accessible so that they can be used as a healthy alternative.

This Community Bike Day brings together over 1000 community members to speak up on safe mobility and take action for greener streets across their city. 

“It is very exciting to see the development of the Slow Zones, Safe Zones programme in Pleiku leading to the empowerment of youth across the city. Youth are the future and our most important priority is to protect them. Today marks an important milestone in pushing toward safer and more sustainable mobility modes in central Việt Nam,” said Kim Beng Lua, Senior Officer, Road Safety Projects at the Global Road Safety Partnership. 

Bikes and helmets are gifted to children from poor households in Gia Lai Province. — Photo courtesy of AIP Foundation

In December 2022, as part of “Slow Zones, Safe Zones,” AIP Foundation launched the ‘Bike to school’ campaign providing 85 new bicycles for low-income students to be able to bike to and from school.

Today, an additional 50 bicycles will be handed over to students from underrepresented communities. The bicycles have been donated by individual supporters and corporate donors.

Since the beginning of 2023, AIP Foundation has been hosting bicycle safety training sessions across 19 project schools in Pleiku City to equip 18,117 students with knowledge on safe cycling practices.

Furthermore, a public awareness ‘Bike Marathon’ campaign was organised to encourage students to bike to school. Pre- and post-intervention evaluations showed that students’ positive attitudes toward cycling increased from 24 per cent to 65 per cent. The number of students with excellent and good scores on cycling safety grew from less than 72 per cent to more than 84 per cent. These activities represent the start of effective mind shifts and long-term changes for sustainable social impact not only across the schools but the wider community.

A bike parade was held to raise awareness on the importance of sustainable modes of transport. An award ceremony also took place to hand out the prizes to the winners of the bike marathon and a photovoice competition, activities that have been taking place since March to give students and participants an opportunity to raise their voices for safe mobility. 

“The Pleiku People’s Committee is very proud to host this Community Bike Day. Our community is made up of the people within it and we must all work together to protect our planet. This is our shared home and today is an opportunity to bring about change for a greener and cleaner future,” shares Đỗ Việt Hùng, Chairman of Pleiku People's Committee.

“Pleiku City has long been the home of our Slow Zones, Safe Zones programme. Following the programme’s successes, including the installation of 30km/h speed limits during students’ pick-up and drop-off times, we are proud to expand the programme to include healthy transportation alternatives that bring Pleiku closer to being a walkable city”, shares Mirjam Sidik, CEO of AIP Foundation. — VNS