communist design: implications for winter cycling in belarus

OULU Finland 13-14.2.2013
Winter Cycling Congress
COMMUNIST DESIGN: IMPLICATIONS
FOR WINTER CYCLING IN BELARUS
John Roseman
Foundation for Ecological Transportation
Minsk, Belarus
john.roseman@ecotransport.by

Belarus Background
● Population: 9,5 million
● Official languages: Belarusian and Russian
● Union state with Russia since 1997.
● Communist-style rule since 1919.

Guardian "Back to the USSR" Rating

Communist System vis-a-vis Cycling
● Land is publicly owned and accessible
○
Ample space to separate cyclists and
motorists
● Cycling seen as "proletarian" transport
● Low level of car ownership

Automobiles per capita

History's most successful cycling
culture - 1980's Communist China

Chinese Paradox: Cycling and Pollution

Communist Model in Belarus
● Land is publicly owned.
● 40% of land is forest, 40% agricultural.
● All of that land is
accessible for
cycling.

Communist Design in Cities
● In contrast to Western Europe, sidewalks in
Minsk are huge, even in the center of the
city.
● Since there is virtually no privately owned
land, there are many bike routes through offroad
open space.
● Cyclists by law are supposed to use the
sidewalk (not the road itself).
○ This law is generally not enforced.

Shared Sidewalks:
Effective Winter Infrastructure
● Comfort and safety of on-road cycling
deteriorates in winter.

Comfort and safety of on-road cycling
deteriorates in winter.

Shared Sidewalks:
Effective Winter Infrastructure
● Comfort and safety of on-road cycling
deteriorates in winter.
● Shared space allows snow clearing to be
optimized (no need to clear separate
cycle track).

Beijing Winter Cycling

Shared Sidewalks:
Effective Winter Infrastructure
● Comfort and safety of on-road cycling
deteriorates in winter.
● Shared space allows snow clearing to be
optimized (no need to clear separate cycle
track).
● Wide sidewalks allow the use of large
tractors.

Minsk Tractor Factory
● Enormous Soviet-era factory, produced most
tractors for the Soviet Union and Eastern
Europe.
● Modernized and expanded in the last 20
years.
● Remains government owned

Minsk Transport -- Cycling Disincentive
● Minsk city population 2 million
● Very cheap public transport
○ 15 euro cents per trip
● Frequent service, schedules published on
the Internet
● Buses and trolleybuses manufactured in
Minsk
● Free parking for automobiles

Comparison to other Post-Soviet
Countries
Russia, Ukraine
● Cyclists are supposed to use the road, not the
sidewalk
● Lack of dedicated cycling infrastructure
● Widespread conversion of sidewalks into free
parking
Latvia
● Separate cycle tracks, but they are not
cleared in winter

Center of Moscow, Legal Parking

Sidewalk Parking in Moscow

Off-Road Cycling Outside the City
Belarus has excellent off-road unpaved cycle
routes, but they are generally unrideable in the
winter because of snow accumulation.
Fat bike has the potential to revolutionize winter
off-road cycling
Launch in 2013 of Eurovelo in Belarus
formally requires year-round access.

Fatbike Requires No Infrastructure

OULU Finland 13-14.2.2013
Winter Cycling Congress
COMMUNIST DESIGN: IMPLICATIONS
FOR WINTER CYCLING IN BELARUS
John Roseman
Foundation for Ecological Transportation
Minsk, Belarus
john.roseman@ecotransport.by