ABSTRACT
Although Cape Town has joined the international Western community in its competitive desire to be seen as a ‘cycling city’, it has not witnessed a quantifiable resurgence in the mode. Despite interventions since 1994, the cycling mode share has remained very low and relatively unchanged in over a decade. Cape Town has few protected bicycle lanes, a high rate of bike-jacking and cyclist fatalities (almost twice the mode share), and long travel distances. Why a cohort of commuters who own private vehicles would choose to ride a bicycle instead is not well known by planners in South African cities – yet attracting more such commuters is a goal of new cycling strategies. Cape Town Transport envisions a city where cycling significantly contributes to a substantial reduction in congestion and GHG emissions by 2030.
This chapter examines the public and policy discourse around sustainability and cycling, and explores the stated motivations of a minority of “intentional cyclists” who do choose cycling as a primary mode of to-work travel in Cape Town. In particular, the chapter explores the priority attached to environmental or sustainability benefits as personal cycling motivation, in light of Cape Town’s promotional focus on congestion and environmental mitigation.
